List Price: $19.95 Details

Save: $6.43 (32%)

FREE delivery January 30 - February 2. Details

Or fastest delivery Thursday, January 25. Order within 23 hrs 23 mins. Details

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$13.52 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Ships from

BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Sold by

BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Sold by

BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Tuesday, January 30 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$8.56
+ $4.99 shipping

Sold by: ACORN BOOKS

Added

Not added

$22.94
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Z&Z STORE

Added

Not added

$22.94
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: USTALYSHOP

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Jeff Alworth

Follow

The Beer Bible Paperback – August 11, 2015

by Jeff Alworth (Author)

4.7 1,076 ratings

Editors' pick Best Cookbooks, Food & Wine

See all formats and editions

There is a newer edition of this item:

The Beer Bible: Second Edition
$29.65
(1,076)
In Stock

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$13.52","priceAmount":13.52,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"52","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"U2RyzE65yMZcc5DhBGabhV7Goq18JNFdVYV8WzK3300mQEHEsu5Jy1EHp4VHhn3IM1%2Ft02gi67mhlgpSawbVSN6S1zf2NiFV58%2FCsOaZqicQgyDc%2B5sAWrA14zVdaiZwukCN1Rn6oRGGfIToupLqoy8Qan5xDee7qQcjvxmnAP6njvPeyNqnJA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$9.99","priceAmount":9.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"U2RyzE65yMZcc5DhBGabhV7Goq18JNFd0Mkdg%2BoEKiTg14RjCYNB0h5Mxj%2FeTsaZMPsAOzJtovzYAV0wi2hUpUkI977qiPIosZRPbAuYaog0sjCDgLM%2FoTgY3I4M9VICEvejrKYUmRdEmsBI%2Bx8BIbjBK%2B0P5sX8XEnCXrOXEeRjCRKFlVdX8ry8wH3TaPFF","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

“The only book you need to understand the world’s most popular beverage. I swear on a stack of these, it’s a thumping good read.”––John Holl, editor of All About Beer Magazine and author of The American Craft Beer Cookbook

Imagine sitting in your favorite pub with a friend who happens to be a world-class expert on beer. That’s this book.

It covers the history: how we got from gruel-beer to black IPA in 10,000 years. The alchemy: malts, grains, and the miracle of hops. The variety: dozens of styles and hundreds of recommended brews (including suggestions based on your taste preferences), divided into four sections––Ales, Wheat Beers, Lagers, and Tart and Wild Ales––and all described in mouthwatering detail. The curiosity: how to read a Belgian label; the talk of two Budweisers; porter, the first superstyle; and what, exactly, a lager is. The pleasure. Because you don’t merely taste beer, you experience it.

Winner of a 2016 IACP Award

“Covers a lot of ground, from beer styles and brewing methods to drinking culture past and present. There’s something for beer novices and beer geeks alike.”––Ken Grossman, founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

“Erudite, encyclopedic, and enormously entertaining aren’t words you normally associate with beer, but The Beer Bible is no ordinary beer book. As scinitillating, diverse, and refreshing as man’s oldest alcoholic beverage itself.”––Steve Raichlen, author of Project Smoke and How to Grill

Print length

656 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Workman Publishing Company
Publication date

August 11, 2015
Dimensions

9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
ISBN-10

0761168117
ISBN-13

978-0761168119
See all details

Frequently bought together

$13.52

Get it Jan 30 - Feb 2

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE.

+

Tasting Beer, 2nd Edition: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink

$14.39

Get it as soon as Monday, Jan 29

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

How To Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Great Beer Every Time

$16.99

Get it as soon as Monday, Jan 29

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Randy Mosher
885
Paperback
53 offers from $3.90
John J. Palmer
2,563
Paperback
in Beer
104 offers from $5.23
Jonny Garrett
329
Paperback
39 offers from $2.03
Nancy Hoalst-Pullen
310
Hardcover
21 offers from $9.60
Mark Dredge
177
Hardcover
46 offers from $2.52
Jonathan Hennessey
399
Paperback
103 offers from $1.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“… a box of treats… It’s a delight to find a book about beer that covers the subject in such breadth and depth at the same time as making it seem fresh and new again” – Pete Brown, All About Beer

“A must-read.” – Craft Beer & Brewing

“Jeff Alworth has an impressive track record as a leading exponent of the global craft beer movement… this tome will educate and leave you thirsty for a cold one” – Book Page

“a tome worthy of its name” – Food+Wine.com

“Beer enthusiasts will welcome this guide that feels like one is spending time with a well-versed drinking pal” – Library Journal

“The Beer Bible endows beer lovers with the same incredible depth and scope of information that Karen MacNeil’s The Wine Bible gave to enophiles” – Tasting Panel Magazine

From the Inside Flap

Never in the long history of drinking have beer lovers had it so good, with a brewing renaissance happening around the globe. And never before have beer lovers who also have a thirst for knowledge had it so good--The Beer Bible is a lively, comprehensive, authoritative, and purely fun-to-read guide to beer in all its glory. The Beer Bible celebrates the pleasure of discovery, for readers new to beer, and the pleasure of connoisseurship, for old hands ever eager for more information. It's a book built on the premise that the best way to learn about beer isn't by trying every one out there, but instead pouring your favorite and studying it. That's what opens the doorway to history, culture, and craft, the influences that make each style of beer unique.

Like bitter, for example. Its origins in the twin discoveries of hops as a spicing agent and modern kilning, which allowed for straw-colored malts. How it took several more centuries to displace the great porter epoch. The influence of mineral-rich Burton water. The Zen simplicity of how bitter is brewed. The quality called "moreish"--a distinctly British adjective extolling the virtue of being pleasant over the course of a full evening at the pub. And the fact that it really needs to be drunk straight from the tap or cask.

To top it off, Jeff Alworth's ever-engaging style: "British bitters are characterized by a definite hop presence, but they have no violence in them. The hops ride atop a gentle biscuit sweetness and add marmalade and spice." And so it goes for bocks and lambics, schwarzbiers and Vienna lagers, saisons and Pilsners, weisses, weizens, and witbiers.

Welcome to beer heaven.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Workman Publishing Company; Illustrated edition (August 11, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0761168117
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761168119
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.03 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #622,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #68 in Wine Pairing
- #236 in Beer (Books)
- #687 in Homebrewing, Distilling & Wine Making

Customer Reviews:
4.7 1,076 ratings

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jeff Alworth

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jeff Alworth is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. His books include The Beer Bible, 2nd Ed (Sept 14, 2021), The Secrets of Master Brewers, Cider Made Simple, and The Widmer Way. His books have twice been cited by the North American Guild of Beer Writers as best book, and in 2016 the Beer Bible was named best wine, spirits, or beer book by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. You can find him at his blog, www.beervanablog.com.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

1,076 global ratings

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

The Bible of Beer

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023

Verified Purchase

As a resident of the Pacific NW, I appreciate Jeff Alworth's dedication to documenting craft beer styles, tastes, and history. With his blog Beervana, you can explore the day to day week to week of Jeff's thoughts on the beer scene, both local to Portland, and nationally.

I love how this book is laid out. It is less Michael Jackson "list the beers and provide beer judge tasting notes", and feels more personal. I love Mr. Jackson's books on beer and distilled malt beverages, but since he passed many years ago, the beer world needed someone to fill in. Jeff Alworth provides a modern and updated Jackson perspective. Anyone with an interest in beer needs this reference. Highly recommended.

Helpful

thewritersway

Beer Bible Lives Up To Its Name

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

Perhaps no other word in the English language is as used and abused as the word “bible.” The Bible is, of course, the book, the granddaddy of them all, the book of books, ground zero for storytelling. So it’s no surprise that contemporary authors would tap into that universal vibe, hoping to ride the bible wave. On Amazon there are books called The Freelancer’s Bible, The Screenwriter’s Bible, the Medical Marijuana Grower’s Bible, the Colored Pencil Painting Bible—there’s even a book called the LSAT Logic Games Bible, which is a stretch even by LSAT standards. There is, of course, The Wine Bible. All these books use descriptors like “everything” and “complete” and anything else that derives foundational juju from that archetypal tome. And now Jeff Alworth has given us The Beer Bible.

Alworth is a beer writer and author of The Beer Tasting Toolkit and Cider Made Simple, and he has his own blog, Beervana. In addition, he writes a weekly column for All About Beer, and co-hosts the quirky and entertaining podcast—also called Beervana—with Patrick Emerson. Alworth has mash tuns of information to share, and it’s quickly evident that he does his research the old fashioned way: at the pub.

That is not a snarky indictment of his writing. To the contrary, The Beer Bible is filled with concise and clear language that only occasionally leaves the hopped neophyte bewildered. There’s enough tech talk in here to satisfy more advanced brewfans, but the majority of the book is accessible to the lay readership.

The Beer Bible is organized into major categories that can be read apart from the rest of the book: ales, wheat beers, lagers, and tarts and wild ales. Early on Alworth tackles the tricky territory of beer styles, or types. Other livening beverages have a distinct sense of place—terroir. Wine and whiskey reflect the regions of their production. But beer is different. Beer reflects history and economics, evolution and culture, place and time. And this is where Alworth shines. He makes sense of the complexities of beer geography without bogging down in minutiae better left to academic study. Here’s an example of his storytelling that allows access into the complexities of the beer world:

If you were to devise a product equally as attractive to beer geeks as oenophiles, it would look a great deal like the “Burgundies of Belgium”…Once there were dozens of these regional specialties and it made sense to differentiate between schools known as Flemish red and brown beers. Now…their differences are far less significant than their similarities.

Can’t beer lovers get a cool name like wine lovers? How about beeroisseurs? Or cervisiphiles? Anyway, that’s just an example of how this book handles what can be a confusing roadmap of understanding beer. Another way is the layout. Each section contains interesting sidebars, statistics, characteristics, brewing notes, a great “Beers to Know” section featuring a cross-section of examples, and a short feature on a notable brewer or brewery. Add to that a section called “Knowing Beer” and a section called “Enjoying Beer,” and The Beer Bible justifies its name.
The other joy of this book is the sense of place that the author imparts. We feel like we are right there with him, whether he is groggily making his way through a German bierstube, or drawing information from one of Italy’s great brewmasters. He does this without abusing the first person, inserting himself only as seasoning to amplify the story.

If the Bible itself was God’s word, or if it is just a compilation of where we were thousands of years ago, it serves as a good template for Jeff Alworth’s better-tasting version. This is a complete, entertaining read that serves as both a handbook and a story. You’ll find yourself reaching for this book again and again as you reach for more and different beers, and neither of those things is bad.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

1995pilot

BOOZE HOUNDS WILL LOVE THIS BOOK

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2023

Verified Purchase

This book has so much more to offer than meets the eye. It is very detailed about everything related to beer. If you are a causal beer drinker looking to reference something or a beer connoisseur this book is for you.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

JH

Informative, but with limitations.

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

I've been exploring different beers such as San Miguel, Red Stripe and Anchor Steam since I was old enough to drink in 1970, drinking Guinness stout since I discovered it at a local pub in about 1973, and microbrews since the early eighties. I find the book to be informative, but with gaps. His recommendations completely ignore some of my favorites, such as Smithwick's, made in Ireland by Guiness, the McMenamins beers, and as another reviewer noted, appears to be biased towards west coast beers. I'm biased towards west coast beers as well, but that doesn't mean that I don't eant to learn about others.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

AMAR

Almost all of you want to know of beers, is in this book. It was recommended by a friend.

Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2023

Verified Purchase

Almost all of you want to know of beers, is in this book. It was recommended by a friend.

Helpful

ghouston92

So easy to read, and can learn terms and styles within a matter of minutes

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book is phenomenal and so well put together and thought out. You do not have to read it from front cover the back cover. You can just open the book up to any page and immediately pick up information. It couldn’t be any easier to understand and the visual examples and pictures are so helpful. I would recommend this book to any beer enthusiast. Even if you think you know a lot about beer, there’s so much more to learn. Would make an excellent holiday gift for any beer enthusiast.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leslie N. Patino

Most comprehensive and current beer book today!

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

I’ve long enjoyed Jeff Alworth’s writings on his Beervana blog, in “All About Beer” magazine and elsewhere. While I eagerly anticipated publication of “The Beer Bible,” it’s even more impressive than I’d imagined.

I recommend the print version; you’ll most likely want to mark up this reference book and dog-ear pages. I’ve spent quite a few hours over the last month reading it off and on and digesting the encyclopedic information. Before I finished Part One, “Knowing Beer,” I skipped to “Beer Tourism” in Part Six. Jumping around work fine, perhaps even better than trying to read straight through this 644-page tome.

Alworth arranges the beer descriptions by style—ales, wheat beers, lagers, tart and wild ales. His history of each style gives the reader a grounded perspective of how the style came to its current version. He suggests 5-8 specific beers to try in a style, listing information and mentioning the strongest points of each. With some styles, I’ve read right through. For others, I’ve had fun reading portions and sharing information with my husband about the particular beer we’re drinking.

A beer bible could easily become a rote and boring list of information, but Alworth is too good of a writer to fall into that trap. The book is chock full of photos and side bars with interesting tidbits of information. I don’t know of any other book on beer that is so current, comprehensive and well written.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Dedicated customer

The beer connoisseur's guide

Reviewed in India on April 23, 2023

Verified Purchase

If you want to know everything about your favourite drink, this is where it's at. Learn from the best

Michał

Tak sie nie pakuje paczek

Reviewed in Poland on December 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

Ksiazka rzucona luzem do kartonowe koperty. Przyszla pognieciona.

Translate review to English

Isra Castillo

Más que biblia, una gran enciclopedia.

Reviewed in Mexico on April 4, 2020

Verified Purchase

Este libro está bastante completo, con un formato de enciclopedia que muestra a detalle la información del origen de cada estilo, sus datos para consumo, las familias de cerveza y la historia de cada una.

Translate review to English

Ida Boeva

Super great!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

When we were in Belgium, my boyfriend really liked this one "Beer Bible" book. I couldn't find the exact one so got him this. But he loves it and I think it's great. It's got beers from all over the world, tells you about the differences, the process of making it. Super educational and we love that it doesn't focus on one region only!

Carolyn Gambling

Awesome!

Reviewed in Canada on November 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

I ordered this book for a Christmas present for my boyfriend. I took a look through the book and it seems to have quite a bit of information and interesting facts about craft beer. I think it was well worth the money and I think my boyfriend is going to love his Christmas gift.

One person found this helpful

See more reviews

Other Sellers on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

The Beer Bible Paperback – August 11, 2015

There is a newer edition of this item:

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Inside Flap

About the Author

Product details

Important information

About the author

Jeff Alworth

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new: $13.52$13.52 FREE delivery: Jan 30 - Feb 2 Ships from: BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE Sold by: BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Buy used: $9.99

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the author

The Beer Bible Paperback – August 11, 2015

There is a newer edition of this item:

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the Inside Flap

About the Author

Product details

Important information

About the author

Jeff Alworth

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$13.52

FREE delivery: Jan 30 - Feb 2

Ships from: BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Sold by: BILLY BUDD'S BOOKSTORE

Buy used:

$9.99