Traditional craft-brewed beer can transform a meal from everyday to extraordinary. It's an affordable, accessible luxury. Yet most people are only familiar with the mass-market variety. Have you tasted the real thing?

In The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver, America's foremost authority on beer and brewmaster of the acclaimed Brooklyn Brewery, reveals why real beer is the perfect partner to any dining experience. He explains how beer is made, relays its fascinating history, and, accompanied by Denny Tillman's exquisite photographs, conducts an insider's tour through the amazing range of flavors displayed by distinct styles of beer from around the world. Most important, he shows how real beer, which is far more versatile than wine, intensifies flavors when it's appropriately paired with foods, creating brilliant matches most people have never imagined: a brightly citric Belgian wheat beer with a goat cheese salad, a sharply aromatic pale ale to complement spicy tacos, an earthy German bock beer to match a porcini risotto, even a fruity framboise to accompany a slice of chocolate truffle cake. Whether you're a beer aficionado, a passionate cook, or just someone who loves a great dinner, this book will indeed be a revelation.

In Oliver's new book, his expertise about beer is as entertaining and authoritative as his culinary tips, especially in the numerous savory beer and food matchups he recommends. How did Garrett Oliver come by these consuming passions?

After years of amateur brewing inspired by beers he had encountered during a year in England, Garrett Oliver began brewing professionally at Manhattan Brewing Company in 1989. He was appointed Brewmaster there in 1993. He soon became widely known both here and abroad for his flavorful interpretations of traditional brewing styles and as an avid and entertaining lecturer and writer on the subject of fine beer. Garrett has hosted hundreds of beer tastings and dinners, writes regularly for beer and food-related periodicals, and is internationally recognized as an expert on traditional beer styles and their affinity with fine food.

In 1994, Oliver joined The Brooklyn Brewery as Brewmaster and partner. Many of his beers have won national and international awards. He has also served as a judge for the Professional Panel Blind Tasting of the Great American Beer Festival for eleven years, has judged the prestigious Great British Beer Festival competition five times, and the Beverage Industry International Awards twice.

Oliver has hosted tastings and talks for numerous cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian, MassMOCA, and The Jewish Museum. In the United States, Garrett has made numerous radio and television appearances as a spokesman for craft brewing, including segments on NPR, CNN, ABC, PBS, MSNBC, The History Channel, Food Network's "Emeril Live, and CBS' Martha Stewart Living.

Garrett has hosted beer tastings and dinners at many fine restaurants, cooking schools, and food events including dinners at James Beard House, Oceana, The Waldorf-Astoria, the Slow Food Cheese Festival and Salone del Gusto in Piemonte, Italy, The Association of Westchester Country Club Chefs, The American Institute of Wine and Food, The Culinary Institute of America, the Sommelier Society of America, The French Culinary Institute, and Peter Kump's New York Cooking School (now ICE), and the London BAR show. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Slow Food, USA.

Garrett's first book, The Good Beer Book, co-written with Timothy Harper, was published in 1997. Oliver is a graduate of Boston University, and holds a degree in Broadcasting and Film. He is the recipient of the 1998 Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation and Excellence in Brewing, granted by the Institute for Brewing Studies. It is the highest award given within the United States brewing profession.