Great Beer Guide : The World's 500 Best Beers

by Michael Jackson, Sharon Lucas

Which beers are the best? Get the inside stories on Czech and German lagers, Belgian wheat beers and Trappists, classic British ales, Irish stouts and American micro brews. The shelves of the supermarkets are packed with an ever-changing array of beers from around the world. Bars restaurants clubs and pubs stock an ever-greater range. Which will suit your taste? Which is the beer for the moment? Will this beer be light crisp and refreshing; that one sweet that one dry bitter and appetizing? TV Beer Hunter[registered] Michael Jackson has tasted them all. He describes the flavor and body of each beer explains why beers taste the way they do, notes their strength and ideal serving temperature. Spot the best beers with the aid of superbly shot photographs showing the bottle label and the properly poured beer in the ideal glass. Never before has beer looked so beautiful.

Genres: Beer, Reference, Nonfiction, Cooking, Cookbooks, Brewing, Food and Drink

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael James Jackson (27 March 1942 – 30 August 2007) was an English writer and journalist. He was the author of many influential books about beer and whisky.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael...

Reviews

[E Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The King of Pop[ular beer journalism]

[Dave Moyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can one go wrong! Of course I love this book!

[Filipe Alves · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best food and beer's guide I've ever read.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: This is not a sit down and read book. Do not get it from the library and expect to find it at all useful or entertaining. This book goes through great beers (alphabetically) that Michael Jackson has found throughout the world. It is a list with a small description of each beer and should be something that a beer lover buys and brings out when comparing what's in his/her glass to what's in the book.

This is a wonderful resource written by the world's most renowned beer author. It is basically an alphabetical description of his encounters with wonderful beer.

[Chris Thar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, in fact, a technical guide for people interested in discovering the world of beer. Before there was Ratebeer.com, there was Michael "the Beer Hunter" Jackson. Brilliant descriptions, histories, and anecdotes about famous and unique brews make up the main content of the book. Sadly, as others have mentioned, the book is over a decade old and some of the brews are retired. I originally set out to try each beer referenced, but now I simply use it as a guide to understanding beer regions and styles before I visit them. For beer lovers, this is a sacred text.

[BeerDiablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beer porn. Sexy pictures of beer that you won't find in the states. Some of the brewers are even out of business.

Sure there's some educational material, "articles" in the back but one looks at stuff like this for the pictures. Just like porn mags.

I find this a good alternative to Norman Rockwell coffee table books.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. If only you could either A) drink the beers from the pages or B) find the beers somewhere close by. A lot of the beers are really rare, and thus, it is really difficult to get the satisfaction of drinking all of the beers in the book. But perhaps in due course I will achieve this goal. I will be patient.

[Nebogipfel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not really for reading page-to-page, more like an encyclopedia of beer cointaining a listing of about 500 beers. Each page cointains a description of a beer, a bit about its history and a beautiful picture. All of this can be found on the internet today, but the book if still worth getting, not only for its historical value but also as a useful resource on various types of beers.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures accompany small stories or info on great beers. Note that this book was written in 2000 - a great snapshot of the times. Most of the beers are not American so it's nice to have a more comprehensive examination of beer outside of America.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend, William, and I are working our way through all of these beers, slowly but surely. Black Douglas and Greenmantle are two of the best.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This started me on my obsession with good beer. I've sampled a good portion of these quaffable delights!

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent beer guide, though a little dated by now. Sadly, Michael Jackson passed away a few years ago. I feel that this has now been supplanted by the new book Great Beers of the World.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very informative guide from the man who put beer back on the map especially craft beers.

[Marty O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grand-Daddy of all beer guides. Get it and refer to it often! Well worth the money.

[Michael Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference for beer nerds!