Monday 22 October 2012

The World Atlas of Beer



Two books I return to again and again are The World Guide to Beer and Beer Companion, both by Michael Jackson. Comprehensive in scope and lyrical in style, they are classics and also still relevant now. But the world-reaching beer books needed updating to show how much and how fast beer continues to evolve.

Enter Stephen Beaumont and Tim Webb with The World Atlas of Beer. It’s a sumptuous snapshot of the world of beer as it is today, taking the work of Michael Jackson and flinging it forward. It’s kept the history, the classic styles and beers, the photos of pouring a perfect pils, tables to help you pair beer and food better, the focus on different countries and close looks at important styles, and then the Atlas gives new insights into how beer is changing and how things are right now.

I like what Beaumont and Webb have done. They achieve a completeness of information by being concise, informative and current, their style is direct and simple by using a similar breezily informative tone that Jackson employed so wonderful, it’s an omniscient approach that’s carefully selected and the information they give us is delivered in a way which makes it easy to understand but it’s also truth-worthy and authoritative.

The joy of the book is in the way it looks, the maps, the beautiful photos – it’s a travel book as much as a ‘drink me’ book – as well as the actual information on the page which is insightful and interesting. Perhaps more than anything else, it makes me want to know more and while I want more on the pages in front of me (just more pages, more words, more beers), it also works like a gentle nudge out into the world where I can find these things out for myself: it gives a sip which you can chase and turn into a gulp.  

One thing that feels evident is that this is the first of many evolutions of the Atlas. This one modernises what Michael Jackson wasn’t able to modernise himself. The next, I imagine, will jump it forward and put more attention on newer beer styles alongside classics – for example, biere de garde gets a spread but IPA, America’s most popular craft beer style, does not. Beer is always changing and evolving and the words written about it always need to be updated alongside the liquid – the Atlas has the ability to be that book which is always ‘current’.

The World Atlas of Beer is a reverential development of Michael Jackson’s books but it also does more than merely polishing up Jackson’s work – like reading The World Guide to Beer and then Beer Companion, the Atlas moves beer seamlessly forward with a new look at world beer. Everyone who likes beer should buy it



5 comments:

  1. It sounds like another '726 beers to drink before your liver packs in' type book. All very nice but you're not really going to want to own more than one or two are you?

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    1. Ed - Have you seen the book or even read what I wrote here?! It couldn't be further from a 'drink before you die' book.

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    2. Obviously I haven't seen it. I have read your review though. Maybe I was assuming too much.

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  2. I want "Dredgies Guide to Beer", when's that coming out?

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  3. After a sneak preview on Amazon, will definitely be putting this one on my Christmas present list! I don't know much about Stephen Beaumont, but I have a great respect for Tim Webb.

    Thanks for highlighting this publication Mark; it could so easily have slipped my attention as just another "coffee table" book on beer.

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