Having a hard time buying for that special beer geek in your life?  Are you finding yourself lost in the beer aisle trying to figure out what he/she hasn’t tasted?  Let me offer you a suggestion.  Learn from my (Nate) wife, who surprised me this past wedding anniversary with a unique and addictive beer gift:  The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands, 3rd Edition.

Having learned of this book through a notable beer blogger, Simply Beer, I knew I had to have it.  Having casually mentioned to my wife that it was on my radar, she somehow remembered this book with a brutally long title and made my day this past Monday.  Aren’t I a lucky guy?

The Essential Reference of Domestic Brewers and Their Bottled Brands is the brain child of Micheal S. Kuderka, whose purpose in creating this reference book was “to be the industry recognized resource for information on all domestic beer and brands…”  And let me tell you, he is is doing a great job.

This book is exceedingly exhaustive, easy to navigate, full of helpful charts and figure, and just what it aims to be:  a great resource.  The book walks the beer business man and the simple beer geek, like myself, through the domestic beer world starting with and alphabetical listing of breweries, followed by pages of color and bitterness charts, beer style index, state availability, geographic brewery index, commentary, supply charts, and full brewery portfolios.  I do feel that in further editions, the book will add to the content, but already it is brimming with necessary information.

There are a few things immediately found appealing:

-Layout:  The book is easy to navigate, unlike some beer resource websites
-Overall look:  Not cheesy.  Dignified and classy, like beer itself
-Internet Companion:  With purchase comes access to the online companion, updated monthly.
-Accuracy:  Do you know how many errors I have found on a couple of online beer resources?

Perhaps the biggest selling point of this book is the fact that it is a book.  As a society, we have been dumbed down to the point of dependence on technology.  We used to memorize important phone numbers, now we rely on the address book in our phone.  We used to go to the library for research, now we rely on google, which is quite often incorrect.  In order to pass publishing, a book must withstand scrutiny that Wikipedia does not.  And besides, the experience of flipping the paper page far surpases clicking the “next” button at the bottom of the webpage.

I do not see how the more developed conniseur of beer can escape purchasing this book, and I encourage any read to purcahse the book, which can be found at the company’s website. The company’s mission is not dissimilar from many of ours, “To help more people discover great beer!”  Either way, I do think in the near future, this resource will enhance my beer reviews.