The holidays are here again, and that means it’s time for the annual Beer Town Gifts For Beer Lovers.
As always, we like to point out that beer lovers love beer. And every year, we like to recommend giving the beer lover on your list something new, fresh and local from one of our great Georgia craft breweries.
A good place to start is the AJC's list of 25 of Georgia's best beers that I complied in September. In case you missed it, you can still find it here: www.accessatlanta.com/news/entertainment/dining/25-of-georgias-best-beers/nnYW9.
Books about beer are always a big hit with the beer obsessed. Here are five from 2015:
"Beer Pairing: The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros" by Julia Herz and Gwen Conley (Voyageur Press, $25): Hot off the presses, this in-depth guide calls on experts such as Food & Wine magazine's Ray Isle and Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver to make the case for craft beer and food.
"The Beer Bible" by Jeff Alworth (Workman, $19.95): Like the classic and recently updated "The Wine Bible" by Karen MacNeil (Workman, $24.95), there's a lot of good info for both novices and aficionados in a format arranged by beer style, with a good bit of geography, history and sensory stuff.
"The Beer and Food Companion" by Stephen Beaumont (Jacqui Small, $35): A guide to beer and food pairing by the estimable Canadian author offers a worldwide perspective from chefs and beer experts, and traces the history of traditional and modern cooking with beer through well-illustrated recipes.
"The Comic Book Story of Beer" by Jonathan Hennessey and Mike Smith with art by Aaron McConnell (Ten Speed Press, $18.99): A full-color graphic novel of the history of beer, beginning around 7000 B.C. and ending in 2015, is really a history of civilization told in an educational and entertaining way.
"Mikkeller's Book of Beer" by Mikkel Borg Bjergs and Pernille Pang (Jacqui Small, $29.99) — Beer geek hero, pioneer of "phantom brewing" and founder of the Danish brewery, Mikkeller, Bjergs writes a fascinating combo of autobiography, guidebook, and how-to manual with recipes for home brewers.
For something a little more hands-on, give these beer tasting kits:
"How To Host a Beer Tasting Party In Your Own Home: A Complete Kit" by Carla Devito (Rock Point, $29.99): Especially good for beginners, this blind-tasting kit includes beer bottle covers, tasting notepads, a beer-aroma wheel, sampling glasses, a beer-and-food wheel, and a book that covers the basics. Just add beer and friends.
Petrus Sour Power Mixed Six-Pack ($22.99): Global Beer Network, which imports more than 60 Belgian beers to the U.S., recently launched a new version of its Sour Power series, a variety six-pack from Petrus that trades on the current sour fascination by offering beers that can be mixed and matched to create multiple flavor combinations.
Happy holidays!
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