Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: A must for any beer lovers collection. Especially if you are a traveller and have the chance to visit some of these places for the beer. I must say that our reader from Hamburg is certainly entitled to their opinion, but remember this is not a book about being funny it is about beer, and when it comes to beer Michael Jackson certainly is the foremost authority on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Just what us beer lovers needed
Review: A wonderful collection of beer information. The layout is unlike any other I have seen, devoting a full page for each of 500 world class beers. This book is very informative and includes a full picture of every single beer in both a bottle and a full glass! It goes beyond the rating guides and even gives the ideal serving temperature for each brew. Also, keep in mind that all of these beers would receive 3 to 4 stars in his rating guide, so there is really no need to list ratings...
Rating:
Summary: Just what us beer lovers needed
Review: A wonderful collection of beer information. The layout is unlike any other I have seen, devoting a full page for each of 500 world class beers. This book is very informative and includes a full picture of every single beer in both a bottle and a full glass! It goes beyond the rating guides and even gives the ideal serving temperature for each brew. Also, keep in mind that all of these beers would receive 3 to 4 stars in his rating guide, so there is really no need to list ratings...
Rating: 
Summary: Could I apply for the job?
Review: Another quality book from Mr. Jackson. Brilliant photographs, easy to read, enough to give one a thirst! Doesn't seek to impose his views by ratings (which I found a surprise). Unusual shape / format for the book, in a chunky style which I liked. I'm sure an enthusiast for beer like Jackson would like to have put many more than 500 beers into the book if it was at all possible.
Rating:
Summary: This Book in BAD in a GOOD Way
Review: hello:i read this book while consuming mass quanities of beer, belching and listening to rush limbaugh.
jack e. jett
the jack e. jett show
Rating:
Summary: Very useful and complete
Review: I think this is an essential Michael Jackson's book. If you would like to know all about beers of the world, this is the perfect book. It has shorts but complete reviews (types, taste, history).
Excellent photos and paper.
I recommend it for beer lovers and collectors.
Rating:
Summary: a
Review: I'm not sure anyone in the world has sampled more brews than Michael Jackson. No, not that Michael Jackson. This one is (from what I've been able to discern) the pre-eminent beer critic in the world. "Great Beer Guide" covers several hundred beers from all over the world but avoids the "x number of stars" format and, in fact, doesn't offer a numerical rating at all. It's assumed that if the beer was good enough to make it into this guide that it qualifies at the top of it's class, whether it be a pilsner, lager, or ale, or even one of the exotics like a lambic or barleywine. The biggest draw of this book for me was the layout. Each of the 500+ pages is occupied by a single beer, which is pictured in both it's bottle incarnation and also as a draft, giving you not just an idea of what the beer looks like but also the official glassware it's intended to be served in. Some of the more unusual glassware includes a beer from Oregon that is served in a pint glass with a half-log as it's base! In addition to the pictures the text also tells you what type of beer it is, where it's from, the alcohol content by both volume and gravity, and finally a description of the beer itself (again, there is no effort made to play favorites, but if the description sounds up your alley it would be more than worth your time to track the beer down). Alas, many of the beers listed in the book have limited distribution, so depending on where you live you'll probably only have access to a reasonably small percentage of these brews. Nonetheless, I was able to track down quite a few by special order that the local liquor stores would probably have never stocked of their own accord. And who knows? If you find yourself doing a lot of travelling you might just manage to cross all of these off your list sooner or later. But I doubt it.
Rating:
Summary: a
Review: I'm not sure anyone in the world has sampled more brews than Michael Jackson. No, not that Michael Jackson. This one is (from what I've been able to discern) the pre-eminent beer critic in the world. "Great Beer Guide" covers several hundred beers from all over the world but avoids the "x number of stars" format and, in fact, doesn't offer a numerical rating at all. It's assumed that if the beer was good enough to make it into this guide that it qualifies at the top of it's class, whether it be a pilsner, lager, or ale, or even one of the exotics like a lambic or barleywine. The biggest draw of this book for me was the layout. Each of the 500+ pages is occupied by a single beer, which is pictured in both it's bottle incarnation and also as a draft, giving you not just an idea of what the beer looks like but also the official glassware it's intended to be served in. Some of the more unusual glassware includes a beer from Oregon that is served in a pint glass with a half-log as it's base! In addition to the pictures the text also tells you what type of beer it is, where it's from, the alcohol content by both volume and gravity, and finally a description of the beer itself (again, there is no effort made to play favorites, but if the description sounds up your alley it would be more than worth your time to track the beer down). Alas, many of the beers listed in the book have limited distribution, so depending on where you live you'll probably only have access to a reasonably small percentage of these brews. Nonetheless, I was able to track down quite a few by special order that the local liquor stores would probably have never stocked of their own accord. And who knows? If you find yourself doing a lot of travelling you might just manage to cross all of these off your list sooner or later. But I doubt it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I've been a fan for many years of both Mr. Jackson's beer and single-malt scotch books, and I own all three editions of his scotch book. The single-malt whisky volumes especially taught me how to isolate and appreciate the different essences and flavors in a particular whisky. Having learned to pick out all the flavors Mr. Jackson mentioned, I was even after a while able to come up with new things on my own, a true testament to a fine teacher and connoisseur of whisky and spirits. I also learned a lot about beer from this book. Jackson provides tasting notes and interesting historical details about the 500 beers in this book. The beers are listed in alphabetical order by brewer rather than by type or style of beer, but that makes them easier to just look up to find the beer you want to learn about. For example, Jackson discusses the Schneider Weisse brewery wheat beer. This Bavarian distillery is the oldest one to have specialized only in producing wheat beers, going all the way back to 1607. I tried it as a result of Jackson's recommendation, and it really is superb. It's a heavier, more intense example of the wheat beer style, with lots of character and fruitiness, with clove, spicey, and pineapple-like flavors. Partly as a result of this book, I was led to try other styles and beers that I might not have tasted. As a result I feel I'm much more electic in my beer tastes than I was before, and I like and have learned to appreciate many different pilsners, lagers, ales, stouts, bocks, and many of the Belgian brews--of which there are up to a dozen or more different types--because of Mr. Jackson's erudite writing. A good example of this is the sweet Belgian lambic beers, which are not to everyone's taste but which I am now fond of, in addition to the other less sweet types. Overall, a great book to read and learn from by a great connoisseur.
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: Jackson lacks the knowledge, style, and wit of the foremost authority on beer, Bob Klein, but this book is a good effort. One does miss, however, the scholarship of Klein when reading someone whose focus is as blurred as Jackson and who hasn't the same depth of understanding as Klein.
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