Drafternoon Beer never tasted so good
The Oxford Companion to Beer
1st Place Winner of the 2012 Gourmand Award for Best in the World in the Beer category.
For millennia, beer has been a favorite beverage in cultures across the globe. After water and tea, it is the most popular drink in the world, and it is at the center of a 0 billion industry.
The first major reference work to investigate the history and vast scope of beer, The Oxford Companion to Beer features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 166 of the world’s most prominent beer expe
List Price: $ 65.00
Price: $ 39.56
Kindle Edition Quality,
I was torn whether to buy this as a print book, or Kindle edition. I decided to get the Kindle version because of the value of being able to carry it with me in my phone, computer, kindle, and iPad. I don’t regret the decision.
The Kindle illustrations are quite good, which is not always the case. I always hesitate to buy Kindle books with illustrations. In OSX Lion, you can three-finger drag images from the book (on the cloud reader) into a word processor and see what the specs are. The images all seem to be 425ish-by-X (where X<425). Plenty of resolution to look very crisp in an ebook. Plenty of beautiful color. The book is not heavily illustrated. The one bitmap table I came across was readable, but not especially crisp (a very nice unit conversion chart).
The biggest letdown of the Kindle edition is common with Kindle books: the index’s page numbers are useless. The index is also not hyperlinked. Thankfully, the contents are hyperlinked and most Kindle software will allow you to do a text search.
There are lots of very good web links following various sections. A couple of examples are that the draught section ends with a link to the BA’s excellent technical manual, and the Cicerone section ends with a link pointing to the organization’s web site. It is definitely a modern book that embraces the web.
There are already many reviews covering content. I haven’t read enough to comment on that. What I have read so far has been accurate and concise. It isn’t terribly in-depth on any topic, but covers a very wide range of topics.
Highly recommended. If you carry a smart phone, Kindle, or iPad it is a heck of a nice thing to keep in your pocket or bag. I’d give it five stars if the index were hyperlinked.
Cheers!
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|Its OK,
While a comprehensive survey of the past and current state of beer and brewing with regards to style, history, notable breweries, technical aspects, etc; the OCB has several flaws which diminish what could have been a powerful work and an indispensable reference. The entries are of greatly varying quality and depth, even when dealing with closely related topics, and contradictions are not uncommon. Entries also frequently digresses into and are even sometimes dominated by discussions which are tangential to the topic at hand. Furthermore, reading from a technical/chemical stand point, many such entries are somewhat watered down and seem to serve to buttress common, if not properly conceived, notions rather than attempt to elevate a less knowledgeable reader. In short: the OCB was written with readability in mind, rather than to be a serious work of reference. The entries on beer history and notable breweries are quite well written and researched, however the notables breweries list does seem to be biased heavily toward traditional continental breweries.
In summary: not a bad read, and an accessible overview of the past and current state of beer and brewing. The OCB sets up a less experienced reader to further explore a rich and fascinating world, but could use quite a bit of work regarding both editing and overall content in order to better inform and elevate readers of all levels.
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