The Beer Lover's Rating Guide: Revised and Updated

by Bob Klein

Designed for anyone who enjoys a good brew, The Beer Lover's Rating Guide encourages readers to discover their own favorite beers while offering an assessment of each entry on its look, smell, and taste. By including full descriptions of beers from 77 countries and 36 states, veteran beer-rater Robert Klein gives fellow beer drinkers the details they need to decide whether or not each selection is one they would enjoy. A drinker-friendly, down-to-earth, portable rating guide to over 1,200 beers, plus much discussions of beer with food, beers for non-beer drinkers, non-alcoholic beers, the right glass for different types of beers, a glossary of beer terms, how packaging contributes to a beer's taste, and bunches of barroom trivia. All you need to explore and conquer the world of brews and the brews of the world. 2-color illustrations throughout.

Genres: Beer, Nonfiction

421 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Andrew Bell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. For starters it is extremely dated. Secondly the author's ratings are extremely subjective. Beers that are world class (according to BJCP and many other sources) for the style are rated extremely poorly. The author seems to dislike certain styles (that's fine), but to trash every example of certain styles is ridiculous in a published book meant to educate novice consumers. EXAMPLE: The only real (non faro or otherwise artificially sweetened) lambic in the book: Boon Gueuze is rated a 2.0...for contrast Carlsberg is a 3.3. The lambic is rated lower than KING COBRA MALT LIQUOR for Christ's sake! Other lines mentioning beers that are meant to be acidic styles: "oddly sour".

There also seems to be no rhyme or reason to the beers reviewed in this book. Some extremely obscure beers (from small brewpubs) and huge industrial lagers with many mainstream craft beers missing in between.

The info on glassware and style history might be useful to a new beer enthusiast. But the ratings are sheer outdated, biased and misinformed garbage!

I have far more documented beer ratings posted online than the author brags about on the back of this book (over 1900 more than he claims). It really is a piece of subjective nonsense. I wish I had the time to publish my ratings for money. This book is a waste of money.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klein was helpful in initiating me in the world of beer, but I couldn't help but feel that in many cases he was rating a beer based on one tasting - a feeling supported by his recommended food pairings, which simply sounded like they were what he ate with his beer the night he tasted them. For that matter one should not eat food when tasting beer.

His love of Rogue Shakespeare Stout sent me on a mission to find it - and shocked I was, back in 1997 or so, to come across it, since craft beer was not so prevalent then. If I had never found it, I'm not sure what would have happened. So without this book I may not have become the beer snob I am today, which, in an objective sense, is something maybe I should be as happy as unhappy about.

[Jamie CULPON · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review of 1st Ed.

Good overview of how to rate beer. Very dated to modern sensibilités (this is an EN-USA (C) 1995 Workman Publishing, New York copy), but for a quick skim, it covers most of what a travelling bartender or ale afficianado should know. The quick references are horribly biased to American Airport Standby Drafts, which makes it not terribly useful in my opinion as someone who loves beers like Newcastle on warm days. That said, if you don’t know hops from schnapps, it’ll get you started.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of two editions. The second edition came out a few years later. It's extremely insightful and a bit addictive. The reviews are very informative and spot on. It's somewhat humorous as well. The best beer book I've ever purchased.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author is rather clueless about certain beer styles -- Belgian beers that are 100% intended to have a sour flavor profile he slags as being "oddly sour", German hefeweizens getting marked down for the very same banana-ish aspects that make them famous, beers that are clearly cheap-schwill garbage he praises, and so on and so forth. Beers that would have been easily available in the mid 90s are missing, while arcane one-off beers from an obscure and/or shutdown brewpub in the middle of nowhere are fully annotated.

As this book is over 25 years past it's prime, it's only good as a time capsule for some beers that were available back in the day, and one author's highly dubious thoughts about them.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's basically a knock-off of Michael Jackson's Great Beer Guide. The only other gimmick is that it tells you how to "rate beer," but while the author employs a system that is reminiscent of the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) style guidelines, it's a pretty dumbed down version. I wouldn't buy it again.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great resource!