Robin Goldstein (1)

This book classifies, reviews, and rates 250 widely available (in the USA) beers. On a rating scale of 1-10, all of the beers in this group of 250 fall in the range 3-9. So none of them are deemed virtually undrinkable (1-2). 21 are judged to be exceptional beers, worth taking the time to appreciate (9-10). The chapters in Part 1 describe the brewing processes, the various families and styles of beer, and the flavorings and ingredients.

Studies are cited which concluded that American beer drinkers can't tell the difference between various brands of pale lagers, the most popular style of beer. On the other hand, college students in Bavaria are much more tuned into the subtleties of taste of the major brands of Munich helles lager, perhaps due to their greater exposure to their local beers from their early teens. The authors take this to be an argument for the repeal of "America's preposterously Puritanical and irresponsibly counterproductive minimum drinking age of 21."

Part 2 of the book is a catalog of the 250 beers, one per page, with a short history, a description of flavors and aromas, a comment on the bottle design, essential statistics, and a rating. I wish the book were longer and that more beers had been rated.… (mer)

We bought this to take on a trip to DC with a vegan family member and our baby. 1)This book is HUGE. If you're living in DC full time, I can see having a place for it, but it's way, way too big to lug on a trip. 2)I was really excited to see a list of "vegetarian and child friendly" restaurants.

Imagine my surprise when the 3rd place in a row listed as welcoming to kids was a stand-up only bar or a crowded snack stand. I don't know what the authors' think you do with a kid, but we can't take even the tiniest stroller into a bar where there's not enough room to walk between tables without turning sideways. When one of the placed recommended for dining with kids asked if we could collapse the stroller and leave it in the restroom, I knew this book was completely useless.

The criteria for a place to take kids seemed to be "has pizza or something like on the menu." Great, that's really helpful when a kid is 6, what about when they can't walk yet? I don't think anyone writing this book actually dines regularly with a child.

Meanwhile, the vegetarian recommendations... well only about 10% had something Vegan on the menu. (Or as our family member called it, "real vegetarian.") No, Fearless Critics, one salad with eggs and cheese on it on the menu does not a vegetarian dining experience make.

On top of that, we went to places the book said were good... and found bland, uninteresting food, again and again. The authors seemed to be more impressed with dim lighting and the availability of hard drinks than how the actual food tastes.… (mer)

I loved the book it gave me a lot to think about. It stresses personal taste over anything else and don't let things like advertising and price get in the way of that. Enjoy what you like and don't be sorry if no one else does. The process of the trials are very interesting and I wish I had gone to one of the tastings. The list itself provided is helpful because it gives you an idea of places to start if you've never tried wines and also gives you a few ideas to try. They also point out again personal taste will dictate if you like those wines. I have already tried wines made by the companies that are on the list and loved them.… (mer)