Imagine drinking a cool beer with good friends and having this jewel as a conversation starter!

This special leather-bound edition is a paean to beer. It covers the history of how we got from gruel beer to black IPA in 10,000 years, the alchemy of beer -- malts, grains, and the miracle of hops -- and  varieties, introducing dozens of styles and hundreds of recommended brews, which have been divided into four sections -- Ales, Wheat Beers, Lagers, and Tart and Wild Ales -- each described in mouthwatering detail.  With interesting notes on how to read a Belgian label, the talk of two Budweisers, porter, the first super style; and what exactly a lager is, this book is all about the pleasure of beer. You don't merely taste it, you experience it.