Exclusive Teaser - The Oxford Companion To Beer

A beautiful cover for a beautiful book

The Oxford Companion To Beer, edited by Garrett Oliver, the author of The Brewmaster's Table, is slated to be released in October, but here is a small teaser just for Great Canadian Beer Blog readers.

The book is being billed as the most comprehensive reference book on beer ever published, and with 868 pages packed with over 1,100 entries by 160 different beer industry authoritarians from across the world, it should deliver. The contributors include - brewers, journalists, scientists, restauranteurs, importers, home brewers, distributors and much more, and their contributions to The Oxford Companion To Beer cover everything that has to do with our favourite beverage. 

Our own Josh Rubin, the Toronto Star beer columnist, contributed to this book, helping cover the Canadian content. "It’s pretty cool to be involved in a project like this, and I was honoured to be asked," said Rubin. "I contributed five entries to the Oxford Companion to Beer, including the Canada national entry, a few company profiles, and some technical entries."

Most people I know in the industry (brewers, sales reps, writers, etc.) tell me that The Brewmaster's Table, which was released in 2003, is their beer bible, something they refer to over and over again, but from what I've seen from Oxford, in terms of the preview I've been provided with, this book will surely be an instant favourite.

That being said, the book won't only be for industry people. Sections on homebrewing, the history of the English pub, style definitions and brewing terms, traditional drinking habits in various countries, biographical accounts of worldly brewing pioneers and more, will be of great interest to beer enthusiasts' the world over.

Rubin agrees. "This is a book I’d be buying even if I weren’t involved in it – there are some amazing people who have contributed to it, and Garrett’s an incredibly knowledgeable guy. I can’t wait to see the finished product. As a newspaper guy, I’m used to seeing my stuff appear in the paper the next day, or online right way, so this suspense is killing me!"


Keep an eye out here for more information as the release date draws closer. In the meantime, please enjoy the following teaser pages.
“Reprinted with permission from The Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver published by Oxford University Press, Inc. © 2011 Oxford University Press”.

“Reprinted with permission from The Oxford Companion to Beer edited by Garrett Oliver published by Oxford University Press, Inc. © 2011 Oxford University Press”.