The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider
By Beth Demmon, Mango Publishing
What it is: A dive into American craft cider today, including key things to know, tips on what to look for when you taste one, advice on pairing with food, and a whole range of different styles of cider and their producers, including wild and sour ciders, hopped ciders, stronger ciders, those with other fruits, and top makers from around the country.
Who it’s for: Demmon, a frequent contributor to Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine®, wrote the book specifically with beer geeks in mind—those well-versed in the best of beer but hesitant to pull the trigger on a drink they know less about.
Brewery Safety: Principles, Processes, and People
By Matt Stinchfield, Brewers Publications
What it is: A textbook and manual that covers a range of essential topics for ensuring that a commercial brewery is both as safe as possible and meets regulatory standards, from OSHA to PPE to building a culture of safety.
Who it’s for: Commercial brewers and anyone who works back-of-house; this one really is for the brewery library.
Bavarian Brewing in the 19th Century: A Reference Guide
By Andreas Krennmair, self-published
What it is: An explanation of technical findings on the beers, malts, mashing methods, and more in various parts of 1800s Bavaria, from a homebrewer-author fluent in German, English, and brewing, and who knows how to find and make sense of the original sources. (It wasn’t just helles, dunkel, and weissbier.)
Who it’s for: Brewers who can never get enough information about historical German beers and the details about how they were made.
Stout! London’s Dark Secret and Blitzkrieg! Vol. 1 & 2
By Ron Pattinson, self-published
What they are: A few of the latest from the prolific beer historian known for digging into old brewing logs and other primary sources for his blog, Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. With more data than context, and more context than narrative, the first focuses on stout in London, and the other focuses on British and Dutch beer during World War II—and both have reams and reams of recipes.
Who they’re for: British-style brewing enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys the sport of myth-busting.
Cask: The Real Story of Britain’s Unique Beer Culture
By Des de Moor, CAMRA Books
What it is: A serious look at the history, tradition, and current state of cask ale in Britain, including the art of cellarmanship, the tension between commercial viability and a variable product, controversies over how “real ale” is defined, and more.
Who it’s for: Anyone at all who loves cask ale and wants to know more about it.