Dear Mr. Oliver,
Your book The Brewmaster’s Table is a modern classic. It is the basic reference on beer and styles at this point in time. I know that it is ostensibly about the under-appreciated practice of matching food and beer, and it does a great job of illuminating that topic, but it really is so much more than that. I hope that you can see that The Brewmaster’s Table stands almost alone, and, in my opinion, best fills the immense gap in beer literature left by Michael Jackson’s passing.
You may not have set out to create a basic style-by-style reference when you wrote The Brewmaster’s Table, but you did it, and better than anyone since Mr. Jackson. Your passion for the beers of England, Belgium, Germany and the United States is palpable in the pages of your work. I do not see this appreciation and understanding in any other attempt at a comprehensive beer book. In addition, the insights you bring from having brewed so many of these styles gives a richness and depth to The Brewmaster’s Table that other books lack. Thank you for writing such a brilliant book.
Here’s the catch though. As much as I love The Brewmaster’s Table, the world of beer is changing so quickly that the producer profiles are quickly getting out of date. Breweries have closed or been bought resulting in fundamental changes, or complete elimination of their products. New stars have arisen, and new categories of beer have been created. You know this as you are in the middle of the swirl of the continuing beer revolution.
The Brewmaster’s Table continues to be my top recommendation when people ask me for an introductory book about beer, but I would dearly love to see it receive the update it needs. I know it’s already a pretty long book and covering additional producers and developing styles and trends might make it even longer, but I’m a book guy. I like big books, and don’t find it remotely daunting, particularly for the reference-quality material like The Brewmaster’s Table (if you’re looking for a way to trim a page or two, some of the swipes about wine are a bit hyperbolic and wouldn’t be missed). Look at the wine writing of Clive Coates, or Jancis Robinson‘s work with the Oxford Companion to Wine. Heck, John Haeger wrote a book 70 pages longer than yours just on North American Pinot Noir – and his book has none of the beautiful photography that your does.
Mr. Oliver, you stand in a unique position. You have a written a great book that has the potential to be an incredible resource for the ever-growing family of people who love and appreciate good beer. I would love to see it get the update, expansion and careful tending that it needs to retain its place at the top of my beer library. I believe there is a market for this book, and I hope that you decide to invest more of your time and talents into the evolution of The Brewmaster’s Table.
If you choose not to, my most sincere and grateful thanks for having done what you already have. If I can be of assistance in any way, do not hesitate to contact me.
Cheers!
Garrett Oliver is currently working on The Oxford Companion to Beer. A copy of the press release is still floating around here.
It could well become the thorough, living survey we’ve been waiting for.
I hope Mr. Oliver someday revisits Table, though. Imagine what it could be when necessity no longer forces him to tuck half of a survey inside of it. It might even have room for those recipes he commisioned.
Great news on an Oxford Companion to Beer. My Google-fu failed to turn that up. That would be a great resource, and I see Mr. Oliver having the same even-handed editorial chops that Jancis Robinson employed to make the OCtW such a great resource.
Hello Troy,
Thank you very much for your kind comments. It’s gratifying that people have enjoyed “The Brewmaster’s Table” as much as they have and they continue to find it a useful resource. That said, I definitely take your comments on board – no book of this sort is entirely timeless, and the world of beer changes rapidly. My feeling is that the essentials of what the book covers have changed little, but the “beer scene” has evolved considerably, especially in the U.S. Any new edition would certainly have to include more exceptional American breweries, but also new breweries from Denmark to Italy.
While I’d love to update “The Brewmaster’s Table” one of these days, I designed the book to cover breweries that I thought would still be around for at least 10 or 15 years. And the principles of beer and food pairing won’t have changed – there are just more beers to play with.
In the meantime, as someone pointed out above, I’m engaged as the editor-in-chief of “The Oxford Companion to Beer” for Oxford University Press. If you’ve seen Robinson’s wine “Companion”, you realize the enormity of the project. The “Companion” is a book that needs doing, and I hope that it will fill a lot of gaps. Once that book is published, if any publisher wants to work with me on a revision of “The Brewmaster’s Table”, I’m sure I’ll be honored to have a go at it. For now, I slip back under the bus, where I shall remain until I turn in the “Companion” manuscript sometime next year…
Cheers,
Garrett Oliver
Brewmaster, The Brooklyn Brewery
Editor-in-Chief, “The Oxford Companion to Beer”
Mr. Oliver,
Thanks for your comment. I’m the proud owner of very well-worn copies of the first two editions of Ms. Robinson’s OCtW, and send my best wishes for the completion of that monumental task. I can’t think of better brewer and writer for the job.
Cheers,
Dave
beerwineandwhisky.com
Ok, now that was pretty cool! Even if…lol!
Yes,
very cool. Even if……
Just refer to him as “Gary” from now on
C
That was my bad. I posted the link on his facebook wall and he must have thought it was me.
Troy
No worries, Troy. It’s not about me – it’s about a great book getting the attention it deserves. I’m really excited about the idea of an Oxford Companion to Beer.
Thanks for taking the effort to get the link to his attention. I had no idea Mr. Oliver was on Facebook.
I hear everyone’s on Facebook these days. I guess this is proof.
(For the record, I am NOT!)