JasonKoivu

'Round about '07 I took the plunge into beer brewing. Ah, those were delicious days **le sigh** As a consequence my wife made that Christmas's theme very beery. Beers of the World was as pretty a present as any picture, for it is essentially a picture book. There is some text - helpful stats and specifications- but the pics of bottles and frothy glasses of the golden nectar dominate the page.

Another thing it does to the eyes is open them. For instance, were you aware that Canada makes other kinds of beer besides Molson? Did you care? The answer is probably no on both counts, so lets move on. Just by flipping through the big ol' pages you can see that the "Latin America and Caribbean" region mostly sticks with light beer, probably mostly made from corn (gross!). You've got to assume it's because of the heat. Who wants to drink a double chocolate oatmeal stout when the thermometer is topping 100? What's surprising is that the slim "Scandinavian" section also would indicate that they too prefer light beers one associates with warm, summery days. What the hell? You'd expect them to be chowing down on knife-n-forkers like Ireland's plethora of thick-as-mud stouts and reds like Guinness, Beamish, Murphys, etc etc etc.

Other notable take-aways:
- France should just quit with their brewing farce and stick to wine. Why?
- Belgium's got you covered.
- The Czech Republic should sue Budweiser into the ground.
- Okay England we get it, every one of your bajillion villages makes its own beer.
- Africa apparently doesn't make beer?
- BULLSHIT! (I've had a tasty Ethiopian stout)
- Microbreweries have helped America catch up with the rest of the world.

If you are of the mind that all beer is the same, you are incorrect. Seek out Beers of the World and get yourself educated!