Do you like beer? Do you read? If not, do you know someone who does? Well, have I got a treat for you! Here are Hail the Ale!’s recommended beer books. They make great holiday gifts and if you buy them using the Amazon links provided, I’ll make a few pennies.
Books for the Beer Geek
Beer (Eyewitness Companions) by Michael Jackson, 2007 
Amazon Description:
From fashionable bars to traditional pubs, a new generation of connoisseur is discovering the variety and diversity of beers from around the world, from the brewing heartlands of Europe to the new world beers of the Far East and Latin America. Whether you are looking to find out more about the brewing and history your favorite beer or want to discover a hidden gem that you’ve never tried, this book tells and shows you everything you need to know from comprehensive tasting notes to how to choose and serve each beer correctly.
Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide by Michael Jackson, 2000 
Amazon Description:
Which beers are the best? Get the inside stories on Czech pilseners, German lagers, Belgian wheat beers and Trappist brews, classic British ales, Irish stouts, and American microbrews. The shelves of the supermarkets are packed with an every-changing array of beers from around the world. Bars, pubs, restaurants, and clubs stock an ever-greater range. Which will suit your tastes? Which is the beer for the moment? Will this beer be light, crisp, and refreshing; this one sweet, that one dry and bitter? TV Beer Hunter Michael Jackson has tasted them all. He describes the flavor and body of each beer, explains why beers taste the way they do, notes their strength and ideal serving temperature. Spot the best beers with aid of superbly shot photographs, each showing the bottle, label, and the properly poured beer in its ideal glass. Never before has beer looked so beautiful.
Beer Books for Thinkers
Beer and Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Drinking Foreword by Michael Jackson, edited by Steven D. Hales, 2007 
Amazon Description:
A beer-lovers’ book which playfully examines a myriad of philosophical concerns related to beer consumption.
- Effectively demonstrates how real philosophical issues exist just below the surface of our everyday activities
- Divided into four sections: The Art of the Beer; The Ethics of Beer: Pleasures, Freedom, and Character; The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Beer; and Beer in the History of Philosophy
- Uses the context of beer to expose George Berkeley’s views on fermented beverages as a medical cure; to inspect Immanuel Kant’s transcendental idealism through beer goggles, and to sort out Friedrich Nietzsche’s simultaneous praise and condemnation of intoxication
- Written for beer-lovers who want to think while they drink
The U.S. Brewing Industry: Data and Economic Analysis by Victor J. Tremblay and Carol Horton Tremblay, 2007 
Amazon Description:
This definitive study uses theory, history, and data to analyze the evolution of the US brewing industry from a fragmented market to an emerging oligopoly. Drawing on a rich and extensive data set and applying the theoretical tools of industrial organization, game theory, and management strategy, the authors provide new quantitative and qualitative perspectives on an industry they characterize as “a veritable market laboratory.” The US brewing industry illustrates many of the important topics in industrial organization, economic policy, and business strategy, including industry concentration, technological change, brand proliferation, and mixed pricing strategies.
Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter, foreword by Michael R. Bloomberg 
Amazon Description:
This winning tale of the rise of the Brooklyn Brewery follows the basic pattern of every entrepreneur’s memoir: a restless visionary sets out to accomplish a dream, barely survives a series of setbacks, emerges victorious—and ready to tell readers how they can do the same. But this account serves up more than the usual suds and foam—its counsel is sound and its prose lively, and it should appeal to both wannabe industrialists and beer drinkers, not that those categories are mutually exclusive. In fact, the authors, foreign correspondent Hindy and banker Potter, decided to found their New York brewery, now 17 years in business and among the top 40 in the U.S. in sales, after consuming many bottles of Hindy’s homebrew. The longtime partners tell their story in engaging, candid voices, delivering cautionary anecdotes, reflections on longstanding disagreements and lingering resentments, and brutally frank self-assessments. It helps the story immeasurably that beer is a more colorful subject than, say, spreadsheet software, a fact that gets the reader past the inevitable chapter on financing. Though Hindy and Potter may not help the aspiring entrepreneur strike gold, they offer a compelling model and a heartening story.
Books for Homebrewers
Clone Brews: Homebrew Recipes for 150 Commercial Beers by Tess Szamatulski and Mark Szamatulski, 1998 
Amazon Description:
You can now brew beer at home that tastes just like your favorite brands with this collection of 150 “cloned” recipes for premium beers from around the world, such as:
- Pilsner Urquell
- Pete’s Wicked Ale
- Guinness Extra Stout
- Paulaner Hefe-Weizen
- Dos Equis
- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
- Bass Ale
- Anchor Steam Beer
- Foster’s Lager
- Chimay Red
All 150 recipes come with separate extract, mini-mash, and all-grain instructions. You’ll also find tips for replicating any commercial beer so you can make your own clones when you discover a new favorite!
Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Home by Sam Calagione, 2006 
Amazon Description:
Extreme Brewing is a recipe-driven resource for aspiring home brewers who are interested in recreating these specialty beers at home, but don’t have the time to learn the in-depth science and lore behind home-brewing. As such, all recipes are malt-syrup based (the simplest brewing method) with variations for partial-grain brewing. While recipes are included for classic beer styles — ales and lagers — Extreme Brewing has a unique emphasis on hybrid styles that use fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices to create unique flavor combinations. Once their brew is complete, readers can turn to section three, The Rewards of Your Labor, to receive guidance on presentation, including corking, bottle selection and labeling as well as detailed information on food pairings, including recipes for beer infused dishes and fun ideas for themed dinners that tallow the reader to share their creations with family and friends.
The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian, 1991 
Amazon Description:
“Relax. Don’t Worry. Have a home-brew.” It’s the mantra of home-brewing, a phrase that nods to the technical aspects of brewing only as it dismisses all stress with a sip and a smile. Home-brewing is fun, after all. Charlie Papazian didn’t just coin the term, he virtually spearheaded the home-brewing revival in America. Figurehead for the American Homebrewers Association and its membership magazine, Zymurgy, Papazian is one of the founding fathers of the modern home-brewing scene.
Often touted as the home-brewer’s bible, The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing charts a beginning brewer’s course, keeping the focus on enjoying the process as well as the results of home-brewing. An easy-to-use table of ingredients helps the newly initiated design their own recipes, although many home-brewers happily spend years sampling those Papazian provides. Dozens of recipes for all levels of experience are here, christened with the most improbable (and irresistible?) names in home-brewing literature (“Toad Spit Stout,” “Cheeks to the Wind Mild,” and “Goat Scrotum Ale” among them).
[tags]beer, books, beer books[/tags]
Good list. I own a few of these but plan to check out the others.