Beer Book Review

White Beer Travels is a website promoting Speciality Beer, such as Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, and Real Ale from the UK. But what's in a name, the site's name that is? All is revealed on the Home Page!

Schneider Weisse, a well-travelled, classic Wheat/White Beer, brewed in Bavaria by Schneider. Click on the image to go to their website

This Web page is a review of a book entitled "The Beer Drinker;s Handbook", by Kevin Trayner

Belgian Beer, German Beer, British Real Ale, North American Craft Beer and Speciality Beer and Specialty Beer from around the world, are all covered in the White Beer Travels website

This White Beer Travels website has been in operation since March, 2002. It promotes Speciality/Craft Beer from around the world: Belgian Beer, German Beer, Craft Beer from the USA and Canada, Real Ale from the UK, etc

Belgian Beer and other great Speciality/Craft Beers, these including Belgian Beer, Real Ale from the UK and Craft Beers from the USA and Canada, are promoted on this, the White Beer Travels website. It is a big site, so to get an outline idea of the contents, click here to go to the site's Contents page

Würzburg, in Germany, is world-renowned for its "Franken" wines. However, White (Wheat) Beers have certainly travelled to the city. The three different ones shown here are excellent examples. All are brewed in the city's Würzburger Hofbräu Brewery. Click on the glasses to go to the brewery's website, from which the image was pasted

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Your cursor is on a scan of the cover of 'The Beer Drinker's Handbook' by Kevin Trayner

The Beer Drinker's Handbook, by Kevin Trayner, published by New Holland Publishers, in May, 2002 (ISBN 1859747159).

John White's Review of the Above Book

The review is based on a copy of the book obtained by myself from www.amazon.co.uk for £14.39, the promised review/photo contributor's copy not having materialised.

I will begin this review by stating that it contains two photographs submitted to the publisher by myself. They were taken on White Beer Travels Beer Hunts or reconnaissance trips. One covers an open brew day at La Brasserie à Vapeur, Pipaix, Belgium, see page 103 of the book. It was taken by "Second Petal", Sylvia Clow, a White Beer Travels Beer Hunt and recce regular. The other photo is of the Parisian bar/restaurant, Au Trappiste. Very low resolution versions of these photos are to be found below and on the Links and General Beer Hunt Info pages respectively of the site, which can be reached by clicking on the hyperlinks in this sentence or on the buttons at the top and bottom of this page.

Open Brew Day, La Brasserie à Vapeur (www.vapeur.com), Pipaix, Belgium. The brewer, Jean-Louis Dits, is explaining an aspect of the brewing process to John White (the one leaning on the Mash Tun) and some of his Beer Hunters and other visitors.

Your cursor is on a scanned photo of Au Trappiste, a pub in Paris, France. The 'Moules - Bières' combination declared on the neon sign is common in such places: 'Mussels & Beer'

Au Trappiste, Paris, France, a marvellous Speciality Beer outlet that also does good food, including the Mussels (Moules) of the neon sign.

Au Trappiste is famous for its big list of Belgian and French Specialty Beers, its beer list featuring in the foreground of the photo on the right. Hence, when I submitted this photo to the publishers, I also sent the following description:

Au Trappiste, Paris

The Trappist (4, rue St.-Denis, tel +33 (0)1 42 33 08 50) is on the river Seine end of rue St.-Denis. It is a very friendly place, which is well worth a visit to get you in a good mood for the rest of the rue St.-Denis crawl, i.e. the pub crawl, as opposed to the street's sex show crawl! Outside, can be seen the 140 plus long beer list, which naturally includes a good selection of Belgian Trappist beers.

Below is the somewhat different description that actually accompanies the photo in the book:

The language of beer is international. At this Belgian Beer café in Paris, patrons can enjoy a refreshing pilsner, relax with a glass of wine, or perhaps just sip a cappuccino or café au lait.

What a load of tripe! Au Trappiste is not about drinking Pilsner, which in Paris generally means drinking a moderate French rice brew; the logo for a brewery that produces such fizzes is shown on the same page as the one featuring Au Trappiste. And what sort of beer book mentions two types of coffee in a bar, and only one type of beer, the coffees not even being ones normally partaken of in everyday French bars? Surely this is taking the concept of the coffee table beer book too far? All very unfortunate, Au Trappiste is all about Belgian and French Speciality Beers. Why do book publishers do such things, I ask myself time and time again?

Furthermore, they incorrectly attributed the photo to Sylvia Clow, as per the other one, for which I also sent a description. Of course, the accompanying description in the book contains an important error. And then they quote my name for the "Photography Agency", but do not spell it correctly, i.e. "John Whyte" not "John White"!

After this, I feel it not appropriate to review the book any further. For more information on Au Trappiste and other superb Specialty Beer outlets in Paris, consult my seventy-eight page Paris France: Guided by Speciality Beer, which is available from the Downloads page of this site.

John White (1945-), .

Belgian Beer, just about the world's most renowned Speciality Beer is promoted on this website, along with great beer from all over the world, including Germany