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... or should that be bar table?  Anyway, as I've begun collecting books on beer I've now accumulated a couple very enjoyable ones that I consider light enough to be appropriate for the coffee table or the toilet tank.  The two books are The Beer Book and the "Eyewitness companions" Beer.

The first of these, The Beer Book, is largely a collection of photos of beer bottles from breweries throughout the world.  Breweries are presented by region or nationality and for each brewery the book provides a blurb about the brewery itself and then a brief description of a few beers from that brewery.  Interspersed throughout are vignettes with features of various aspects of beer and the brewing industry.  The production value of this book it pretty high- it's hardbound and has glossy, color pages throughout.

The second book lists the esteemed beer expert Michael Jackson as its editor-in-chief.  The bulk of this book is also descriptions of breweries and their beers.  The layout is different and there are far less pictures of bottles.  While both books include introductory chapters this one is a better read and goes into some detail about beers from certain regions.

While these books are similar and could be seen as substitutes for one another, I've enjoyed them both and learned bits from each.  I haven't had them long enough to determine if I will refer to one more frequently than the other.  The one area where the companion "Beer" book has a clear advantage is in form factor- it's smaller and could arguably be considered a pocket guide that could inconspicuously accompany you to your favorite beer bar.

This weekend my local homebrew club hosted its annual competition, the Hogtown Brew-off.  This was the first competition I'd attended and I did so as a steward; however, I also got an opportunity to judge a flight of beer.  For judging I was paired with Dave, a member of my club who is an experienced BJCP judge.  Dave was extremely patient and helpful- he helped me come up with constructive comments based on my observations of the beers we were tasting.  I found judging to be extremely challenging but in a positive way that forced me to push my senses and vocabulary into a mode of use that is foreign to me.  I plan to continue on this path and partake in the BJCB judging course being given by my club later this year.  On the other hand, I found stewarding to be simple and easily enjoyable, but nonetheless educational.  I stewarded two flights and was able to listen to the comments of very insightful, experienced judges including John Larson from NFBL and Homebrew Den in Tallahassee and Danny Williams from HAMS- these guys know what they're doing.

Participating as a steward, judge, and otherwise do-boy for the competition was very encouraging, but there were other aspects of the competition that I didn't enjoy.  Specifically, the closing banquet for the competition was a little disheartening as it was the first time it really hit me that this hobby attracts drunks.  I know, "duh", is my first intellectual response too, but this point really hadn't hit me emotionally until seeing certain behaviors that came through as people got increasingly intoxicated as the night proceeded.  Some of the drunks were simply boisterous and funloving; I find these guys almost heartwarming.  Think about this- here's somebody who has no inhibitions and all you get is friendliness and good nature- this person is probably OK... annoying, and certainly in no shape to drive, but otherwise decent.  In stark opposition to this are the drunks who really show their asses.  For instance one guy who won several brewing awards and raffle prizes would stand up, give the bird to everybody in the room and holler "fuck you all".  While this particular jerk didn't appear to actually be hostile (he would perform said routine with a doofy smile on his face) this sort of classy behavior strikes me as really inappropriate within a large group of mixed company.  I suppose I should expect the full range of stupid human behavior in a room overflowing with beer and good cheer.  At least there weren't any hostile drunks- of course I can't image fighting or truly confrontational behavior being tolerated in the slightest in a setting like this.  I digress...

All in all I had a busy and productive weekend working with club members and judges from other clubs to pull off a really outstanding event.  We managed to judge just under 300 competition entries in less than two days.  It felt like controlled chaos, but thanks to the hard work of many people it went off very well.

As for outcomes for my entries- that's another story for another article.