I’m finding it harder and harder every year to come up with good gift items, not only for other people, but for myself especially. By the age of 23, I feel like I’ve received everything that is really appropriate as a Christmas gift, so my Christmas list the last few years has been pretty sparse. However, if you’re a beer lover, there are endless gadgets, supplies, and products to satisfy the appetite of even the most amateur beer snob.

But one gift that really works well for a beer lover of any variety is beer literature. Now, you could fill an entire library with books on beer if you wanted, but that wouldn’t be very practical or cheap (though if you do have a beer book library in your house, I owe you a cold one). However, giving the gift of beer literature is a great holiday gift, and something I’d really recommend. I’d like to single out five reads that are great for all beer lovers. Enjoy.

“Ultimate Beer” by Michael Jackson; $19.77 from Amazon.com
No, not that Michael Jackson. But this Michael Jackson should probably be just as famous. One of the world’s foremost beer intellectuals, Mr. Jackson presents “Ultimate Beer,” a large, hardcover coffee table book that’s perfect for anyone looking to pair beers with food, or to just look at the wonderful photos. Michael Jackson goes into great detail about the types of beer throughout the world, and when to enjoy each of these types. A perfect book for anyone who knows everything about beer, or for someone who is just getting into tasting on their own, “Ultimate Beer” is the book that will have anyone with beer on the mind in a great mood this holiday season.

“The Beer Book” by Sam Calagione; $16.50 from Amazon.com
A book I own and love, “The Beer Book” by Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head, is the perfect book for anyone obsessed with American craft breweries. Featuring short profiles from breweries all over the United States, as well as the world, “The Beer Book” is the encyclopedia of the breweries you need to know about. Interspersed in the shorter profiles are longer features on the various beer types, as well as deeper looks into brewing processes, background info on where beer came from, and in-depth looks into some of the stranger beers and breweries in the world. This book is a must for anyone looking to branch out in their beer tasting, and it provides a handy checklist for making sure you’ve been to as many breweries as possible. Spoiler alert: you have got a long, long, long, long, long way to go before you reach them all.

“How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time” by John Palmer; $13.57 from Amazon.com
This is the book you must own if you want to become the next Great American Brewer. John Palmer tells you how to make beer without leaving out any details. Palmer sets the foundation to start creating your own beer the right way, all while displaying his wonderful wit and prose. The book might seem a little overwhelming for the first time brewer, but if you want to know how to make beer, and how to make it right, this is a great place to start. Even if you’ve brewed before, there’s nothing like learning new techniques and also moving toward making your own beer totally from scratch.

“Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass” by Randy Mosher; $13.57 from Amazon.com
If Palmer’s book is your first vehicle, then “Radical Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass” is your Corvette. Mosher doesn’t settle for creating just the standard beers. He wants to show even the guy next-door that making wild beers isn’t far from reality. When Michael Jackson is writing the foreword, you know this is a special book. If you’re a first time brewer, you might want to pick this one up a little tentatively, but don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon when you’re just starting out. The best beers in the world can be made this way. With Mosher’s guidance, you’ll be creating unique beers that may not even exist yet in no time at all.

“Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer” by Marueen Ogle; $10.20 from Amazon.com
We may not all be fans of the macrobreweries and the beers they’re pumping out today, but America’s current beer establishment owes a lot to those once burgeoning giants. Maureen Ogle’s “Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer” chronicles the rise of the American brewery, its journey through prohibition, and how the microbreweries have to the forefront today. A beer book for the history lover, Ogle’s research uncovers interesting anecdotes about all things brew, including the fact that we’re the ones to blame for the big-time breweries producing weaker brews. This should be required reading for any American history class.