Finally, a Canadian book that features beer as part of a fine dining experience. Beer can be so much more than a liquid companion to hockey games and pizza, something Europeans have realized for decades. The Beerbistro Cookbook puts beer in its rightful place — in the kitchen — and authors Brian Morin, a master chef of bière cuisine, and Stephen Beaumont, Canada’s most famous beer writer, proudly illustrate their personal missions of changing the way people think about beer.

The book covers everything from beer basics to incorporating beer into all five courses of any fine meal. It encourages foodies to welcome beer into the kitchen as a marinade, in a sauce, as a poaching liquid and at the table to accompany all levels of epicurean delight. This book also introduces beer and cheese pairings, which, if tried, will make you realize that beer is cheese’s true soulmate. For the adventurous, the book also includes ice cream, or in this case, beerscream, and a beer-infused take on tiramisu called beeramisu.

Rather than recommend specific beers, the book breaks down beer’s 70-plus styles into 10 categories, for recipe purposes, that even the beer newbie can understand. The simplified styles include: appetizing, bold, fruity and contemplative night cap. The eye-catching photography presented in The Beerbistro Cookbook will have any beer drinker or food lover drooling.

You can’t review a cookbook without at least trying to create one recipe. Well, we made three. Delicious baby back pork ribs, initially braised in Unibroue’s Apple Éphémère, then finished off with barbecue sauce on the grill. The meat fell off the bone and retained big apple notes from the Éphémère. We paired the ribs with an apple slaw dressed with a witbier and truffle oil vinaigrette. We rounded out the meal with cornbread muffins. A superb summer dinner.

One word of caution: This book contains several recipes that reference other recipes, so read everything carefully, make sure you’ve got all the required ingredients before starting and allow enough time for completion.

This book is welcoming to all levels of beer knowledge and even offers points of interest to an old grizzled beer writer like me. The passion for the topic of beer’s rightful place in cuisine and all its gustatory delights resonates throughout the book. It’s a must own for anyone with an interest in the topic.