The United States of Beer


Book Description

From the author of "the definitive history of bourbon" (Sacramento Bee) comes "an irreverent but informative jaunt through the history of America and beer" (Chicago Tribune) Dane Huckelbridge's masterful cultural history charts the wild, engrossing, and surprisingly complex story of our favorite alcoholic drink, showing how America has been under the influence of beer at almost every stage. From the earliest Native American corn brew to the waves of immigrants who brought with them their unique brewing traditions, to the seemingly infinite varieties of craft-brewed suds found on tap today, beer has claimed an outsized place in our culture that far transcends its few simple ingredients—water, barley, and hops. Despite the drink's ubiquity—Americans consume six billion gallons a year—the story of beer in the USA is as diverse and fascinating as the country itself. Drawing upon a wealth of little-known historical sources, explaining the scientific breakthroughs that have shaped beer's evolution, and mixing in more than a splash of dedicated on-the-ground research, The United States of Beer offers a raucous and enlightening toast to the all-American drink.




The United States of Craft Beer, Updated Edition


Book Description

Discover the best craft beer breweries in America as you travel state by state with this fun and updated craft beer roadmap. From California to Maine, there are tons of great craft breweries to explore! In The United States of Craft Beer, beer expert and home-brewer Jess Lebow invites you along this state-by-state exploration of America’s greatest breweries. From Jack’s Abby Brewing in Massachusetts to Maui Brewing Company in Hawaii, this guide takes you to fifty of the best breweries in the country and samples more than fifty-handcrafted beers. Learn everything you want to know about the people who make the nation’s best-tasting beers and the innovative brewing methods that help create the perfect batch. Now you can experience the ultimate bar crawl, as you sample and savor every delicious sip the United States has to offer!




The Beer Book


Book Description

Now seen as something to taste, savor, travel for, and talk about, beer really is the new wine. This new, up-to-date edition of The Beer Book features every significant brewery in every significant brewing nation, and showcases new beers and specialist beers, as well as the classics. With a visual catalog of more than 800 breweries, whistle-stop beer trails, and key beer facts throughout, The Beer Book is the indispensable guide to the world's favorite drink.




The United States of Beer


Book Description

From the author of Bourbon, “the definitive history” (Sacramento Bee), comes the rollicking and revealing story of beer in America, in the spirit of Salt or Cod. In The United States of Beer, Dane Huckelbridge, the author of Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit—a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance bestseller—charts the surprisingly fascinating history of Americans’ relationship with their most popular alcoholic beverage. Huckelbridge shows how beer has evolved along with the country—from a local and regional product (once upon a time every American city has its own brewery and iconic beer brand) to the rise of global mega-brands like Budweiser and Miller that are synonymous with U.S. capitalism. We learn of George Washington’s failed attempt to brew beer at Mount Vernon with molasses instead of barley, of the 19th century “Beer Barons” like Captain Frederick Pabst, Adolphus Busch, and Joseph Schlitz who revolutionized commercial brewing and built lucrative empires—and the American immigrant experience—and of the advances in brewing and bottling technology that allowed beer to flow in the saloons of the Wild West. Throughout, Huckelbridge draws connections between seemingly remote fragments of the American past, and shares his reports from the frontlines of today’s craft-brewing revolution.




Brewing Battles


Book Description

Brewing Battles is the comprehensive story of the American brewing industry and its leading figures, from its colonial beginnings to the present. Although today s beer companies have their roots in pre-Prohibition business, historical developments since Repeal have affected industry at large, brewers, and the tastes and habits of beer-drinking consumers as well. Brewing Battles explores the struggle of German immigrant brewers to establish themselves in America, within the context of federal taxation and a growing temperance movement, their losing battle against Prohibition, their rebirth and transformation into a corporate oligarchy, and the determination of home and micro brewers to reassert craft as the raison d etre of brewing. Brewing Battles looks at beer s cultural meaning from the vantage point of the brewers and their goals for market domination. Beer consumption changed over time, beginning with an alcoholic high in the early 19th century and ending with a neo-temperance low in the early 21st. The public places where people drank also changed from colonial ordinaries in peoples homes to the saloon and back to home via the disposable six pack. The book explores this story as brewers fought to create and control these changing patterns of consumption. Drinking alcohol has remained a favored activity in American society and while beer is ubiquitous, our country harbors a persistent ambivalence about drinking. An examination of how the industry prevailed in a sometimes unreceptive environment exemplifies how business helps shape public opinion. Brewing Battles reveals the complicated changes in the economic clout of the industry. Prior to the institution of the income tax in 1913 the liquor industry contributed over 50% of the federal government s internal revenue; 19th century temperance advocates portrayed the liquor industry as King Alcohol. Today their tax contribution is only 1% yet brewing actually has a much more pervasive influence, touching on almost every aspect of modern American life and contributing greatly to the GNP. Brewing Battles is this story.




The Oxford Companion to Beer


Book Description

"The first major reference work to investigate the history and vast scope of beer, The Oxford Companion to Beer features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 166 of the world's most prominent beer experts"-- Provided by publisher.




Italy: Beer Country the Story of Italian Craft Beer


Book Description

"Presents the Italian craft beer movement's humble roots and the passionate brewers whose persistent, dogged determination allowed them to overcome cultural bias, low expectations, and Italy's infuriating taxes, to forge what has become Europe's most vibrant beer scene"--Page 4 of cover.




The Ultimate Book of Craft Beer


Book Description

The Ultimate Book of Craft Beer is the bible for beer lovers and foodies everywhere. From simple lagers to complex stouts, scattered between all the sage advice and mouth-watering recipes, there are profiles on beers from around the world that you’ll definitely want to try. Perfect for everyone from beginners to old hands, this fun and accessible book guides you from how beer is made and how to store it, to what to look for when you’re in a pub. This guide shows you how to identify the beer styles you might like to try with a ‘if you like this, try this’ section, how to make the most gooey indulgent chocolate brownies with beer, and when and how to add a little pizazz to your cocktails with a splash or two of your favourite brew.




Great American Microbrewery Beer Book


Book Description

With profiles of more than 325 of America's most popular microbreweries and photos of their signature beers, this is the guide for aficionados who want to identify the players in today's beer scene. The profiles give a brief history of each brewery and describe the characteristics of their award-winning beers. Thirty beer-based recipes are included. Full color throughout.




Untapped


Book Description

Untapped collects twelve previously unpublished essays that analyze the rise of craft beer from social and cultural perspectives. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe there has been exponential growth in the number of small independent breweries over the past thirty years - a reversal of the corporate consolidation and narrowing of consumer choice that characterized much of the twentieth century. While there are legal and policy components involved in this shift, the contributors to Untapped ask broader questions. How does the growth of craft beer connect to trends like the farm-to-table movement, gentrification, the rise of the "creative class," and changing attitudes toward both cities and farms? How do craft beers conjure history, place, and authenticity? At perhaps the most fundamental level, how does the rise of craft beer call into being new communities that may challenge or reinscribe hierarchies based on gender, class, and race?