Mutli-million dollar branded or small-scale craft creation? Lager or ale? Boldly quaffed or genteelly sipped? However you enjoy your beer, you may not know as much about it as you think. 30-Second Beer is here to enlighten you, with a trip around the world's beers, a look at brewing history, a dissection of the different sorts of brew and their unique characteristics, and an up-to-date overview of the current craft scene and the various (and ever-changing) fashions in beer drinking. 50 topics, divided under seven chapter headings, offering short, witty summaries, whether covering the basics or trade secrets. You'll pick up the knowledge without noticing-and by the time you reach the last page, you'll be able to hold your own with local beer experts anywhere in the world.

Pilsners, blonde ales, India pale ales, lagers, porters, stouts: the varieties and styles of beer are endless. But as diverse as the drink is, its appeal is universal - beer is the most-consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. From pubs and inns to restaurants, bars and microbreweries, beer has made itself a staple drink around the globe. Celebrating the heritage of the world's favourite tipple, Gavin D. Smith traces beer from its earliest days to its contemporary consumption. After exploring the evolution of brewing technology, the book travels from Mexico to Milwaukee, Beijing, Bruges and beyond, demonstrating the dazzling variety of beer styles and brewing processes to be found around the world. Once brewed in monasteries to be consumed as 'liquid bread' on fast days, beer is now the drink of choice at festivals and celebrations worldwide. Containing a wealth of detail in its concise, wonderfully illustrated pages, Beer will appeal to connoisseurs and casual fans alike.

Poet and historian Angus Martin was born in Campbeltown in 1952 and has lived there all his life. In this, his thirty-seventh book, he has employed his intimate knowledge of the history and families of his native community to produce the definitive account of the distillers, distilleries and related trades and industries which transformed a small West Highland fishing town into the whisky-making capital of the world. Exhaustive research in neglected sources has resulted a study with unprecedented detail and insight.