There has never been a better time to drink quality beer. The number and variety of excellent beers in general circulation has never been greater, both in the pub (where guest ales and beer festivals are regular features) and in the supermarket. More people than ever are searching for an understanding of what makes a great beer, and this book meets that demand by presenting a crash course in beer appreciation, with short cuts to an understanding of the beer styles of the world, beer flavours, how beer is made, the ingredients, breweries and museums to visit, and more. So you want...is the ideal book, for anyone, from beginners to the more experienced, who wants to further their knowledge and enjoyment of beer. The novelty of this book - and its key point of difference with other beer titles - is that it doesn't just relate the facts but helps readers reach conclusions for themselves. A key element is formed by the interactive tastings that show readers, through their own taste-buds, what beer is all about.The book covers all the basics of beer knowledge (and more) but then points readers in the right direction for a greater understanding - towards places to visit, people to talk to and in-depth books to read.

Beer and Society: How We Make Beer and Beer Makes Us takes readers on a lively journey through the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of the modern beer world. This book illustrates that beer is far more than a beverage. As a finely-crafted cultural product, beer can be a part of our identity, a source of pleasure and camaraderie, an object of connoisseurship, and a livelihood for those who are behind the beer itself. Drawing on leading sociological and psychological perspectives, the authors argue that our enduring relationship with beer reflects the very roots of our society, including its collective values and norms, power structures, and persistent inequities based on race, gender, sexuality, and social class. Beer and Society explores beer as an embodiment of who we are and a force to energize social change.

The beer-lovers' bible is fully revised and updated each year to feature recommended pubs across the United Kingdom that serve the best real ale. The GBG is completely independent, with listings based entirely on evaluation by CAMRA members. The unique breweries section lists every brewery - micro, regional and national - that produces real ale in the UK, and their beers. Tasting notes for the beers, compiled by CAMRA-trained tasting teams, are also included. This is the complete book for beer lovers and for anyone wanting to experience the UK's finest pubs.

The pilgrims in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales begin their journey in a London inn and they stay at many more as they wend their way to Becket's tomb. Leading beer writer Roger Protz remains faithful to the route, visiting pubs of historic interest and breweries old and new before embarking on the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury, revealing fascinating history as well as a few more spots to sample a pint. The Canterbury Ales is a feast of a book for those who love good beer, pubs, breweries ... and Chaucer's literary masterpiece.

Beer and Society: How We Make Beer and Beer Makes Us takes readers on a lively journey through the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of the modern beer world. The book illustrates that beer is far more than a beverage. It represents a marker of identity, a source of pleasure, an object of connoisseurship, and a livelihood for those who produce and distribute it. Drawing on leading sociological and psychological perspectives, the authors argue that our enduring relationship with beer and its many varieties reflects the very roots of our society, including its collective values and norms, power structures, and inequity in race, gender, sexuality, and social class. Beer and Society explores these aspects of beer as sites of growing struggles for social change.

The history of Guinness, one of the world's most famous brands, reveals the noble heights and generosity of a great family and an innovative business. The history began in Ireland during the late 1700s when the water in Ireland as well as throughout Europe was famously undrinkable, and the gin and whiskey that took its place was devastating civil society. It was a disease ridden, starvation plagued, alcoholic age, and Christians like Arthur Guinness, as well as monks and evangelical churches, brewed beer that provided a healthier alternative to the poisonous waters and liquors of the times. This is where the Guinness tale began. Now, 246 years and 150 countries later, Guinness is a global brand and one of the most consumed beverages in the world. The tale that unfolds during those two and a half centuries has power to thrill audiences today including: the generational drama, business adventure, industrial and social reforms, deep-felt faith, and the beer itself. The Search for God and Guinness is an amazing, true story of how the Guinness family used its wealth and influence to touch millions during a dark age.

The Brewer's Tale is for anyone who, drinking a beer, has wondered how the past tasted. Part travelogue, part history, part culinary adventure, beer critic William Bostwick uncovers the stories behind the brewers who have practised their craft since the dawn of civilisation. Beer by beer Bostwick tells a history of the world through the brewer's eyes, unearthing recipes from poems and potsherds to re-create these beers and their long-lost flavours. Jumping through time as he weaves ancient lore with today's craft scene, Bostwick meets adventurous brewers who share his path, trading insight, recipes and ingredients like home-grown hops and wild, Nile Delta yeast. The Brewer's Tale is history told in the glass, from tongue-numbing mead to sour pediococcus-laced lambic.

From the time of the Picts to the present day, Scotland has played an important role in the development of British brewing, providing a host of inventions and other contributions vital to its success. Covering such topics as Scotch Ale, Porter, Shilling Ales and the influential waters of Edinburgh and Alloa, The Little History of Scottish Brewing will intrigue both the aficionado and the interested enthusiast.

Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond contains healthy, innovative recipes and instructions to show you how to brew your own delicious, probiotic beverages in your own kitchen. Fermented foods have taken the world by storm due to their health and real food benefits. They help improve digestion, enable us to better assimilate vitamins and minerals, and strengthen the immune system. And of all fermented foods, drinks are some of the most versatile-and tasty! You may be able to buy many fermented drinks in stores, but making them at home is simple, economical, and makes them even better for you. With just a few ingredients and materials, you can start brewing your own delicious beverages for your family. Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond is packed with innovative drink recipes, from healthy homemade sodas to traditional kvass and cider, that you can make in your home kitchen and enjoy all year long! Inside, you'll learn: Why to ferment your drinks The history of fermentation and the value of traditional foods The benefits of fermented drinks to your health All the basics: the process, the tools, and how to get started Five-minute recipes for lassis, fermented lemonade, and more How to use starters to make kombucha, kefir, root beer, wine, and others again and again Age-old recipes for kvass, switchel, vinegar, and mead Everything you need to know about why the recipes work, why they are safe, what to do if they go wrong, and how to modify them to suit your taste Raise a glass to good health with Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond.

Ontario boasts a potent mix of brewing traditions. Wherever Europeans explored, battled, and settled, beer was not far behind, which brought the simple magic of brewing to Ontario in the 1670s. Early Hudson's Bay Company traders brewed in Canada's Arctic, and Loyalist refugees brought the craft north in the 1780s. Early 1900s temperance activists drove the industry largely underground but couldn't dry up the quest to quench Ontarians' thirst. The heavy regulation that replaced prohibition centralized surviving breweries. Today, independent breweries are booming and writing their own chapters in the Ontario beer story.

Beer culture has grown exponentially in the United States, from the days of Prohibition to the signing of HR 1337 by then-President Jimmy Carter, which legalized homebrewing for personal and household use, to the potential hop shortage that all brewers are facing today. This expansion of the culture, both socially and commercially, has created a linguistic and cultural turn that is just now starting to be fully recognized. The contributors of Beer Culture in Theory and Practice: Understanding Craft Beer Culture in the United States examine varying facets of beer culture in the United States, from becoming a home brewer, to connecting it to the community, to what a beer brand means, to the social realities and shortcomings that exist within the beer and brewing communities. The book aims to move beer away from the cooler and taproom, and into the dynamic conversation of Popular and American cultural studies that is happening right now, both within and outside of the classroom.

A fascinating exploration of beer, ancient and contemporary, and its role in shaping human society Beer is and has always been more than an intoxicating beverage. Ancient beer produced in the Near East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas was a food that had a remarkable role in shaping the development of agriculture and some of the earliest state-level societies. Its invention 13,000 years ago was one of the fundamental motivations for the domestication of grains around the world. In early states, the control over the technological knowledge and resources to produce beer contributed to social hierarchies. Beer even likely provided the capital to motivate laborers to construct the ancient pyramids and other large-scale public works. The fermentation of beer also provided a healthy and safe alternative to the contaminated drinking water in early states and it continues to do so among rural Indigenous populations today. Beer is a social lubricant that brings people together and, in many Indigenous societies both past and present, is a gift connecting people to their ancestors. The same innovations pioneered by ancient brewers are transforming the types of ingredients and flavors produced by the global craft beer industry. In Beer, archaeologist John W. Arthur takes readers on an exciting global journey to explore the origins, development, and recipes of ancient beer. This unique book focuses on past and present non-industrial beers, highlighting their significance in peoples' lives through four themes: innovating new technologies, ensuring health and well-being, building economic and political statuses, and imbuing life with ritual and religious connections. As this book amply illustrates, beer has shaped our world in remarkable ways for the past 13,000 years.

For millennia, beer has been a staple beverage in cultures across the globe. After water and tea, it is the most popular drink in the world, and it is at the centre centre of an over $450 billion industry. With the emergence of craft brewing and homebrewing, beer is experiencing a renaissance that is expanding the reach of the beer culture even further, bringing the art of brewing into homes and widening the interest in beer as an important cultural item. The Oxford Companion to Beer is the first reference work to fully investigate the history and vast scope of beer, from the agricultural makeup of various beers to the technical elements of the brewing process, local effects of brewing on regions around the world, and social and political implications of sharing a beer. Entries not only define terms such as 'spent grain' and 'wort', but give fascinating details about how these and other ingredients affect a beer's taste, texture, and popularity. Cultural entries on such topics as drinking songs or beer gardens offer vivid accounts of how our drinking traditions have shifted through history, and how these traditions vary in different parts of the world, from Japan to Mexico, New Zealand, and Brazil, among many other countries. The pioneers of beer-making are the subjects of biographical entries; the legacies they left behind, in the forms of the world's most popular beers and breweries, are recurrent themes throughout the book. Collectively the Companion has over 1,100 entries -written by 150 of the world's most prominent beer experts -as well as a foreword by renowned chef Tom Colicchio (star of television's Top Chef), thorough appendices, conversion tables, images throughout, and an index. Flipping through the book, readers will discover everything from why beer was first taxed to how drinkers throughout history have overcome temperance movements and how an 'ale conner' determined the quality of a beer in the thirteenth century. (It involved sitting in a puddle of beer.) The Companion is comprehensive, unprecedented, and of great value to anyone who has ever had a curiosity or appetite for beer. brewing and homebrewing, beer is experiencing a renaissance that is expanding the reach of the beer culture even further, bringing the art of brewing into homes and widening the interest in beer as an important cultural item. The Companion is comprehensive, unprecedented, and of great value to anyone who has ever had a curiosity or appetite for beer.

The Campaign for Real Ale is one of the largest and most successful consumer rights groups' operating in the UK today but it wasn't always that way...CAMRA at 40 is a collection of essays by beer writers, brewing industry representatives and a host of others involved with the Campaign for Real Ale. The book charts the campaigns four decades of history and looks forward to the future of real beer in Britain.

Farmhouse Ales defines the results of years of evolution, refinement, of simple rustic ales in modern and historical terms, while guiding today's brewers toward credible--and enjoyable--reproductions of these old world classics.

Here is the definitive guide to the U.K.'s micropubs: small, owner-managed pubs with an uncompromising focus on cask-conditioned craft beers and ales, personal service and good conversation. No electronic games; no table football; no gassy beer or lager; only the simplest bar snacks. Unique features of the book include quotes from the regulars, tourist attractions nearby to combine your micropub visit with a pleasant outing, as well as information on the best craft beers and local microbreweries.

Overcome the stresses and strains of a complicated, anxiety-ridden life by rediscovering the ancient art of Pintfulness. More recent, fashionable but unproven ideas, such as Mindfulness, have pushed Pintfulness into an under-appreciated niche. The Little Book of Pintfulness proves that rediscovering the ancient art of imbibing pints can help every generation to chill the hell out and regain a sense of equilibrium, while imparting a great deal of beer-related knowledge along the way. Full to the brim with useful tips on drinking etiquette and fascinating facts, this celebration of the world's third-most favourite drink will turn you into a well-rounded beer expert - but not a beer bore. Many truths can be found at the bottom of a pint glass.

Do you know your bottom fermenting from your cool brewing? From niche to social sensation, craft beer has seen a huge spike in popularity. Discussing every aspect of making and consuming, this satisfying book covers everything from equipment and ingredients to brewing, bottling and racking, with step-by-step guides, recipes and advice on creating your own beer.

Belgians take their beer seriously. With over 400 (!) breweries in Belgium, there are many beer-related stories and histories to tell. In this book, beer connoisseur and storyteller Erik Verdonck focuses on the best 50 breweries in Belgium, large and small. He relates the most interesting, amusing and surprising anecdotes that have been gathered together in this one volume.

From antique bottles to closely guarded recipes and treasured historic architecture, breweries have a special place in American history. This fascinating book brings the material culture of breweries in the United States to life, from many regions of the country and from early 16th century production to today's industrial operations. Herman Ronnenberg traces the evolution of techniques, equipment, raw materials, and architecture over five centuries, discusses informal production outside of breweries, and offers detailed information on makers marks, patents, labels, and beer containers that allows readers to identify items in their own collections. Heavily illustrated with photographs and line drawings, this book will be popular with collectors and general readers, and a key reference in historical archaeology, local history, material culture, and related fields.