Amber, Gold & Black is the most comprehensive history of British beer in all its variety ever written. Learn all there is to know about the history of the beers Britons have brewed and enjoyed down the centuries: Bitter, Porter, Mild and Stout, IPA, Brown Ale, Burton Ale and Old Ale, Barley Wine and Stingo, Golden Ale, Gale Ale, Honey Ale, White Beer, Heather Ale and Mum. This is a celebration of the depths of our beery heritage, a look at the roots of the styles we enjoy today, as well as those ales and beers we have lost, and a study of how the liquids that fill our beer glasses, amber gold and black, developed over the years. Whatever your knowledge of beer, from beginner to buff, Amber, Gold & Black will tell you things you never knew before about Britain's favourite drink.

"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.

The beer of today—brewed from malted grain and hops, manufactured by large and often multinational corporations, frequently associated with young adults, sports, and drunkenness—is largely the result of scientific and industrial developments of the nineteenth century. Modern beer, however, has little in common with the drink that carried that name through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Looking at a time when beer was often a nutritional necessity, was sometimes used as medicine, could be flavored with everything from the bark of fir trees to thyme and fresh eggs, and was consumed by men, women, and children alike, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance presents an extraordinarily detailed history of the business, art, and governance of brewing. During the medieval and early modern periods beer was as much a daily necessity as a source of inebriation and amusement. It was the beverage of choice of urban populations that lacked access to secure sources of potable water; a commodity of economic as well as social importance; a safe drink for daily consumption that was less expensive than wine; and a major source of tax revenue for the state. In Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Richard W. Unger has written an encompassing study of beer as both a product and an economic force in Europe. Drawing from archives in the Low Countries and England to assemble an impressively complete history, Unger describes the transformation of the industry from small-scale production that was a basic part of housewifery to a highly regulated commercial enterprise dominated by the wealthy and overseen by government authorities. Looking at the intersecting technological, economic, cultural, and political changes that influenced the transformation of brewing over centuries, he traces how improvements in technology and in the distribution of information combined to standardize quality, showing how the process of urbanization created the concentrated markets essential for commercial production. Weaving together the stories of prosperous businessmen, skilled brewmasters, and small producers, this impressively researched overview of the social and cultural practices that surrounded the beer industry is rich in implication for the history of the period as a whole.

In a barn in Somerset, plans are afoot to ferment a beer-cider hybrid with wild yeast that blows on the wind, while in Yorkshire an almost extinct style of `salty 'n' sour' wheat beer is being resurrected for the 21st century. Fifty years ago, this would have seemed impossible. Back then the prospects for British beer looked weak, sweet, bland and fizzy, as colossal combines took over the industry, closing local breweries and putting profit before palate. Yet today the number of breweries is at a post-war high, with over a thousand in operation. Whether you drink traditional, CAMRA-approved `real ale' or prefer a super-strong, fruit-infused, barrel-aged Belgian-style `saison', you are spoilt for choice. In Brew Britannia acclaimed beer bloggers Boak and Bailey tell the story of a very British fightback. Following a cast of bloody-minded City bankers, hippie microbrewers, style gurus, a Python, and a lot of men in pubs, they reveal how punter power pulled the humble pint back from the brink.

- An unashamedly opinionated guide to London's very best - and most stylish - pubs London is home to over 3,500 pubs. The trouble is that 95% are awful. Dark, sweaty and tired. Says who? Says us. This small paperback tells you the only ones you should know. Whether you're after the perfect Sunday roast, great craft beer, a cozy spot to read a book, the best pint of bitter or a raucous gig, this guide highlights the capital's most exciting and, crucially, most stylish saloons in which to find it all.

This book shows readers how to make their own great beer that is virtually identical to popular European brands, and provides all of the information needed to successfully emulate the world's best commercial brews for a fraction of the cost.