The Guardian’s "Best Books on Drink” Pick Most people know that wine is created by fermenting pressed grape juice and cider by pressing apples. But although it’s the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, few people know what beer is made of. In lively and witty fashion, Miracle Brew dives into traditional beer’s four natural ingredients: malted barley, hops, yeast, and water, each of which has an incredible story to tell. From the Lambic breweries of Belgium, where beer is fermented with wild yeasts drawn down from the air around the brewery, to the aquifers below Burton-on-Trent, where the brewing water is rumored to contain life-giving qualities, Miracle Brew tells the full story behind the amazing role each of these fantastic four—a grass, a weed, a fungus, and water—has to play. Celebrated U.K. beer writer Pete Brown travels from the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic to Bamberg in the heart of Bavaria, where malt smoked over an open flame creates beer that tastes like liquid bacon. He explores the origins of fermentation, the lost age of hallucinogenic gruit beers, and the evolution of modern hop varieties that now challenge wine grapes in the extent to which they are discussed and revered. Along the way, readers will meet and drink with a cast of characters who reveal the magic of beer and celebrate the joy of drinking it. And almost without noticing we’ll learn the naked truth about the world’s greatest beverage.

Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, but few who enjoy it know much about how its four ingredients – hops, malted barley, water and yeast – miraculously combine. From the birth of brewing in the Middle East, through the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic and the stunning recreation of the first ever modern beer, Miracle Brew is an extraordinary journey through the nature and science of the world's greatest beverage. Along the way, we’ll meet and drink with a cast of characters who reveal the magic of beer and celebrate the joy of drinking it.

Bronze Winner—Best Book from the Beer Writers Guild Experimentation, mystery, resourcefulness, and above all, fun—these are the hallmarks of brewing beer like a Yeti. Since the craft beer and homebrewing boom of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, beer lovers have enjoyed drinking and brewing a vast array of beer styles. However, most are brewed to accentuate a single ingredient—hops—and few contain the myriad herbs and spices that were standard in beer and gruit recipes from medieval times back to ancient people’s discovery that grain could be malted and fermented into beer. Like his first book, Make Mead Like a Viking, Jereme Zimmerman’s Brew Beer Like a Yeti returns to ancient practices and ingredients and brings storytelling, mysticism, and folklore back to the brewing process, including a broad range of ales, gruits, bragots, and other styles that have undeservingly taken a backseat to the IPA. Recipes inspired by traditions around the globe include sahti, gotlandsdricka, oak bark and mushroom ale, wassail, pawpaw wheat, chicha de muko, and even Neolithic “stone” beers. More importantly, under the guidance of “the world’s only peace-loving, green-living Appalachian Yeti Viking,” readers will learn about the many ways to go beyond the pale ale, utilizing alternatives to standard grains, hops, and commercial yeasts to defy the strictures of style and design their own brews.

From an award-winning journalist and beer expert, a thoughtful and witty guide to understanding and enjoying beer Right here, right now is the best time in the history of mankind to be a beer drinker. America now has more breweries than at any time since prohibition, and globally, beer culture is thriving and constantly innovating. Drinkers can order beer brewed with local yeast or infused with moondust. However, beer drinkers are also faced with uneven quality and misinformation about flavors. And the industry itself is suffering from growing pains, beset by problems such as unequal access to taps, skewed pricing, and sexism. Drawing on history, economics, and interviews with industry insiders, John Holl provides a complete guide to beer today, allowing readers to think critically about the best beverage in the world. Full of entertaining anecdotes and surprising opinions, Drink Beer, Think Beer is a must-read for beer lovers, from casual enthusiasts to die-hard hop heads.

With more amazing beers available than ever before, it's hard to know which ones to choose. That's where The New Craft Beer World comes in. Gathering together over 400 of the most innovative and tastiest beers you need to try, and divided into 50 different categories, you will find the best of the best each style has to offer. Every category comes with an explanation of the key characteristics of the style – whether it's an American IPA bursting with citrusy C-hops or an Imperial Stout full of dark roasted malts – along with an example of a classic brew and a selection of cutting edge versions that are certain to become instant favourites. So whether you're looking for bitter beers or balanced flavours, a hit of hops or a hint of coffee, the reviews will point you in the right direction to find the perfect beer to suit your tastebuds. Also included are interesting nuggets of beer information, covering everything from the catalyst that has caused the astonishing growth in craft beer through to matching beer with food and how to serve your drinks.

It's an extraordinary tale of yeast-obsessed monks and teetotal prime ministers; of how pale ale fuelled an Empire and weak bitter won a world war; of exploding breweries, a bear in a yellow nylon jacket and a Canadian bloke who changed the dringking habits of a nation. It's also the story of the rise of the pub from humble origins through an epic, thousand-year struggle to survive misunderstanding, bad government and misguided commerce. The history of beer in Britain is a social history of the nation itself, full of catastrophe, heroism and an awful lot of hangovers. 'a pleasant antidote to more po-faced histories of beer' Guardian 'Like a good drinking companion, Brown tells a remarkable story: a stream of fascinating facts, etymologies and pub-related urban phenomena' TLS 'Packed with bar-room bet-winning facts and entertaining digressions, this is a book into which every pub-goer will want to dip.' Express

Beginning in the UK in the 1600s with smoky brown beer and ending with current areas of innovation, this fun and interactive guide moves through time and across the world to tell the stories behind some of today's best-known beer styles, including German lagers, stouts, porters, pilsner, IPA, sour beers and more. Each chapter focuses on one of beer's key ingredients - malt, water, hops and yeast - sharing how, as each ingredient modernized over time, new flavours and styles emerged. With each change, Natalya offers a modern beer to try that will bring the section's story to life and help you truly taste the evolution of beer through the years. With five centuries' worth of information, stories, and fun facts to discover and 50 beers to taste, Beer: Taste the Evolution in 50 Styles breathes new life into the exploration of one of the world's oldest and most enduring drinks.