DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Curiosities of Ale & Beer" (An Entertaining History (Illustrated with over Fifty Quaint Cuts)) by John Bickerdyke. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

The sweeping illustrated story of America’s oldest and most iconic craft brewery, featuring a history of American brewing traditions and homebrew recipes for Anchor’s top brews including Anchor Steam and California Lager “A tale of worldly curiosity, brilliance, persistence, and a thirst to succeed . . . If you ever wondered why beer drinkers get passionate about good beer, read this book.”—Charlie Papazian, author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co. is one of America’s oldest breweries, with an extraordinary heritage rooted in the California Gold Rush. Undaunted and resilient, it has survived earthquakes, fires, insolvency, and Prohibition. In 1965, when mass-produced, mass-marketed beer completely dominated the American brewing landscape, Fritz Maytag rescued the nation’s smallest brewery and its unique Anchor Steam Beer from the brink of bankruptcy. Focusing on tradition, quality, and flavor, Maytag transformed Anchor Brewing, igniting a revolution that paved the way for today’s craft beer movement. Anchor brewery historian David Burkhart tells the story of America’s first craft brewery in this compellingly definitive insider’s guide. With three hundred images—most shown for the first time—and original homebrew recipes for four of Anchor’s iconic brews (Anchor Steam, Anchor California Lager, Anchor Porter, and Liberty Ale), The Anchor Brewing Story is a book for beer drinkers, homebrewers, pro brewers, entrepreneurs, San Francisco–philes, and anyone who loves a good comeback tale.

Comprehensive and detailed, this is the first ever study of ancient beer and its distilling, consumption and characteristics Examining evidence from Greek and Latin authors from 700 BC to AD 900, the book demonstrates the important technological as well as ideological contributions the Europeans made to beer throughout the ages. The study is supported by textual and archaeological evidence and gives a fresh and fascinating insight into an aspect of ancient life that has fed through to modern society and which stands today as one of the world’s most popular beverages. Students of ancient history, classical studies and the history of food and drink will find this an useful and enjoyable read.

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.

Craft introductions -- Craft interruptions -- Craft networks -- Craft terroir -- Craft delivery -- Craft tracings -- Craft sharing -- Craft obsession