Book Review: Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey

Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey

by Brian Yaeger

Published in 2008

St. Martin's Press

There isn't much that compares to the energy, history, smells and wares one experiences when visiting a brewery. The smell of the barley, fermentation tanks with the brewer's yeast chugging away, the din of the crowd enjoying their samples being pulled by, more often than not, the brewer responsible. Combine that with the open road, driving through the countryside, seeing city after city, brewery after brewery, and you get the great American beer geek road trip!

Red, White and Brew: An American Odyssey is a book about just that. The author, Brian Yaeger, embarked on a road trip most beer lovers would salivate over. Brian planned to travel from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon, and then back east again, taking different routes in each direction. Along the way, he would visit breweries, chat with brewery founders and owners, and of course, drink the beer.

During his trip, Brian interviewed some pretty big names in the beer industry, some who have since written books of their own and starred in beer-related TV shows. Dick Yuengling, Jr. from Yuengling, Larry Bell of Bell's Brewery, Kim Jordan of New Belgium, Kurt and Rob Widmer of Widmer Brothers Brewing, Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing, and Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head. There are many others also, and Brian details the history of the breweries, not in a boring way, but through the eyes of the brewery owners who lived through it.

I really enjoyed the style and flow of Brian's book. For one, it wasn't just a lesson in brewing history. Brian brings the reader along for the adventure, and gives the writing a real personal touch. If you're interested in learning a bit more of the history of American "craft" brewing, then this book is for you. It would also please the beer lover on your holiday shopping list!

Comments

Dogfish Head Positive Contact

Frankenstorm is on it's way. Bread: Check. Candles: Check. Ice: Check. Beer: Check! The big storm is supposed to strike land here in NJ late Sunday night into early Monday morning, and last until late Tuesday. Kerry and I live in the western part of NJ, so we should be safe from most of it, except for local river flooding. Tonight I'll be reviewing Positive Contact from Dogfish Head. This is their collaboration with Dan the Automator (who I honestly had never heard of before this collaboration). I poured Positive Contact into my Yards Brewing tulip glass. It poured a pale orange, golden color with a two and a half finger width head. Apples, bananas and peppers hit my nose right away. The smell is incredible and strong. The Positive Contact is full of flavor, and reminds me of a smooth drinking Belgian tripel. It tastes immediately of fruity esters, mainly banana. The finish is peppery. I'm not getting any apple flavor. This beer is light bodied, with

BJCP: Strong Scotch Ale (9E)

This is the first article in a new series of posts, where I will periodically choose a section from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines , write about the style, and then drink and publish my tasting notes from some of the commercial examples given by the BJCP. Now, I'm not sure if I will ever actually take the exam to become a beer judge, but I think this will be a fun exercise to learn more about beer! Fair warning, I will not be doing the sections of the BJCP style guidelines in any sort of order. Whichever kinds of beer I am craving is what I will be writing about! Strong Scotch Ales (also known as Wee Heavy) comprise sub-category 9E in the BJCP style guidelines. They range between 6.5% and 10.0% ABV, and have a light copper to dark brown appearance. Obviously, strong scotch ales are all about showcasing the malt. While studying this style, I found it quite interesting that the brewers ferment out the wort at cooler temperatures than other

The Six-Pack Project: New Jersey

Welcome to the Six-Pack Project! The idea of the project is to create a six-pack of beer that would best represent the current beer scene in your respective state. For me, that is obviously New Jersey. The Six-Pack Project was created by Bryan over at the This Is Why I'm Drunk blog. Check out his introduction to the project here ! 10 years ago, beer probably wasn't the first thing that came to your mind when you were thinking about New Jersey. However, times are changing, and it's an exciting time to be a beer drinker in the Garden State. Every year, more and more bars are starting to serve a greater variety in beer. Even more importantly, new breweries haven been opening in NJ each year, and lots more are in planning Today, there is a wide variety of beer brewed here in New Jersey. Choosing six beers to best represent the state was no easy feat, but I was up for it! Hopefully, the following will clue you in a little bit more to some o

Mould's Beer Blog

Search This Blog