Adam Rogers has pulled off a pretty good feat. Making science not seem so science-y. Plus he introduced me to quite a few historical characters involved one way or another with making wine, spirits and our favorite beer.
Proof follows the ABV trail from the yeast to the hangover in linear fashion with many fascinating stops in between.
Some of the chapters mesh together better than others. Yeast is one. The characters and the science and the history meld together to get one point across. The same for the chapters on the effect of alcohol on the human body (and mind).
Others suffer from being a bit muddled mixed with trying to cover too much ground. I felt the fermentation chapter typified that issue. I would have liked more on the science of it even if it did ever into repeating some of the earlier information.
That being said, the problem was more of too much of a good thing and not too little. And you will probably not look at hangovers the same way after reading how Rogers gently debunks cures ad remedies, old and new. It was my second favorite part of the book after yeast.
The one take-away from the book that has stayed with me the longest is the idea of a “confused culture”. One that indulges in alcohol but also prohibits it or rails against it. We Americans have taken that term to a whole new level and not only with alcohol. Sex, celebrity and food all spring to mind.
Maybe if we all understood how ABV affects us, we would be better equipped to deal with its aftermath.