Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
This is what I am talking about. Delving into lager should yield some fascinating topics and sub-topics especially with Mark Dredge at the wheel. This book will be coming out in September (probably in England first and then the US.)
With LABW11 in the rear view, time to re-broaden our horizons and look all around the beer world and I have a book choice for you that will help with that, The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest by Evan Rail.
When the ancient brewery in the Czech forest town of Kout na Šumavě reopens, rumors start to circulate about a mysterious brewing book found hidden in the crumbling brewhouse walls. The beer from Kout is so strangely delicious that many who taste it think that it has to be made using secrets — or even magic — from the old brewing log. Enchanted by the taste of Kout lager, Evan Rail makes several journeys out to the brewery, even bringing Anthony Bourdain to film a segment on Kout for the TV show “No Reservations.” But the world of Czech beer is full of secrets… and some secrets definitely do not want to be revealed.
I was reading the somewhat scary book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker just knowing that alcohol was probably due for a moment under the microscope, and so it was…
The sedative effects of alcohol create two effects to sleeping. One is that it disrupts a full continuous nights worth of sleep and secondly, the chemicals set loose by alcohol prevents REM sleep (the dreaming part of sleep).
Other sleep problems are more pressing such as being shoehorned into a business or school schedule that does not care if you got your full 8 hours or if you are an early riser or late riser. Caffeine and other eating habits as well as the use of blue LED lights in our devices are contributors to sleep issues as well.
And while this blog is all about beer, I do have to advocate for changing your habits to not drink as much (I’m cutting back on the amount I consume) and to not drink late into the evening and to excess.
Dr. Seuss immediately brings to mind the word Vivid to me. Vivid colors, vivid wordplay, vivid creatures and Becoming Dr. Seuss by Brian Jay Jones takes us back to the beginning to see how Theodore Geisel morphed into a Doctor (with degree and everything).
There are a lot of events in his life that I did not know about. His dabbling in movies, his work under famed director Frank Capra during World War 2, his move to La Jolla from the East Coast and sad points in his personal life.
Mostly what comes through are the sparks of creativity that led to his famous books starting with Bartholomew and his hats to The Grinch and the Lorax. Learning about how a book like Cat in the Hat came about adds to how great his ideas were.
You might want to find a glitter beer to drink while reading about the places that you will go to or lean to another San Diego institution with roots in La Jolla, Karl Strauss. Maybe Follow the Sun Pils which is what Geisel did coming west and building a home high on a hill or go for Wreck Alley considering that he was a poor driver. Whatever you choose, it should be fun and wild.
If you are in the market for a beer book that is less about the latest trends or economics or all those things about beer that make you want to have a beer and block social media, well then Ian Clayton’s book, It’s the Beer Talking might be for you.
“Author Ian Clayton embarked on a lifelong love affair with local pubs in the middle of the 1970s. He has raised a glass in neighbourhood bars around the world for more than forty years. His stories are intertwined with quests to find perfect pints and peoples’ palaces and about joining in with the joy he finds in the unique gathering place we call the public house.
He moves across the generations and boundaries to take a glimpse at what makes the pub tick. Humorous and poignant by turns, It’s The Beer Talking tells of the laughter, the tears, the cheers, the remembering and forgetting, but most of all the camaraderie we all crave. This book will resonate with anyone who as ever uttered that immortal phrase, ‘Do you fancy a pint?’”
Quite probably a bunch of social history to be found in these pages.
One of the reliably long lined station at FWIBF is that of Garage Project and one reason is their creativity. That will be showcased in a new book coming mid-year called The Art of Beer. According to the brewery it has “Over 100 beers and their art are collected in this book. Here are original sketches and finished art for the beers you love to love, from Pils’n’Thrills to Aro Noir to BEER beer, with insights into the creative process and talented people who made them – and the stories and inspiration behind the brewery and the beers…”
Could be a great Christmas present for the beer fan on your list.
Here is your heads up for a new beer book coming in September from Joshua Bernstein. Here is the blurb: “Drink Better Beer features the must-know insights of more than 30 professionals, including competition judges, beer consultants, and master brewers. Find out how to shop clever by heeding two simple rules. Learn the art of selecting the right glass, cleaning it, and executing the perfect pour. Make sense of all those aromas with just a couple of sniffing tricks. Unlock the taste secrets of different styles, learn when to drink and how to know if your favorite beer store is treating their beer the way they should.”
Bernstein’s IPA book and Complete Book Course didn’t quite do the trick for me though I found fun beer knowledge in both, so I hope this book has more.
Considering how hop crazy us craft beer geeks are, it is amazing that there is so much still to learn about that magic little hop. That knowledge gap will shrink with this new book from Scott Janish. I am recommending based only on the fact of who wrote the foreword.
Count me as a huge short story fan. I gobbled up any Stephen King collection that I could find and when I saw the Mystery Edition of 2018. I snapped it up.
There are good, bad and ugly in any collection but this one had a higher fun ratio than most. I really like “Y is for Yangchuan Lizard” was both funny but stuck the landing with the bad girlfriend twist. I was excited to see a T.C. Boyle story but it was a superficial and weirdly not aged well elder theft story. Another top 3 story was Smoked which combined BBQ and the witness protection program and a long range shooter you don’t see coming.
There was a Jack Reacher story which was solid and movie like. You can easily tell why the character resonates. It was good to see an old Western included and not good to see ye’ Olde Jack the Ripper trotted out again.
Probably my favorite was a piece entitled Windward. About a missing 3rd wife to a hotshot film producer. It had good PI language and a fun Venice setting.
For the beers, I am going to say that you look for really sessionable beers. Dark English milds would be good, maybe a dry hopped lighter lager. Since the stories are shorter the ABV should be lower. A German Helles might do the trick since some of these characters are probably bound for the hotter place.
This beer book came out at the end of February and totally slipped by me (for a while), A Natural History of Beer is a reach into the past from authors Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall who probably had no end of stories to choose from in beers past. What I find interesting and what might make this book a cool addition to your brew library is that both authors have held a curator post. Which I think will lead to excellent choices as to what is written about.