Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
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.
The Milkman was passed down from my Man Booker Prize fan (and beer fan) Rich. This book requires getting into a reading rhythm. It is a little stream of conscious, lots of tangents and backtracking and the there are no names. Just Maybe Boyfriend, Ma and, of course, Milkman.
But when you get going you start to feel for the protagonist. She is trying, at a young age, to navigate minefields of social convention, war and duplicity and hormones and parents. And she doesn’t hesitate to think back on actions and words as wrong at the moment and wish she had done different. You really begin to root for her to succeed in life and to find the more that she wants instead of the life being laid out in this Irish town.
To drink with this book, I would try to find a brewery with a Pink Boots collaborative beer on tap or in cans (Pizza Port has one). Almost as hard to find would be a Dry Irish Stout but that would set the mood as well. Or you could encourage the wild and crazy and have a lactose-y Milkshake IPA to nod at the Milkman of the title.
Scrolling through the nicer part of Twitter Town, I ran across this announcement from beer writer Matthew Curtis… “We’re a brand new magazine celebrating beer, wine, cider, food and travel. Launching online May the 1st.” This is a UK centered venture but hopefully we in the States will be able to at least read some of the content online or order a subscription.
First off, great title. Movers and Shakers is perfect and I looked forward to reading this book by Hope Ewing. And I was not disappointed. Ewing gives brief bios to women in wine, beer and spirits from a variety of backgrounds. The tone is conversational and she is able to interject her own feelings into that conversation so that you get to know her as well throughout the book.
Obviously, I veered to the beer section and was glad to see that the Pink Boots Society got major props. This group is a template, in my opinion, of how a group can uplift and create a positive impact for the future.
I expected a certain amount of horror stories but the book tacks into a different direction. It doesn’t shy away from the toxic environments that men create. The Portland bar scene gets walloped for it in particular but #MeToo is saved for the end and though it is a down note for a positive book, I am glad that Ewing put that essay in because it is strong and practically begs for a sequel in a few years time.
And I suggest that men who profess to be part of the Asshole Free Beer community, really read this book and see how they stack up. I certainly will be re-assessing my role.
I like the term “field guide”, it just sounds more useful and with the wisdom of Steve Jones, who runs Cheese Bar and Chizu in Portland this looks to be a cheeseheads dream. Cheese Beer Wine Cider has 75 different cheese and beverage pairings along with other tips. each with the beverage that brings out the best in both.
The book for March is all about cats and saying goodbye. The Traveling Cat Chronicles is a simple and effective tearjerker that alternates between the point of view of the cat owner, Satoru and the Cat, Nana. Named after the # 7 which the cat’s tail resembles.
The book is divided into trips that the owner takes to find a new home for his cat that he rescued from the streets. Each trip brings up memories from when Satoru was younger and when he met the people for the first time that shaped his life. Each trip ends up with Nana getting back into the van with Satoru due to some good/bad reason that the cat would not like it there.
It doesn’t take long to figure out that the owner is dying and that he needs to get this done before he dies but he also doesn’t want to let go for fear of not having the cat to stay alive for. It is blatant with its affections and wears the emotion on the sleeves of everyone in the book but by the end it works. Maybe not because of the book itself but because having and giving away a pet is such an emotional tie.
The first beer choice is from Baird Beer. Kurofune Porter has a bittersweet taste of chocolate and malt that matches the tears you will spill. If you are into trading SingleCut from New York has 本から来たネコ (some cat from japan) IPA. Or my last choice is the La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin that has a swashbuckling cat on the label.
You don’t get too many novels about elderly detectives, but Only to Sleep is that rare bird. The Estate of Raymond Chandler the author behind the iconic hard-boiled PI has commissioned writers to spin the character into different directions and Lawrence Osborne takes him to Mexico, on the hunt for a real estate developer who died leaving his widow with a nice life insurance policy.
Throughout sleepy and not so-sleepy small Mexican towns, Marlowe follows the trail of betrayals to the bitter end and just might actually retire for good this time.
Now, to drink with this book, it’s gotta be light so you can keep up with twists and turns of the plot so how about…
Cervecería de Colima and their Cayaco Light lager or try Boomtown Brewery and their Euro lager Bad Hombre to tie Los Angeles and an old city nickname back into frame. Or you can go big and have the tequila barrel version of Otra Vez Gose from Sierra Nevada.
Alcoholism and the treatment of is a fascinating topic to view through the historical lens and Christopher Finan goes back in time with Drunks to look at it.
What really stands out is a weird omission from America’s weird relationship with alcohol. Prohibition is effectively swept past with nary a chapter. Yes, talk of the prohibition movement is woven through but Drunks is more concerned with those who are trying to understand and eradicate drunkeneness. Either through kindness or a complete lack thereof.
Once, you key into the format chosen, this works as a look into those who are trying to understand and possibly fix when people are lost in alcohol. But it seems from this reading that nothing has really been learned about the core of why one person may quickly and completely succumb and another drink more but be in control.
Genetics? Nature vs. Nurture. Finan’s book doesn’t really answer this. It all comes back to AA, which is fine. I, personally, don’t have any quibbles with how they approach this problem. In fact, I believe it is probably the best avenue overall. But that makes this book a long windup to a quick answer. You need a village to raise a child and to monitor those who drink.
Maybe, I am in the mood to learn more about the modern recovery and abuse issue industry and how it works and fails and charges way too much.
I almost put Adjustment Day down multiple times. Pretty much every time that Palahniuk mentioned Fight Club as a meta reference. The central revolutionary thesis is fine and probably plays well to a certain crowd who want to burn Trump down or split away from the 1/2 of the country they don’t agree with.
But I thought the idea that a country needs to cull itself of excess testosterone (i.e. males) to keep the country moving to be a much more interesting tack than the whole “adjustment day”.
I also wasn’t really super keen on any of the characters. I am fine with no central lead or an anti-hero but there was no character that I could really follow all the way through the through-line, as it were. Especially through all the spasms of violence that occur.
So, I can’t recommend this one but I can recommend some beers that would pair with it, if you are intrigued by the book or a Palahniuk completist.
Ninkasi Brewing – Day of the Red
Eugene gets name checked in as one of the centers of revolution so go with this horror themed beer from Ninkasi.
New Realm Brewing – Hoplandia
Part of the book is set in Atlanta, and considering that and the name of New Realm, I had to pick this bitter beer.
Closer to home, the also aptly named Liberation Brewing in Bixby Knolls has an Autonomy Amber that would be a good choice as well.
I have listened to podcasts with and read magazines edited by John Holl and have found him to be straightforward with loads of beer knowledge. I have also disagreements with some of his points.
And all of that is on display in the new book, Drink Beer, Think Beer. From the mis-use of Quality Control instead of the more accurate consistency control, to the repeated cry of bad beer from “craft” (wait, he doesn’t like that term or “independent”) breweries, I feel like setting the book down, only to find a great argument on the next page.
This gives the book a debate club sort of feel. There is no doubt that Holl has had a great many beers and a lengthy beer education but whenever I am about to be persuaded to his side, he undercuts by siding with big macrobreweries or proclaiming that the word balanced in a review forgets the effects of yeast or water.
Seriously, in that case, all beer reviews forget water literally ALL the time and yeast a vast percentage too.
Regular readers will know that I hate the regurgitation of beers ingredients in books and though Holl shifts the focus a bit, it still comes off as quick primer material. Same with glassware. Which may be fine for non-beer geeks but I don’t think this book is pitched to the non-believers.
And though I do like his opinionated nature and he backs up those opinions with reasons why he likes/dislikes something, I found the book frustrating as a whole and not adding as much as could have been to beer discussion. There also seemed to be slight digs aimed at beer fans, beer bloggers and brewers that could have been left out. It left me thinking he was ticked off or on the fence leaning toward pessimism.
Personally, I would have liked perhaps more of a book about the problems and issues that breweries face before they open, after they open and in the future. I think his insights after visiting so many breweries would really shed light on the industry and be a new and vital topic.
Drink Beer, Think Beer seems to be an uneasy melding of the traditional and overdone, beer primer mixed with industry issues and the two just don’t work together in this book.