Category: Beer Books

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A Book & A Beer – The Library Book


This is a sad but fascinating topic for a book. The 1986 fire at the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Books burnt, books waterlogged and so much knowledge lost. Thankfully Susan Orlean is more than up to the task with The Library Book.

The book toggles from Orlean’s library memories, to the possible culprit of the fire, to the City of Los Angeles library history and to the fire itself. The book is nimble and still easy to follow. I found the roster of head librarians to be the most fascinating section of the story followed by how the main branch recovered to become the low slung showplace that it is today which I still try to walk through whenever I am close enough to it.

Since we didn’t really have a brewery downtown in the time frame that the fire occurred, I will have to pick from current spots.

First up is the close by Karl Straus DTLA outpost. Wreck Alley Imperial Stout. The stacks of books had to be sent to industrial food warehouses and kept cold to keep mold out. I can imagine aisles of wrecked biographies and mysteries.

There are beers named Library. Such as Hopworks Urban Brewery and their Library Lager, or The Local Library German Pils from Books & Brews in Indiana. But maybe, and not to be morbid, you should find a smoke beer to sip while reading this fascinating slice of Los Angeles history.

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A Book & A Beer – Big Game by Mark Leibovich


We are deep into the NFL 2018-19 season and the Chiefs and Rams have turned heads and life seems positive if you are the Commish. But in Big Game by Mark Leibovich, you go into the rooms where the owners and players and nugget miners work and you see a whole different portrait.

Leibovich is a veteran political reporter and he has chosen to write about another contentious world. This one he’s a fan of and despite his Patriot-ism, his writing is engaging and funny and world weary all at once. He is able to write about the aforementioned nugget miners, the journalists who once wrote columns who now compete to be the first tweet on who has been traded or fired or drafted.

Concussions loom large over this book and despite the growing mound of evidence, there seems to be little being done. This leads to somewhat repetitive passages where the PTE question comes up but is never really resolved. The same with Tom Brady and his health guru. While Brady is in great shape now, I don’t believe this is due solely to his program and the longer he plays, the worse off I think he will be when he hits 50 or 60 years old. Maybe that is a different book.

Leibovich is able to do the impossible and square the circle of being a fan while still dissecting the bad of the NFL office and the owners.

You gotta drink tailgate beers when you read this book and Flat Tail from Corvallis, Oregon does the Tailgater Kolsch. If you are in Wisconsin, Titletown beers would be a no brainer. But the basic choice would be something canned and something connected to Trump since that lying blowhard is in the book for his political chicanery and his failed bid to be an NFL owner, so maybe a can of Sam Adams 76 lager.

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To the Country


Beer travel guides were once all the rage but like most travel books, things change. It is harder to update a book than a website. But Kirk Richardson is trying something much harder. Surveying the entire nation in Craft Beer Country.

Part one is the Western United States. From Alaska down to Hawaii. That includes my neck of the beer woods, Los Angeles. I will be interested to see what Richardson says about my locals and which ones are featured.

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Book Day – Sake-pedia


Considering that there have been slight incursions into mixing Sake and craft beer, it is probably high time to learn more about the Japanese spirit, and Sake-Pedia from Jeff Cioletti looks to be a good place to start.

Cioletti is an International Kikisake-shi, think Cicerone or Sommelier but for Sake, and his goal with the book is to take Sake from misunderstood to enjoyed.

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Book Day – Evil and Phaidon


You might know Jespe Jarnit-Bjergsø from his brewery brand Evil Twin or his on again / off again feud with his twin brother but you can also call him author.

He has curated the Where to Drink Beer guidebook. Populated with “real experts – 500 of the world’s most revered brewers reveal the little-known, eclectic, and surprising destinations they visit for their ultimate beer.”

Typical of a Phaidon book, it looks great and is packed “with 1,600 listings in more than 70 countries – and detailed maps, reviews, key information, honest comments, and suggestions.”

It joins a series that also includes coffee, pizza and drinks.

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Time & Beer

During a grocery store run, I saw a Time Magazine – Beer Issue. First thought was that Time is still kicking? Second thought was, should I even look at it?

Well, my judgemental side steered me wrong. Touring through the happier canyons of Twitter, I saw this….

So, I guess both you and I should pick this special issue up.

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A Book & A Beer – Miss Subways by David Duchovny


Yes, it is that David Duchovny of X-Files and Californication. And Miss Subways is his third book but the first that I have read.

The book follows Emer, a teacher in New York City whose romantic life is complicated not only by the usual pressures of life but by the existence of Gods of long ago erase her boyfriend Con, from her life, only for them to re-connect. It is a rom-com mixed with Neil Gaiman lite and chock-filled with contemporary asides.

Overall, I like quite a few of the ideas in the book. Quotes in the subway cars amidst the ads and people on phones is well done. Duchovny has selected telling quotes without being too obvious. I like the school characters as well. From the principal Sidney to her friend Izzy and even the three troublesome students have single but cool dimensions to them. New York is given a lived in and local character as well which adds a nice dimension.

The boyfriend with the weird Gaelic name seems a bit wimpy to me, especially in comparison to Emer. She could do a lot better, is something I uttered out loud on a couple of occasions. And that shortcoming sort of cuts the book’s knees out from under it. Con doesn’t have to be perfect but he seems weak even for someone who has proverbially sold his love.

Now if this blog came to you from New York and not Los Angeles, the beer choosing would be a lot easier. Most New York beer doesn’t really make it out to us but considering the romantic nature of the book, I really do need to pick an Other Half beer, so I will go for Short, Dark and Handsome, their Stout.

In wider release, since their is plenty of Irish in this book, Guinness would be a good choice. Or you could go light and go for Harp instead since that musical instrument has more romance behind it.

More local, head to Ogopogo Brewing in San Gabriel and pick up their stout, Ashrays. Those are mythical water creatures and the book deals heavily in myths but as the kicker, they are sometimes called the water lovers or water ghosts.

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A Book & A Beer – Taco USA by Gustavo Arellano


I have really only heard Gustavo Arellano before and not read either of his books or his famous “Ask a Mexican” column. That voice is distinctive and opinionated which is why I like hearing his take on everything from Orange County politics on KCRW or tacos on the Netflix show Ugly Delicious with David Chang.

So, after watching the taco episode (finally, I know that I am behind), I picked up Arellano’s book Taco USA to further my knowledge.

And it was a fun survey of Mexican food and its impact on the United States and its food culture and how the tectonic clash has created all sorts of sub-styles across the country. I learned about so many different dishes but more interesting were the little histories of tortillas in a can or the creation of “American” salsa. Remember “get a rope” from the Pace commercials?

And, thankfully, Arellano’s voice comes through loud and clear in print as well. Whether it is a take down of Rick Bayless or describing a trip to see the shards of a tortilla that supposedly had the face of Jesus on it.

To drink while reading the book, it seems appropriate to head to Santa Ana and the Good Beer Company. Maybe have their Senorita Gose or Abuela Wild Ale.

Or you could pick up something from the not-as-hot now Mexican Lager category. Dos Topas from Topa Topa Brewing or Mexican Lager from Ska Brewing come to mind.

Or as an authentic option, pick up a bottle from La Insurgente, a Mexican craft brewery.

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Gose by the Book


A beer with salt? Yup, and it has a crazy timeline in beer history and now Fal Allen who is reinvigorating the style at Anderson Valley Brewing has written the book on the style and will be leading readers from “Goslar through Halberstadt, Leipzig, across the pond to America, and around the world.” The title? Gose.

I will be looking for this book to fill in the gaps of my education of the beer and the history of this lightly sour wheat beer style. And to see what insight Allen has as to where it might go in the future.

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A Book & A Beer – Bonfire by Krysten Ritter


I picked up this book at the library based only on the fact that I watched both seasons of Jessica Jones and really liked the show, so with curiosity, I started reading Bonfire by the actress Krysten Ritter.

And despite the book’s subject matter being Sharp Objects Lite, I thought that it could be a thriller for good summer reading. But there were just too many by-the-book plotlines and characters that made it read like something that even Netflix would not stream. The wounded lawyer returning to rural roots, the troubled father, the poisoned water, the sassy gay friend, the cliques of high school, drinking to excess and the the easy sex that inevitably follows. By the time the final plot twist arrives, it is of the “explain everything” variety. Not much nuance to be found.

Since the book is set in Indiana and California doesn’t get much Hoosier beer (even though I saw listings for breweries such as Book & Brew and Burn ‘Em Brewing). It left my choices to smoke beers or to sours from Upland Brewing Co. Cherry and Crimson being two that I have seen on shelves. Or even deeper cuts, if you are into trading like Cauldron Wild Ale or Dark Before Dawn Saison.