Category: Beer Books

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Book Review – Trappist Beer Travels


There are some books that just make you thirsty and travel the next day to Belgium. Trappist Beer Travels is just such a book.

The conceit is simple. Visit each of the Official Trappist breweries, take a bunch of photographs and get the historical record of each. Oh, and try some beer.

The three authors do a great job of concisely telling the long histories behind each of the monasteries as well as giving you the info needed about visiting. The photographs really transport your there though, finishing the seduction. There are the requisite beer glass shots but also great views of the grounds and the brewing equipment.

You could say the book is a bit pedestrian. There are some personal notes included but this book isn’t about that or long-winded beer tasting notes. It isn’t a fancy windmill dunk of a book but more of a graceful layup. Half coffee table book and half reference book.

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A Book & A Beer – The River Why by David James Duncan


I was recently asked what my favorite beer style currently is. It was a welcome, though tough, question. Usually, you get the more prosaic, what is your favorite beer which leads to the even worse answer of Whatever I am drinking now!

When it comes to books though, I have a very clear favorite. The River Whyby David James Duncan. One might look at the blurb for the book and come to the conclusion that I like fishing and the Oregon outdoors. That would be wrong. I am not someone who hunts or rafts or camps. I like hotels with wi-fi and free breakfast.

So why is a book that talks about fishing and a bygone book The Compleat Angler something that I have read multiple times. It is because of the lead character Augustine aka Gus, aka Gloomy Gus and his family H2O, Ma and Bill Bob Orviston. It is a book of discovery. That sounds lame as I type it, but it is the truth. It is about finding your place in your family and in the world and then creating your own family. And I find hope and solace in that discovery. Because it is not easy and I don’t know still if it should be or not.

There is philosophy everywhere in this book and I tolerate that too to get to the parts where Gus is tongue tied when he first meets Eddy or when Gus tells a whopper of a fish tale to an unknowing “fishing writer” or literally any of the action between H2O and Ma. In each reading, I have been taken by a different character. My first read, I pictured myself as Gus but lately I gravitate more to Ma and Bill Bob.

Recently, I have given this book as gifts to two people. One my age and one to my oldest nephew and it is a book I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone because I think that, they too will feel a kinship with one of the characters in the book.

Now for beers there are plenty of beers with a fish related name but a new beer from Sierra Nevada strikes me as a good first choice, 3 Weight is a new canned Session IPA that portrays a fisherman with rod in hand and hip deep in water and makes reference to the type of line being used to catch fish. Plus you could easily chill the can in the river.

And since the book is set in western Oregon, near the coast, I have selected a de Garde beer Purple Kriek. Get it, Kriek, or creek or crick. Might be a skosh too obvious. But it is also a wild ale and this is a wild and outdoorsy family.

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Rocky Mountain Photo High


I am a big proponent of beer travel but sometimes you have to settle for viewing where other people have been.

I haven’t visited Colorado too much just enough to whet the appetite so the coffee table book “Discovering Colorado Breweries” by photographer Dustin Hall will have to fill in the gaps of my travel.

The photography book documenting Colorado breweries will be released on January 20, 2018.

Hall spent nearly four years of photographing Colorado craft breweries and in 2016 launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the book’s printing.

Look for photos of Avery Brewing Company, Baere Brewing Co., Black Project Spontaneous & Wild Ales, Call to Arms Brewing Company, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, Great Divide Brewing Company, Mockery Brewing, Renegade Brewing Company, Ska Brewing Company, Left Hand Brewing Company and Odell Brewing Company.

The book retails for $49.99.

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Brew Your Business

You may see the chapters on brewing and think to yourself that this is another how-to book. And it is, but there is more than just grain bills and sterilizing tanks in this book…

Brew Your Business is written by a team of beer people and will give you the information on state and federal laws, sales, managing employees, raising capital, and how to set-up your brewery to succeed. And the kicker is that the Beer Goddess, Erin Peters added her two cents so look for that inside the pages.

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A Book & A Beer – Strange Weather by Joe Hill


I went into this book with high hopes. I have been on a bit of a King kick so I figured this would be another thriller/horror ride. Plus I love the novella format too.

But only the fourth of the set from Strange Weather was what I was looking for. And worse, the longest piece, Loaded, seemed an easy mark about our gun culture. Plus it was quite grim. Neither side of the debate would feel good after reading it and maybe that was the point. Aloft, the third tale, was weird with a lead character that I found annoying at times and didn’t end well. The book started with Snapshot which had a good thing going but the mechanics of the mysterious camera were never really explained so some of the scares were lost to me. I would have liked to have seen the gun polemic shortened to give more room for the other stories to fully firm.

The last story, Rain, was the clear winner. Great idea playing into our fear of the changing climate with a great and new type of lead character. She had spunk and was smart. The plot was scary and horrible at the same time and could possibly be real.

Here are some beer choices to “pair” with the book
Bottle Logic Stronger than Fiction Strong Ale
Maine Beer Co. Peeper
Burial Beer Weathered Scythe

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A Book & A Beer – Hook’s Tale by John Pielmeier


I will readily admit that I am a Peter Pan freak. It speaks to my duality though that sometimes I am the Boy Who Never Grew U and other times I am much more Hook-ish in nature.

So half of me was ready to believe again in Hook’s Tale by John Pielmeier.

Though not a children’s book by any stretch, it is a quick read. It posits the other side of the story of how one James Cook got to Neverland, what was up with the massive crocodile and how the Hook came about. Replete with daddy issues and time at sea.

The set-up requires Cook before Hook to be able to fly at least until his supply of fairy dust is used up and he is the one that gets Peter to visit the Darling family so plenty of good call backs to the original book/play/panto. I didn’t quite get fully drawn into the explanation of the Neverland chain of islands but it does keep the universe contained.

The beer choices are a bit on the rum side. So let’s get on board the Jolly Roger and drink….

The Bruery – Tell No Tales
“Amongst the shipwreck that washed ashore, rum barrels were found. But the real treasure was the aging ale within. Once lost at sea, Tell No Tales is an imperial ale brewed with a bounty of yams and spices, aged in bourbon and rum barrels to temper the squalls ahead.”

Prairie Artisan – Pirate Bomb
“Pirate bomb is our beer Prairie Bomb! aged in rum casks. The flavor from the casks helps impart more vanilla and coconut flavors to the beer while helping to add more body and smoothness to the already explosive and expressive flavors of Bomb!”

Kona Brewing – Longboard Lager
“Longboard Island Lager is a smooth refreshing lager fermented and aged for five weeks at cold temperatures to yield its exceptionally smooth flavor. A delicate, slightly spicy hop aroma complements the malty body of this beer.”

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Distillery Cats


I remember seeing a friendly cat upon my first and only (so far) visit to Brooklyn Brewery. I made a joke about the employment status of said feline but maybe it had the last laugh (or purr).

Brad Thomas Parsons has compiled biographies of cats who have a job to do. Patrol distilleries and breweries and make sure the mice stay out. His book is Distillery Cats and it looks like a fun look at both the cat and the cat’s place of employment.

You can read more about the book HERE.

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A Book & A Beer – Safe by Ryan Gattis


This month I tackled my second L.A. crime novel. Following Split Second, I read Safe from Ryan Gattis. Both travel extensively around the Southland with the hardboiled criminals and cops.

I preferred Safe due to the more downbeat ending. Plus I liked the dual format where Ghost (are titular hero) and Glasses (the adversary) alternate chapters. It makes for a consistent story with more information being provided than you get in a normal mystery or crime thriller. And not to spoil things, but Safe also was the more downbeat and I like that noir thing paired with the City of Angels.

When you have the book in your hands, I suggest grabbing beers at Mumford in the Skidrokyo section of DTLA with the Speakers and Sneakers IPA or the In Other News Belgian Single. Then to pay homage to the end of the book, head to San Pedro and Brouwerij West for Switcheroo Pale Ale or the even more L.A. appropriate Ask the Dust IPA. A nod to Fante.

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A Quote & A Beer – September

The quote for September comes from Logan Pearsall Smith:

“The vitality of a new movement in Art must be gauged by the fury it arouses.”

When I read this quote and put the word “brewing” in front of Art , it immediately brought to mind the Hazy NE IPA which raised discussions into territory close to fury or at least to agree to disagree levels.

To compare and contrast the Hazy Arts, make an IPA run to Mumford Brewing in Skidrokyo and check out their re-designed menu board to pick out one regular IPA and a hazy one. (They usually have both)