Category: Beer Books

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A Book & A Beer – The Regional Office is Under Attack

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Meta may be an oft overused term in today’s culture but in some instances it is a perfect fit and The Regional Office is Under Attack fits the definition like a glove.

This book is one of the best that I have read in a long time. Filled with faux historical interludes, oblique references to evil being fought by trained female operatives, emotional back stories and robotic arms as a schism nearly destroys the regional office hidden in a travel agency.

The book is lightning paced. Short, staccato chapters that alternate from the POV from Sarah on one side and Rose on the other with other characters lightly sketched in around them to make you wonder who is in the right and who isn’t. The action is furious but also funny especially a section where we follow a group of non-combatants through the carnage of the attack.

Usually when I say that a book will most certainly be made into a movie, that is a bit of a derisive comment but with this book, I could easily picture this being adapted for the screen with great results (in the right, non Michael Bay hands). Plus with a refreshing women-centric pair of leads, Hollywood should probably get right on it.

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Beer Book Binge

It is good to see more and more craft beer books on the shelves. Here are three that you should peruse online or, heavens forbid, in an actual bookstore.

Wood & Beer – combine Peter Bouckaert from New Belgium with Dick Cantwell, the quality ambassador for the Brewer’s Association and you will get some seriously in depth knowledge about wood an what happens when beer comes into contact with it. Just bought it and will review later.

The Beer Geek Handbook – I really enjoyed the slim cellaring book from Patrick Dawson, Vintage Beer. His latest seems heavy on illustrations and is more jokey in tone. Might be better as a gift to those outside the craft scene to help them understand why beer ignites such passion.

The Opposite of Woe – For this political season, combine one Denver craft beer entrepreneur with the mayor’s office and the governorship and see how brewing a beer is similar to getting a bill passed.  From two-time Mayor of Denver and Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper.

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L.A. (not so) Confidential

The rest of the craft beer country will really know about us now that Henry from Monkish has landed on the cover of the latest Beer Advocate magazine issue.
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Let that sink in for a moment. Now let me break out my red pen to see what I agree with and what I don’t…

Right off the bat, the fact that the fabulous Bernie Wire was the lead photographer was perfect even if the article failed to live up to my expectations, I knew that the look would be good.
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I was a little concerned by the map though accompanying the piece. No names of breweries, towns or freeways on it. Little less than useful. Maybe another photo there? Or a sidebar about the writer’s favorite beers?

The tone of the piece authored by Sean Lewis is good. L.A. Is a stereotypical city and it is good to start with a confirm and then move on opening set of paragraphs. I also liked the ending which turned the focus to one of the strengths of L.A., the women who power our scene. I am also glad that Eagle Rock and Ladyface got their due though I wish Strand would have gotten a mention too.

Speaking of mentions, I think it should be obligatory that Craftsman and Mark Jilg get mentioned for holding the banner up. But maybe that was cut for space or considered something that has been done too much already. Also a plug for L.A. Beer Week would have been nice.

Overall, not much to quibble with. Lewis is a reliable writer for Beer Advocate who seems a straight shooter without betraying a bias. You could take this article and visit the breweries and bars and get a solid snapshot of what L.A. beer is.

Oh and I am artfully hidden in the Eagle Rock photo on page 58.
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A Book & A Beer – Dublineqsue by Enrique Vila-Matas

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Well, Dublinesque was a struggle to get through to the end.  No chance of getting into a rhythm and ripping off 100 pages in a sitting.  And the problem is the lead character Riba.  He is a shit to his wife and aging parents.  He is petty and childish.  And his “heroic” quest in the book is to hold a wake for the age of printed books.  A goodbye to Gutenberg.  None of it hit home with me.  Not one character was interesting.

Many possible pivot points were brought up and then dropped.  A mysterious suitcase, the husband and wife relationship, the Gutenberg Wake were all passed over in a hurry.  There could have been a spirited Godot like conversation about the state of publishing or the dynamic between authors and publishers.  Maybe a peek into what writers do when they gather together and are not writing.   A discussion of over-rated authors would have been good.  When, as a reader, you spend more time thinking about what you would have written then what you are reading, it isn’t a good sign.

Not to mention that the end takes a leap into the future and tries to do a flashback, what happened when I drank too much last night turn.  Didn’t see that relapse coming.  It was only hinted at for 200+ pages and still didn’t make Riba any more interesting.  Just a mopey sad sack.

Since, I do not recommend this book to anyone unless they are a HUGE James Joyce fan and are completists by nature, I could have recommended beers not to drink from Spain or Ireland or here in the U.S.  But I won’t pile on and make matters worse.

Instead here are some literary themed beers that I think would be great to have while reading.

Thomas Hardy’s Ale named after the English Author

Cisco Brewer’s Whale’s Tale named after the great White Whale

Rogue Brewing has their Shakespeare Stout

Tart of Darkness from friend’s of the blog, The Bruery

or hit up some RavenBeer for some Edgar Allan Poe

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Woody

Brewers Publications, has a new book out and it has two beer stars talking barrels. Wood & Beer: A Brewer’s Guide by Dick Cantwell (formerly of Elysian Brewing) and Peter Bouckaert from New Belgium, deep dive into “the many influences of wood as a vehicle for contributing tremendous complexity to beers fermented and aged within it.”
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“Wood & Beer covers not only the history, physiology, microbiology and flavor contributions of wood, but also the maintenance of wooden vessels.”

And if Matt Brynildson, the brewmaster at Firestone Walker Brewing Company blurbs enthusiastically about the book, then it might be worth leafing through. It might be pegged more for brewing but ardent craft beer fans will most certainly pick up nuggets of wisdom that will help them enjoy beer from the wood better.

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Beer Label, Book, Both?

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A like the meta nature of the label from Evil Twin for the companion beer to the book Beer & Food which are also companions since many people now know that beer is much more versatile with food than other beverages.

And the beer itself sounds intriguing as well. Maybe a future, A Book & A Beer post.

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A Book & A Beer – The Age of Dreaming

The City of Glendale is now onto the 9th One Book – One Glendale. And the selected book comes from the author Nina Revoyr, The Age of Dreaming.
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I have to admit that I almost stopped reading this book in a couple of spots. I don’t want to say the book was simplistic but everything fell into place neatly. Even the murder and racism and Hollywood-ism’s were all tied with generic bows.

The Age of Dreaming tells the story of Jun Nakayama a silent film star who we see in flashbacks to his acting days and then in old age in the 1960’s. He is a native of Japan who comes to America to study and ends up (in short order) as a film star. But tumult, in the form of two leading ladies and the murder of a director lead him to stop acting.

The lead character is naïve to the life and people around him in both the 20’s and 60’s which makes it hard to really root for him. I kept wanting to tell the guy that girl A loves him but he doesn’t recognize it in the book until near the end. He doesn’t recognize that the director is gay despite numerous ham-handed clues from the author too.

I know that stupid decisions are needed to move some plots forward. Sometimes the obstacle for a character is self-created but everyone in this book seems to be creating issues that were a small step away from cliché. A producer who changes the script from thoughtful drama to action oriented. The fading star who has a crush on the director. The starlet with the stage mom and crush on the director.

I felt like there was a thoughtful book about minorities in early film that could have been written or a straight up mystery with more Ellroy or Hammett to it. This book just did not do it for me.

For beer to go with the book, my first thought went to the Cream Ale from Angel City Brewing. Although the name of the beer is Marilyn, it is still movie related and life tragedy related as well. Another is Craftsman Brewing and their 1903 lager which isn’t as cool nowadays that LA has more breweries but a chapter of the book is set in Pasadena so I think it works especially since the book is light as a feather like the beer. If I could be snarky, I would recommend the Espresso Stout from Hitachino Nest. It matches the characters heritage and will keep you up when the book isn’t holding your interest.

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A Book & A Beer – Best Food Writing of 2015

So the book for March is a collection of pieces about food and it is a book that I get every year to catch the pulse of food and what is being written about in the last year.
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The Best Food Writing of 2015 has quite a few recipes that I flip right by because I enjoy the commentary and how food affects people.

This year there was a sorta running theme of “not having time to cook and that being OK.” which probably came as a relief to anyone (OK, mostly women) who have to generate a dinner a day if not more for 52 weeks a year. The piece by Tamar Haspel about less complaining struck a nerve with me.

I also was fascinated by Nashville Hot Chicken which I had never heard of up until this year plus the story of bringing non-meat meat-like products to market from El Segundo, California. Another cool piece was At Your Service? By Oliver Strand about “omotenashi” or extra hospitality, as I call it.

To pair with the stories, I would go with some spice accented beers. And I will recommend two from Burnside Brewing.

First would be Spring Rye a pale ale with Ultra hops and Coriander. Next up would be Sweet Heat a heated mix of Apricots and Scotch Bonnet peppers on a base of wheat beer.

For those not near Portland, Saison du Buff from the trio of Victory Brewing, Dogfish Head and Stone would provide the herbal kick that would nicely accent the book.

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Book Review – Gin – The Manual

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Now this was what I was looking for in a Gin book. Gin: The Manual by Dave Broom laid out the topic, made it easy to understand and helped this gin novice/intermediate learn more about the spirit.

My needs for books about spirits or wine diverge sharply from what I need from a beer book. I have read plenty of craft beer books and don’t need to read another truncated summary of beer history or overview of the brewing process but for gin, I need that now to learns the in’s and out’s of the distillation.

The “manual” starts with the history before heading into the How of adding botanicals to a base spirit. Then the brunt of the book is a page-by-page listing of different gins but there is a great pair of twists to it. One is that he slots each gin into one of five different flavor categories. More importantly he isn’t dogmatic about putting each gin into only one. If one exhibits characteristics of two, Broom notes it. The other twist is that he rates not just on the gin neat. He offers up different cocktails and rates each one as a G&T, Martini and other drinks to further flesh out what each gin is like. The recipe section at the back was just the right size for me. Broom apologizes for it’s shortness but a cocktail recipe book this isn’t meant to be.

The layout and design of the book is easy on the eyes and showcases each bottle and label in a straightforward manner. The green from the cover and the plain stylistic choice continues through the pages. The tone throughout the reviews and recipes is more of a friendly bartender. One from Britain who spells things a skosh differently which, to me adds to the small joys of the book.

There could have been more words used to discuss the gin variants and how they fit into the universe. Maybe a diagram of some sorts to show what Old Tom is vs. London Dry Gin vs Genever or fruited Gins. Also the U.S. section felt a little thin to me but considering Broom seemed to have drunk each one and made cocktails with each, I can understand that his liver probably couldn’t take the pounding.

Otherwise this is a great first book for those looking into gin and distilling and would make an excellent reference book to reach back to from time to time. Plus I learned about Purl – aromatized beer with gin added. Something to research for the future.

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A Book & A Beer – Mycroft Holmes

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We head to the realm of prequel in this month’s A Book & A Beer with the backstory for the elder Holmes brother, in the book Mycroft Holmes.

What makes this peek into a little mentioned character in the books who has been enlarged upon in TV and movies is that the novel was co-written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Yes, that one. As well as Anna Waterhouse who has screenwriting credits on her resume.

The actions begins at a crew race in England but spends the bulk of the time on the island of Trinidad. Where there is a rash of killings with an apparent supernatural bent. The book re-creates the winning formula of a Holmes brother with a trusted friend at his side, using his wits to solve a crime. There are turncoats and near death adventures before the final coup de grace is delivered by Mycroft back in England with the Queen in attendance.

To start off the beer choices, the first selection is Carib Royal Extra Stout from the Carib Brewery on the island. Staying in the dark malt realm and tying in the profit motive of the mystery is Oil Piers Porter from Surf Brewing here in California. Then I would add the IPA from the Cigar City Humidor Series to honor Douglas the cigar man and right hand to Mycroft.