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Get your calendars out…
Noted beer writer Jeff Alworth will be in LA (Covid permitting) to plug his revised second edition of the Beer Bible. Which you should get if you do not have it yet. Click HERE to do it.
Frankly, even if dates get postponed, a Sunday at the Propagator is still gonna be fun.
There has been quite some noise coming from the British craft beer scene. Not that we can get much of the beer here or travel there of late but maybe we needed to get this book from Matthew Curtis first to re-acclimate us to what is going on the UK.
Kind of a “How it Started, How’s It Going” view.
Modern British Beer is available but only via CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) website for those in country. For those anxious to order in the U.S., try these three retailers: Waterstones, Blackwells and Book Depository.
When historians start treading the waters of 2020-2021, trying to make sense of the Coronavirus and its impact will be key. And maybe with distance, we will be able to see the full forest of trees.
But now, we are in the weird pre-post pandemic time and it behooves us to look back at this year+ even though it is easier to read about happier things.
All that to say that you can now buy the Coronavirus Diaries compiled by Portland beer writer Jeff Alworth, where he spoke with beer people in the thick of the drama. It is honestly very dramatic.
Some blogs have a nice through line built in that makes it just right to move into book form, such is the case with Farmhouse Ale Quest which sprung from the blog of Lars Marius Garshol. Make sure to buy from him so he can get the full amount of money. Find it HERE.
File this under I wish it was available now because a lot of people should be reading it to get their heads on straighter.
Tara Nurin’s A Woman’s Place is in the Brewhouse will be coming out this fall and I strongly suggest that you pre-order it like I did by clicking HERE.
And I hope that an addendum is needed because so much progress gets made.
I am a sucker for a brewery history book. Even when that book is also filled with recipes (beer and/or food) and other miscellany.
“This book offers you a unique look behind the scenes of St.Bernardus: from the rich history to the brewing process and the recently renovated visitor centre. In addition, you will be served various national and international recipes and cocktails by various top and starred chefs, in which the beers of St.Bernardus play the leading role.”
Obviously this book will not be an exhaustive bit of research, but I am adding it to my want to read list
This was a fun ride of a book. I certainly wish that it were longer but as a fan of novellas, this story was complete. It ends sad and there is a never solved mystery of a recipe never seen and in between is Czech beer history a plenty to make you want to visit both Prague and Pilsen.
Basically an old defunct brewery is brought back to life and starts producing excellently reviewed beer but too soon it falls apart with the brewmaster retiring and the owner dying.
I heartily recommend this book. You will probably read it in one sitting.
The March book is the first book from the Oprah imprint, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho.
You may have seen the videos that preceded this book which are really good and I highly recommend. This book is much in the same vein. Good, up to date advice about bridging the conversation gap. This book is not a tirade, it is not a downer, it covers a very hard topic but with what I call a firm lightness. No one is off the hook and dark history is told straight up and facts are reiterated strongly. (Get outta here with your misguided reverse racism) But Acho is a warm ebullient person and that comes through. It may seem an easy comparison but he is like a friend who you can trust to navigate tough situations.
For those open to learning and to correcting their past mistakes, this book provides a strategy on how to be an ally and more importantly a friend.
Three words on the beer choice. Crowns & Hops. If you haven’t had a beer from the dynamic duo of Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter, then order the book and then go find one of the many beers that they have released in the last six months. They have a new Italian Pilsner, Miles to Italy that I need to go out and buy for sure. Plus they have a collaboration with Great Notion on a Gose named Crowns and Axes that look intriguing too.
Author Jeremy Banas dives into the three iterations of the Celis Witbier in his book about Pierre Celis and his journey from Belgium to Texas and back and, at least to me, it reads as a cautionary tale about the business of beer.
Twice, Pierre Celis ran into financial roadblocks and twice he sold. Once to the predecessor of SABInBev and once to Miller to keep his brewery afloat. Both times the beer was quickly changed to cheaper ingredients and Pierre would find himself persona non grata at the office.
Granted the first sale of the Belgian brewery was precipitated by a destructive fire but to then head to Austin and get figuratively burnt again after the Michael Jackson tells you that selling would be a bad plan seems like a person who needs a financial guru in their corner so that Pierre could focus on being a brand ambassador and brewer.
The third attempt led by Pierre’s daughter Christine has also ran into financial issues as well as having to fight to regain the Celis name and to weather a pandemic.
Throughout it all the Hoegarden nee Celis White stands the test of time when it comes to the witbier style. And I certainly hope that, this time, if the brewery falls that the recipe or “name” not be sold again.
Once you get past the undercapitalized portion of this story, you see the drive to keep a beer style alive and the pure love of beer that Pierre had and with each page turn, I wanted to visit Belgian breweries more so in that respect Banas succeeded in his tale.
