Ambitious Brew

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I devoured this book over the course of three days. That is usually a good sign. In this case, only partially so. If you want a book that timelines the big industrial brewers and promotes big capitalism then this will suit you just fine. For me, this was a slice of history. No where in the same league as Last Call by Daniel Okrent.

Here are my quibbles:
1. It starts with the Anheuser and Schlitz gang. Why not start at the beginning with Washington and the founding of beer in America. How can that not be interesting.
2. Regional breweries between 1776 and 1860 get no mention. Why?
3. Trying to praise the Budweiser, Miller and Pabst beers even in their classy heydays is really pushing it at best. I never drank it and it was better in the past but that is surely damning by faint praise.
4. Short shrift to great beer meccas. Portland barely gets talked about. Neither does Seattle or Brooklyn or name a pioneering city.
5. Marketing and business savvy are not the prime directive here. It’s the beer.

On the plus side, there is good history facts in here and she is spot on with how trends in eating and culture affected the buying patterns of beer consumers. I give this a barely recommend. Choose a Pete Brown book first.

Brooklyn Beer History Tour

Urban Oyster does NYC tours and they one of their choices is Beer and the History of Beer in Brooklyn!
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Check out the particulars HERE or if you just want some highlights:

A private tour of the Brooklyn Brewery, plus a taste of eight beers on tap.
A look at two remaining 19th century brewery buildings that were once part of the old Brewers Row.
Lunch with pizza and lager beer – mmm….
Stories of brewing, bottling, and even bootlegging.
A beautiful cathedral-like church that was built by the German immigrants in the neighborhood.
A stop by ABC Beverage Distributors to learn about how beer gets to customers today versus in the past.
Tastings of traditional German beer and Brooklyn beer with gourmet small plates at Huckleberry Bar.