Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer |
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Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer
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by Amy Mittelman
Sales Rank: 725165
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Discount: 10 %
$22.95
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Perfect Paperback: 248 pages
Published by: Algora Publishing December 1, 2007
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0875865720
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0875865720
Book Dimensions:
9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
Weighs: 13.6 ounces
Amherst Bulletin December 14, 2007
Attention beer lovers: This one's for you Everyone knows the name Sam Adams - if not the beer then the colonial-era patriot and prominent maltster who encouraged home production and consumption of beer. But fewer are familiar with Colonel Jacob Ruppert. The George Steinbrenner of the mid-20th century, Ruppert owned the New York Yankees from 1914 until his death in 1939. He also owned the Ruppert Brewery, which had million-barrel sales prior to Prohibition and was a leader of the brewing industry during Prohibition and Repeal. Babe Ruth was at his deathbed and over 15,000 people attended his funeral including Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Lou Gehrig. Such tidbits of American breweriana are available in a new book by Amherst historian and writer Amy Mittelman. "Brewing Battles: The History of American Beer" (Algora Publishing, 2007) is a story of the American brewing industry and its leading figures, from colonial days to the present. The chronicle includes the story of the struggle of German immigrant brewers to establish themselves in America, and the more recent emergence of micro-brewers.
Springfield Republican February 21, 2008
Book release party on tap in Amherst
If news reports about the war in Iraq have got you down, let me recommend some reading about a more enjoyable set of hostilities: "Brewing Battles" by Amherst author Amy Mittelman. Mittelman, who holds a doctorate in history (with a focus on alcohol production - more on that later) from Columbia University, recently published this exhaustive tome which touches on numerous aspects of brewing history in the United States. Mittelman will hold a book release party on Feb. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Amherst Brewing Company. "Brewing Battles" (published by Algora Publishing) peers through a glass brightly at the American brewing industry from colonial days to the present. From the early days of the nation, through the struggles of German immigrant brewers to establish themselves up to Prohibition and the modern craft beer movement, the book leaves no stone - or coaster - unturned in its search for how beer has affected both American culture and government. Mittelman said she decided to write the book for several reasons. "I had done earlier work on the liquor industry and I saw so many areas of change, but also of continuity," she said. "If you look at what brewers said in 19th century, it's not that different than what they say today and I wanted to explore that. I also felt that the whole nexus of alcohol and government income before Prohibition was fascinating." This nexus to which Mittelman refers is the fact that prior to the institution of the income tax in 1913, the liquor industry taxation provided more than 50 percent of the federal government's internal revenue. It was when she learned this fact years ago, she said, that led her to focus on alcohol production in her doctoral program. With her background, Mittelman could have chosen other alcoholic beverages for the topic of her book, but she believed beer was the right choice. "When I was looking at it, I wanted something with a long historical span and the history of beer appeared more cohesive," she said. "There were also more identifiable players in the beer industry. Beer has a more indispensable everyday image." Mittelman said while she wasn't necessarily surprised by anything during her research for the book, she was amazed by several things. I was amazed how modern those 19th century brewers were in how they approached economic and government issues," she said. "And if you look at the modern period, beer has achieved the goal of those early German brewers to make it a national beverage." The book also looks at how brewers shape changing patterns of American alcohol consumption: What we drink, how we drink and even where we drink. And be forewarned, this is not light reading, nor a book to be read after more than one or two beers. There are footnotes and references that rival the most scholarly of publications. "I wanted to write a book that was easy to read but one that was also well-researched," Mittelman said. Although greater breweries continue to merge and craft brewers make inroads into the market, Mittelman sees little changing in brewing's foreseeable future. "I think we really have had a two-tiered industry for a while now and we'll probably continue to have that," she said. "Going back a long way in 1880s, when some brewers started adding corn to make a lighter beer, there was always a percentage of market that wanted hoppier beers, and that's who the microbrewers are serving today." George Lenker can be reached at thebeernut@ verizon.net
Reader Reviews
It's hard to change history, so for me, a lot of Mitelman's efforts initially seemed old hat. The more I read, however, the more I began finding good examples in "Brewing Battles" that helped fill, in depth, some of the more generalized history I had relied on for some of my secondary sources for "Beer: A History of Brewing in Chicago and my latest book, Beer & Food: An American History. Both of these books tend towards a combination of brewing history with a hearty mix of marketing, warts and all, so Mittelman's slant to U.S. brewing history, with a tax and economics approach, was a refreshing change. As an interesting example; Prior to the institution of the income tax in 1913 the liquor industry contributed over 50% of the federal government's internal revenue. Without the new tax revenues from the 1913 taxing laws, would National Prohibition have ever been considered by Congress? Seems highly unlikely. Congress had a new cash cow. In the same sense, it was the Stock Market crash and the Depression that had FDR willingly agree to Repeal. Beer, wine and booze meant much needed tax revenues. Income taxes, after all, meant little when so many were out of work. Brewing Battles demonstrates a more knowledgable and expansive approach to colonial and U.S. brewing histories than Maureen Ogle's "Ambitious Brew." Ogle's skipping of 250 years of colonial and early U.S. brewing efforts and the beginning of her story around 1840--because she felt there was no real brewing history prior to 1840--was a big mistake. Her countering of this 250 year deficit with a gushing 100 pages of a mere thirty years of craft beer history made little sense to me, and a good number of book and blog reviewers too. Mittelman starts at the beginning, where any good history book should. I highly recommended Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer.
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Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer
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Price: $22.95
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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