The Hawaii Beer Book

Features

• Cover Type: Spiral Bound with 184 pages
• Published by: Watermark Publishing
• Edition: 1st Edition December 8, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0979676924
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0979676925
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Review
Cheers to cooking with beer

The lady who wrote the book on beer in Hawai`i never particularly cared for the brew. "I remember growing up watching the Super Bowl on TV and we'd have all the family around and the guys would have their Buds and I'd take a sip and it just didn't taste good at all," recalled Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi, author of the recently published "The Hawai`i Beer Book." But some months ago, Chee was talking to a friend, a firefighter who spends his days off nursing batches of home brew, a hobby about which he is passionate. As writers tend to do, she began asking questions, the conversation turning into an interview. She learned that the Islands are now home to eight craft breweries and an enthusiastic home-brewing underground. Tsutsumi researched the history of brewing and breweries in Hawai`i, beermaking, beer trivia, beer cuisine and the best places to quaff an ale, stout or porter, giving the book appeal to both locals and beer-loving visitors. "I started out knowing zero about beer," said Tsutsumi. Now she's a walking database: The first recorded brewing of beer in Hawai`i was in a journal entry by Don Francisco de Paula Marin on Feb. 2, 1812. Primo (the loved and reviled suds of the Islands, which is about to be revived) was first released Feb. 13, 1901, and the last bottles rolled off the line in 1998. The first contemporary craft beer was Albion, released in Sonoma, Calif., in 1976; the first in the Islands was Gordon Biersch, which opened here in 1994. Tsutsumi acknowledges that the Islands were a bit behind the times with regard to the craft beer trend, which kicked off around much of the country in the 1970s. This had partly to do with a law that prohibited brewpubs from engaging in off-property sales. That law was changed in 2003. Now you can buy a "growler"—a refillable container, usually about a half-gallon—of fresh-made beer in pubs such as Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch & Crab, where his Big Aloha beer is made. Still, our locally grown brew pubs are doing well. Kona Brewing Co., the state's largest, has won numerous awards nationally and internationally, for instance, and its beers are available on the Mainland and in Japan. Although the vast majority of beer drinkers go for the gusto (translation: quantity, not quality; consistency, not nuance), there is a growing understanding here of beer's variety and qualities and more people who drink for the flavor and not the effect. "Beer appreciation is just like wine appreciation," Tsutsumi said. "And there ARE beer snobs. You put it in the right glass, you swirl it, you sniff it, you admire the color and head. You never guzzle, you sip. It's not anything like I imagined beer drinkers would be; it's very sophisticated." Tsutsumi has learned a thing or two about cooking with beer, too. She gathered about a dozen recipes from local chefs and home cooks for her Beer Cuisine chapter. She also cruised about online and found that beercook.com is one of the best Web sites for information and recipes on cooking with beer. Tsutsumi offers this advice for using beer in cooking: Don't use beer you wouldn't drink; a dish is only as good as what you put into it.
Generally, if a recipe calls for water, stock or wine, you can substitute beer, but don't overdo it. "Less is more" in cooking with beer, she said.
Choose a style of beer that matches the basic characteristics of the dish—lagers for light dishes, stouts for hearty stews, for example.
"Hoppy" beers—those with an assertive flavor of hops, such as Indian pale ales—should be used with a light hand because the bitterness intensifies in the food. Avoid this, for example, when making a sauce that requirements to be reduced, further concentrating the flavors. --Wanda Adams, "The Honolulu Advertiser" (Copyright 2007)

Product Description
In "The Hawai`i Beer Book: Bars, Breweries & Beer Cuisine," a guide to Hawai`i's vibrant beer scene, Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi shares the history of beer in the Islands, takes the reader to local craft breweries and explains the basics of home brewing. This 192-page book also includes more than two-dozen delicious recipes incorporating beer, suggestions for food-and-beer pairings, listings and reviews of local bars and restaurants to aid in seeking out the perfect pint, and fun beer trivia. The comprehensive resource section lists everything from beer books and events to breweriana clubs and podcasts. An essential for both long-time beer lovers and those just developing an appreciation for it, "The Hawai`i Beer Book" will help the reader to discover, enjoy and learn more about beer in the Aloha State.

Reader Reviews
In "The Hawai'i Beer Book: Bars, Breweries & Beer Cuisine", award-winning journalist Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi provides interested readers with a succinct history of brewing in Hawaii, an informative explanation of home brewing, an illustrated tour of Hawaii's local craft breweries, listings and reviews of local bars and restaurants with a special focus on the beers they serve, suggestions for food-and-beer pairings, beer-related recipes, as well as fun beer trivia. From beer books, to breweriana clubs, to beer related podcasts, "The Hawai'i Beer Book" is a unique, confidently recommended, and thoroughly 'user friendly' compendium of practical and fun information that must be considered essential reading for any resident or visitor with an interest in what Hawaii has to offer for beer enthusiasts.