Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 320 pages
- Published by: Free Press October 5, 2004
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 074323278X
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0743232784
-
Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
- Weighs: 1 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Thoreau said, "The tavern will compare favorably with the church." Following this premise rather closely, longtime
Wall Street Journal writer and novelist Wells (
Junior's Leg) searches for his preferred house of worship: the "perfect beer joint." Setting out to follow the Mississippi River, Wells writes, "I would begin in Minnesota among folk who, geographically speaking, are practically Canadians and by reputation descended from good beer-drinking Swedes and Germans. I would slide down soon enough into the Great Beer Belly of America, for, by lore at least, Midwesterners are presumed to be the mightiest of U.S. beer drinkers." Full of profundities ("One thing you can say about lagers: the good ones don't make you work very hard to like them"), the book also lends historical, scientific and cultural insights into the $75 billion industry—from the likes of beer behemoths like Budweiser to newfangled Extreme Beer, which has bottle values comparable to fine Bordeaux. Along the way, Wells encounters quirky characters, and the pages he devotes to describing brewers, bar proprietors, bartenders and plain ol' beer drinkers prove he's more interested in beer people (84 million Americans drink beer) than the industry itself. Wells's storytelling abilities complement his journalist's eye for stats and facts, making this a humorous, lively and informational tour.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This account of journeys through the soft beer belly of America exudes that expansive happiness that springs from a guy who is truly enjoying his bottle of brew. Wells, a
Wall Street Journal reporter, has crisscrossed the U.S., visiting breweries and bars to find out just what makes beer the nation's leading adult beverage. In the wake of the "lager wars" that drove so many midsize breweries to extinction in the late twentieth century, Wells finds newly prospering microbreweries. He visits the deceptively down-market Flora-Bama Lounge on the Gulf Coast to find out how it maintains its record consumption levels. He travels the length of the Mississippi to assess the heartland's appetite for brewskis. Wells delves into the history of the giant breweries such as Anheuser-Busch with its trademark Clydesdale draft horses and Miller with its phenomenally successful campaign to encourage that quaffing of "light" beer. As one would expect from a reporter of his background, Wells focuses his eye less flatteringly on the economic, social, and political role of beer, whose powerful lobbyists jealously guard industry prerogatives.
Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader ReviewsI'm not much of a beer drinker but this is a terrific book. Wells is an entertaining writer and also a good reporter and observer of human nature. You learn tons about the beer industry but he is clearly most interested in beer people, the quirkier the better. By the time you finish the chapter on Extreme Beer, you will understand practically all you need to know about the microbrew business but also why it attracts the kind of people who could be running companies in Silicon Valley. I had no idea I would want to read an entire chapter about beer yeast but I couldn't put it down. The trip down the River of Beer meanwhile is fun and a nicely paced travelogue. He ends up in one of my favorite cities New Orleans and his essay about its drinking proclivities is very, very funny (and true.) I highly recommend this book. It will make a great stocking stuffer this Christmas.
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