Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery
By Steve Hindy and Tom Potter
Wiley
ISBN 0-471-73512-4

"Riveting" and "gripping" are words I've heard to describe Beer School, penned by Brooklyn Brewery founders Steve Hindy and Tom Potter. Those terms, along with "mostly true!" were uttered by Brooklyn Brewery employees, and like them, I have been close, though not nearly as close, to the action.
Tom and Steve were always a compatible couple it seemed to me, with complimentary skills. Each with successful careers, Tom in banking and Steve as an AP journalist, the book describes how beer and Steve's homebrew brought them together, how they launched their brewery on the choppy entrepreneurial seas of New York City.
The book's attraction comes from a frank and honest approach as Steve and Tom take turns on chapter topics, grading each other. Color is added by real life experiences described by Hindy such as getting a visit from organized crime when they built their brewery without union labor, and even more hair-raising, getting robbed at gunpoint.
Tom's financial acumen charted a course through various investment scenarios; his description is enlightening for the investment-challenged (like myself) with tales of angel investors and narrowly avoided tragedies - the Black Monday stock market plummet in October of 1987 came just days after they had made their initial investment goal of $300,000. Potter's candor in describing the failure of the brewery's grandiose dot com delivery scheme, Total Beer, (which came close to bringing the entire company down) is humbling, while his portrayal of the bare knuckle world of beer distribution also reads well.
Hindy grapples with the topic of motivating employees and staying true to ideals as the company expands as well as remaining flexible enough to rewrite a business plan and mission statement. His skill in media relations is evident throughout - he set the date for the brewery's ribbon-cutting on the Mayor's birthday figuring (correctly) that Rudolph Giuliani wouldn't mind pouring a few pints - "My father was a bartender," the Mayor quipped. Hindy's persuasive skills also hooked current Mayor Michael Bloomberg to pen the introduction to Beer School.
Above all, the book is real. What remains to be seen is whether people on the outside enjoy it as much as the people on the inside.
- Tony Forder

Microbrewed Adventures: A Lupulin Filled Journey to the Heart and Flavor of the World's Great Craft Beers
By Charlie Papazian
Harper Collins
ISBN 0-06-075817-7

Charlie Papazian, author of the seminal Complete Joy of Homebrewing is a legendary figure in the homebrewing world.
His newest book is an almost 400 page collection of writings on beer, brewing and beer travel and musings. Charlie is in great form as a writer and raconteur, and the short chapters make very entertaining reading. He begins by stating that this book is "essentially about imagination," and goes on to profile and praise the hardy souls who had the passion and imagination to produce amazing, flavorful beer at a time when the vast majority of beer available was bland mass-market lager.
These days, many of us take the plethora of high-quality beers available for granted, but it wasn't always that way. The book begins with the dawn of the microbrewery movement in the 1970's, when, as he explains, "It wasn't easy in those days to start a small brewery. Malt was only available in quantities measured by train car loads, hops were sold in bales weighing hundreds of pounds and fresh yeast cultures could be had only at great expense or long overseas journeys from German and English brewing institutions." And yet the brewers' passion allowed them to overcome all of these hurdles.
Part of Charlie's charm is his irreverence for rules and regulations. The world of brewing can be intimidating for a new brewer. Who out there hasn't proudly brought one of their painstakingly created brews to someone with more experience, or perhaps a competition, only to be shot down with a comment like "not to style," or "too much (insert flaw here)." His manner is to say it's okay, it's your beer, make it any way you like, as long as you enjoy it, that's all that matters.
There are several amusing anecdotes about his irreverence for style. Once, on a whim during a Michael Jackson speech, he mixed an Imperial Stout with a Belgian style Wit beer, and liked the results so much he formulated a recipe based upon it, Felicitous Stout. And the "ale" yeast that he used for years and in all the recipes in the Complete Joy of Homebrewing actually turns out to be a lager yeast, from, of all breweries, Budweiser!
This relaxed attitude is great comfort to beginning brewers, and part of the reason he has remained so popular among homebrewers. At a certain point however, some brewers do get to the point where they need more technical advice and they go elsewhere to get to the next level, to brew more precisely, and to hit certain stylistic guidelines.
From the dawn of the craft beer movement to global travels to all corners of the world in search of great unique beers and the rich experiences that inevitably follow, this is a very entertaining book for anyone who loves great beer. There are also, of course, recipes that follow each brewery profile and travel adventure, so that those inclined can further expand their brewing horizons.
- Paul Sullivan

Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Breweries
By Lew Bryson
Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811732150

This is Lew's third book, following up on Pennsylvania Breweries (now in its third edition) and New York Breweries.
Like those books, Lew's latest is the perfect guidebook for both beginner and experienced beer travelers, with in-depth profiles of 58 regional breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs and a user-friendly format that includes beer lists and maps. Each brewery profile also includes information on local cultural and historical attractions to visit, along with notable beer bars and restaurants. For the hardcore beer geek who wants to visit every brewery and try every beer in the region, this book provides an excellent checklist. For the novice beer traveler, the book includes background information on beer styles, the history of beer in America and the growth of microbreweries and brewpubs over the past 25 years.
Some of this information is presented in short sections titled "A word about," where Lew gives his unvarnished opinions on diverse topics like bars, brewing beer and the way the industry classifies breweries. I especially liked the "A word about.Beer Traveling" section. In just two pages, Lew manages to spread the gospel of beer traveling (it's "about enjoying beer and discovering the places where it is at its best") and at the same time give common sense advice about safety and moderation without being strident. I also enjoyed this section since I'm one of the beer geeks he vividly describes, the ones who wear microbrewery T-shirts and baseball caps and collect pint glasses and growlers from brewpubs. In these sections and throughout the book, Lew's passion for great beer and the people who make it shines through. His love for the region and its many attractions is also apparent, especially in his section on regional foods, with mouthwatering descriptions of crabs with Old Bay Seasoning, half-smokes and Smithfield hams. As described in the foreword by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, "Lew was championing not just the beer he liked, but also the places and people who were making them."
- Bernie Kilkelly

Wild Brews: Beer Beyond the
Influence of Brewer's Yeast
By Jeff Sparrow
Brewers Publications
ISBN 13: 978-0-937381-86-1

If you've read many books about beer and brewing it often seems like there isn't a whole lot more to learn, save for specifics of a certain style, or perhaps a few recipes. The world of beer fermented with wild yeasts however, is cloaked in mystery  because the vast majorities of brewers ferment only with Saccharomyces yeasts, and have little or no knowledge of wild yeasts like Brettanomyces, Lactobacillus, and other strains that produce such unique flavors.
Wild Brews explores this world of beer fermented with wild yeasts. This term to most of us would bring to mind lambic beer, but this book also covers other styles of beer fermented with wild yeasts including Flanders red, of which Rodenbach is the most well known, and Flanders brown, or Oud Bruin, of which Liefmans Goudenband is probably the most prominent example.
The book begins with the author's first trip to Belgium and his discovery of wild beers, in the form of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus and Leifmans Goudenband, and his subsequent awakening to the breadth and depth of flavors that these beers revealed. Once tasted, the task is then to learn all about them and their history, with the eventual aim of trying to reproduce them. The result of this quest is this educational and entertaining book.
The book first deals with styles, then history of those styles, investigations of specific breweries and their products, including Rodenbach, Leifmans, de Dolle, Bavik, and others. Blenders like Frank Boon and Hanssens are also covered. Then it's on to tasting notes of beers from the aforementioned breweries as well as ones from England and America. Following this comes specific explanations of each microorganism, and it's place in the fermentation cycle, production methods of different breweries, and, most notably, the use of wood and other maturation vessels and their effect upon the finished beer.
"The lambic brewers consider the microorganisms living in the barrels as important as those that inoculate wort overnight in the coolship. For Flanders beers, many, if not all species of microorganisms - save perhaps Saccharomyces ceresiviae - live in the wood. According to Frank Boon, 'The finest Brettanomyces survive in the wood.'"
Many brewers of these styles say the barrel is the biggest part of the flavor of these beers. For those not residing in the Senne Valley, the book claims that wild yeast beers can be made anywhere in the world, as long as the proper wooden barrels are used.
Wild Brews is the most comprehensive book yet on this subject. It demystifies some of the most elusive styles of beer, and does it in a very readable way, even for those whose interest doesn't extend beyond drinking these fine beers.
- Paul Sullivan

300 Beers To Try Before You Die!
By Roger Protz
CAMRA books
ISBN 1852492139

A guy I know keeps a suitcase near the door of his small apartment, always packed and ready. It's fitted with foam padding that cradles five bottles of beer, vintage bottles of aging beers that he prizes highly.so highly that he keeps them by the door so that in case of a fire, he'll at least be able to save those beers from the inferno.
He's the kind of guy who would fully understand the intensity of feeling behind Roger Protz's new book. Protz is not as familiar to most Americans as he should be, being most deeply involved in the beers of his native England. But his years of work editing the Good Beer Guide of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the publishers of this book, grants him the credibility necessary to launch something with this audacious title.
Protz has tried enough beers to be able to whittle out 300 that are real "must haves," a trunk-full of beers to keep by the door in case of fire. There are very few in this list of 300 that will raise any eyebrows because of their inclusion - Pyramid Pale Ale, perhaps? - though there will always be some that individuals may feel should have been included.
American readers will certainly feel that way, because Protz's book is heavily laden with UK beers. We will find it odd to find beers listed in the IPA section that come in at an underwhelming 3.8% (Caledonian Deuchars IPA). That is, of course, the kind of IPA Protz sees most of. But by the time an American gets all this straightened out in their head, that Protz has much deeper experience with cask and bottle-conditioned ales than most drinkers on this continent, the real dread of this book becomes clear: how the hell am I going to get to England to taste all these great beers?!
Because Protz has a gift for getting across the character of these beers, a directly accessible language for the totality of a beer. Taste Protz's Fuller's ESB: "The finished beer has an explosion of rich malt, marmalade fruit and peppery hops on the nose, with an enormous attack of juicy malt, orange peel and bitter hop resins in the mouth. The deep, complex and lingering finish is beautifully balanced between malt, hops and tangy fruit, finally becoming dry with a good bitter hop resins note." After a paragraph like that, you almost feel like tipping him.
The book is well-laid out and illustrated, perfect for picking up and reading a bit, then laying down till the next time. Overall,  the quality of the writing and the production maintain a high standard.
It also pays to remember that this is a book about 300 beers that inspire passion, classics, little-known beauties, and standards among them. Is it "beer porn," as some cookbooks have been accused of doing for food? Perhaps, and what of it? If it excites your passions, Protz has done his job. He would, of course, be the last to tell you that when you'd tasted the 300 you were done. "Enjoy the journey," he says, "and keep traveling."
- Lew Bryson

The Good Beer Guide Belgium
By Tim Webb
CAMRA Books
ISBN 1852492104
www.camra.org.uk

Tim Webb has guided the dharma bums of beer through the beer paradise of Belgium since 1992. The new (5th) edition of the Good Beer Guide Belgium, the bible of Belgian beer lovers, is bigger and better than ever.
Webb has ditched the section on Holland - no doubt its own guide will appear soon - to concentrate more completely on Belgium. The book has been upgraded to semi-glossy paper and is replete with color photographs, many provided by ASN contributor and Belgophile Chuck Cook. Indeed, Webb acknowledges the increased transatlantic traffic in his introduction: "...Cook and the American contingent turned out in droves this time around, boldly going where no beer travellers had managed to inveigle their way before."
As in the past, Webb staunchly stands by his roots as a Campaign for Real Ale member - the book is published by CAMRA Books - fiercely touting his tome as the "completely independent guide to Belgian breweries." The author's no nonsense approach and pithy comments are evident throughout. As he states, "We do not write nice things for people who lie to us about what they do or who take our readers to be naïve idiots.the Guide's opinions are laced throughout its pages."
Opinions add the color, but the meat of the Guide is the surfeit of information crammed into its 350 pages; as Webb's experience deepens, so has the Guide. The book contains just about everything the itinerant beer junkie needs, not just on the beers - more than 800 are described, as well as more than 600 beer locations - but also how to get around, where to stay, where to eat and where to buy beer. The fifth edition contains a small chapter on Luxembourg and a larger section for the UK market on where to find Belgian beer in England.
The only possible drawback to the new edition may be that it weighs a bit more than its predecessors.
- Tony Forder

Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales and How to Brew Them
By Stan Hieronymus
Brewers Publications
ISBN 093738187X

Much more than a homebrewing guide for Belgian beers, Stan Hieronymus' new book is a comprehensive guide to the history, traditions, brewing practices, ingredients, and philosophy of abbey and Trappist beers.
Hieronymus' meticulous research is evident. In addition to extensive personal interviews with all of the Trappist breweries (and many of the secular abbey breweries as well), he mailed questionnaires to hundreds of breweries in the U.S. and Belgium, and developed a website for homebrewers to leave feedback.
One piece of feedback crystallized for Hieronymus a philosophical thread that runs throughout the book: "Think like a Belgian, brew like a monk. That is, make a distinctive beer that is expressive rather than imitative, and dedicate yourself to it as if there is nothing else in life." .
Structurally, the book is divided broadly into three main sections. The first two sections describe brewing traditions and practices in Belgium and the US, while the last describes brewing techniques and recipes.
For those familiar with Belgium and its styles, this book will certainly provide some mythbusters. For example, finding out that the Belgian candi sugar (think "rock candy") that Americans use extensively in Abbey styles bears no relation to what the Belgians actually use - a dark caramel syrup. Did you know that Westmalle's benchmark Trippel style was driven by the market for lighter colored beers; or that most of the Trappists use hop extract - scorned by most craft brewers? Perhaps, the most astonishing thing is how the sheer simplicity of ingredients, coupled with a frugal, practical approach (and focused yeast management) can produce such great beers.
Hieronymus interviews all of the brewers and monks associated with the six Belgian Trappist breweries, and many of the non-secular brewers of Abbey style or Strong Ales as well, including Moortgat (Duvel), De Konnick, Affligem, and others. Each brewery profile includes a brief snapshot of its flagship brew, noting ingredients, yeast, apparent attenuation, fermentation times and temperatures, and other noteworthy items ("refermentation in bottle with secondary yeast").
The "American Way" chapter profiles Belgian-inspired beers from New Belgium, Allagash, Ommegang, Russian River, Southampton, Avery, Pizza Port, Victory, Flying Fish, and more. Again, great practical, technical discussion is supplemented by philosophical perspective. 
The final section of the book builds on the previous sections and provides great reference material and specific recipes.  There is an extensive chapter on bottle-conditioning as well.
In the end, this book is an excellent philosophical and technical primer for brewing beers in the monastic style. If you are interested in brewing Trappist or Abbey styles, and want to learn about how they are made, this is the book for you.
- Kevin Trayner

Some Other Titles

Cellarmanship
By Patrick O'Neill
Campaign for Real Ale
ISBN 1 85249 208 2

Pierre Celis: My Life
By Raymond Billen
ISBN 9-053-7301-41