Does the beer buyer at the liquor store ask your advice? Do you understand the difference between a turbid and a single infusion mash? Do you travel with a tulip glass handy? Have you even eaten ramen just to afford a vintage Cantillon gueuze? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may be a Beer Geek and in need of this hilarious guide. Patrick Dawson provides everything you need to fully live a life ruled by beer, from the Ten Beer Geek Commandments and the Beer Geek Hall of Fame to guidance on what to drink, how and where to drink it, how to gracefully correct an uninformed bartender, where to buy “geek goods,” how to flawlessly execute a beer tasting, how to plan the ultimate beer-centric vacation, and much more. Includes quizzes to help you determine your level of geekery, as well as witty illustrations by Greg Kletsel.
Does the beer buyer at the liquor store ask your advice? Do you understand the difference between a turbid and a single infusion mash? Do you travel with a tulip glass handy? Have you even eaten ramen just to afford a vintage Cantillon gueuze? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may be a Beer Geek and in need of this hilarious guide. Patrick Dawson provides everything you need to fully live a life ruled by beer, from the Ten Beer Geek Commandments and the Beer Geek Hall of Fame to guidance on what to drink, how and where to drink it, how to gracefully correct an uninformed bartender, where to buy “geek goods,” how to flawlessly execute a beer tasting, how to plan the ultimate beer-centric vacation, and much more. Includes quizzes to help you determine your level of geekery, as well as witty illustrations by Greg Kletsel.
"The first major reference work to investigate the history and vast scope of beer, The Oxford Companion to Beer features more than 1,100 A-Z entries written by 166 of the world's most prominent beer experts"-- Provided by publisher.
2014 Gold Medal Winner from the North American Guild of Beer Writers for Best Beer Book Like good wine, certain beers can be aged under the right conditions to enhance and change their flavors in interesting and delicious ways. Good candidates for cellaring are either strong, sour, or smoked beers, such as barleywines, rauchbiers, and lambics. Patrick Dawson gives a list of easy-to-follow rules that lay the groundwork for identifying these cellar-worthy beers and then delves into the mysteries behind how and why they age as they do. Beer styles known for aging well are discussed and detailed profiles of commonly available beers that fall into these categories are included. There is also a short travel guide for bars and restaurants that specialize in vintage beer gives readers a way to taste what this new craft beer frontier is all about.
The Beer and Food Companion is set to become a classic reference for anyone wishing to pair beer and food, to cook with beer or to discover the delights of both the traditional and modern art of the beer sommelier. Beer has been drunk with food for thousands of years yet only now is it being appreciated as the perfect companion to food. It is even better than wine for pairing with cheese, for example. Tracing the history of beer and food matching, this book educates your palate to recognise the characteristics of a flavoursome beer, with delicious recipes that allow you to cook, pair and appreciate your ale at a whole new level. Profiles of key chefs, restaurateurs, beer experts, beer sommeliers and cicerones from around the world zone in on the new and exciting world of beer and food matching, including London pub The Bull, Restobières in Brussels and Higgins Restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Charts for Beer & Food and Food & Beer pairing provide at-a-glance perfect matches for easy reference when you are sourcing beer. With expert knowledge on the art of marrying flavour and cooking with beer you will quickly come to recognise the rich and rewarding combination of porter and chocolate desserts, the delicate counterbalance of a wheat beer with seafood, or the pleasing combination of a hoppy pale ale with a mild curry.
For everything there is a season — and beer is no exception. Best-selling author Randy Mosher leads you on a delicious tour of beer-tasting opportunities throughout the year, guiding you through all the best seasonal beer releases and festivals. Discover which beers are best to drink on warm spring afternoons or icy winter nights, and learn to make the most out of Craft Beer Week and Oktoberfest. Fun, fresh, and full of insider information, Beer for All Seasons will have you enjoying the varied delights of your favorite beverage year-round.
Ingenious (and hilarious) projects that aspiring makers will love, brought to you by the tinkerers at Popular Science magazine. From useful, doable gadgets to outlandish contraptions that you’d likely be wise to avoid, this showcase of ingenuity is an entertaining tribute to the inventive spirit. In this book from the science and technology magazine that’s been inspiring everyday people for nearly 150 years, you’ll discover: Geek Toys: Be the life of any party with rad gaming hacks, amazing pyrotechnics, quirky DIY robots, wow-inducing projectiles, and lots of ways to make beer even better. Home Improvements: Pimp out your pad with a laser-security system, an improvised sous-vide cooker, and a life-sized cardboard display of anyone you want. Gadget Upgrades: Want to stash a flash drive in an old cassette? Use a DIY stylus on a touchscreen? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera? With this book, you can. Things That Go: Give your motorbike a Tron vibe, deck out your car with an action-figure hood ornament, and keep gadgets charged on the go with a solar-powered backpack. …and much more!
The handbook of stouts and porters is the ultimate, complete, and definitive guide to some of the most complex and original beers available in the market today. It has an extensive history of the two styles, has all the up-to-do info on the current brewing trends, and has hundreds of reviews, along with profiles and other food and tasting tips. Some of the leading edges of the new craft beer revolution have found their expression in unique stouts and porters. Big, round, and roasty, these are huge, brawny beers that have gathered a following. Imperial stouts in porters barrel aged, highly hopped, or aged in bourbon, whiskey, and wine barrels. The history and development of stout and porter and intertwined. Porter was originally an English dark beer style, made popular by street and river porters of London in the 18th century. Because of its huge popularity, London brewers made them in a variety of strengths, and the term “stout” was used for the stronger, fuller bodied porters. They were labeled as “stout porters” but eventually, porter was dropped from the label and stout became its own unique dark brew, distinctively made with roasted barley. Porters are conceived as sweeter on the nose and palate and remain firmly in the brown spectrum.
Inspire a lifelong exploration of your senses as you learn to pair beer and food like a pro. *2016 International Association of Culinary Professionals Award Finalist* Beer has reclaimed its place at the dinner table. Yet unlike wine, there just aren’t many in-depth resources to guide both beginners and beer geeks in pairing beer with food. Julia Herz and Gwen Conley are here to change that. As you start your journey with Beer Pairing, you’ll learn how aroma, taste, preference, and personal experience can affect flavor. Just as important, you’ll become a tasting Anarchist—throw out the conventional advice and figure out what works for you! Then, on to the pairing. Begin with beer styles, start with your favorite foods, or join the authors on a series of wild palate trips. From classics like barbecue ribs with American Brown Ale to unusual matches like pineapple upside-down cake with Double India Pale Ale, you’ll learn why some pairings stand the test of time and you’ll find plenty of new ideas as well. Discover: How we experience flavor and the science and anatomy behind it How to taste beer, step by step, with pouring and glassware tips Pairings by beer style and specific foods Complete information for planning beer dinners How to work beer into your cooking repertoire Tips and stories from pro brewers Geek Out science features with facts to impress your friends Never look at beer—or food—the same way again!
Join authors Dick Cantwell and Peter Bouckaert as they tell the story of the marriage between wood and beer from Roman times through medieval Europe to modern craft brewing. Cooperage is a long and venerable craft and here the authors give a description combining the evocative and technical. The smells, the heat, choosing the wood, drying, fashioning staves, steaming, firing, and assembling into a perfect container—at least perfect until the bunghole is drilled to accommodate the precious contents. Barrels and foeders have gone from an oddity of traditional breweries to a commonplace feature at the heart of the craft brewing industry. It is estimated that 85% of US breweries now use wood as part of their process. Maintaining wooden vessels requires care and meticulous organization of cellar space. The authors discuss the vagaries of temperature, humidity, seasonal changes, mold, and evaporation, and how breweries new and old deal with these challenges. The basics of selecting, inspecting, cleaning, and maintaining barrels are detailed. Finally, of course, the wood must be united with the beer. The complexity and variations that govern how wood imparts flavors to beer can be overwhelming. The authors guide the reader through wood's characteristic flavor compounds and the nuances of toasting and charring. Oak is the focus, American, French, and Eastern European, but other woods get their due. As well as intrinsic flavors, the microflora that take up residence in a barrel or foeder are the living, beating heart of a barrel-aged beer, able to create sour and unique beers of fascinating complexity. The authors pepper the text with stories and experiences from some of the giants of the craft brewing scene, discussing how they monitor their barrel programs and taste and blend their beers to create something truly special. All this will inspire professional and amateur brewers alike. At the end of the book the authors give some helpful advice on wood aging for homebrewers, including the uses for chips, cubes, spirals, staves, powders ... and the odd chair leg. Get ready to embrace the mystical complexity of flavors and aromas derived from wood.
