Miracle Brew: Hops, Barley, Water, Yeast and the Nature of Beer

Product Description

Pete Brown is 'the beer drinker's Bill Bryson' (TLS). Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, but very few people have any idea what it is made of- malted barley, hops, yeast and water - four natural ingredients, each with an incredible story to tell. Miracle Brew tells the full story of the integral role that each of these fantastic four ingredients has to play. Pete Brown takes us from the Lambic breweries of Belgium, where beer is fermented with wild yeasts drawn down from the air around the brewery, to the aquifers below Burton upon Trent, where the brewing water is rumoured to contain life-giving qualities; he takes us from the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic to Bamberg in the heart of Bavaria, where malt smoked over an open flame creates beer that tastes like liquid bacon. This book explores the origins of fermentation, the lost age of hallucinogenic gruit beers and the evolution of modern hop varieties that now challenge wine grapes in the extent to which they are discussed and revered. Along the way, we'll meet and drink with a cast of characters who reveal the magic of beer and celebrate the joy of drinking it. And, almost without noticing, we'll learn the naked truth about the world's greatest beverage.Pete Brown is 'the beer drinker's Bill Bryson' (TLS). Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink on the planet, but very few people have any idea what it is made of- malted barley, hops, yeast and water - four natural ingredients, each with an incredible story to tell. Miracle Brew tells the full story of the integral role that each of these fantastic four ingredients has to play. Pete Brown takes us from the Lambic breweries of Belgium, where beer is fermented with wild yeasts drawn down from the air around the brewery, to the aquifers below Burton upon Trent, where the brewing water is rumoured to contain life-giving qualities; he takes us from the surreal madness of drink-sodden hop-blessings in the Czech Republic to Bamberg in the heart of Bavaria, where malt smoked over an open flame creates beer that tastes like liquid bacon. This book explores the origins of fermentation, the lost age of hallucinogenic gruit beers and the evolution of modern hop varieties that now challenge wine grapes in the extent to which they are discussed and revered. Along the way, we'll meet and drink with a cast of characters who reveal the magic of beer and celebrate the joy of drinking it. And, almost without noticing, we'll learn the naked truth about the world's greatest beverage.
Pete Brown is one of the UK's most respected beer writers. Over the last twelve years he's written five and a half books about beer, pubs and cider and why they matter. He also writes one of the UK's most widely read drinks blogs and many articles for mainstream and beer trade press titles. He regularly appears on the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme and he judges the Food and Farming Awards and Great Taste Awards. He has twice been named Beer Writer of the Year, has been awarded the Michael Jackson Gold Tankard Award, and with Bill Bradshaw won the Drink Book of the Year award in the 2014 Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards.