Posts Tagged: Books and Book Reviews
A Commentary On The Oxford Companion To Beer
Posted by on Friday, October 14, 2011 in - 35 comments
You may recall that I had a first look at The Oxford Companion to Beer a few weeks ago. Comments have flown here and elsewhere. I am convinced that the book will be a great focal point for discussion for years. I am also convinced that by definition is it not definitive. Why? Well, it is a …
Book Review: The Oxford Companion To Beer
Posted by on Thursday, September 29, 2011 in - 24 comments
Well, I opened the package from Amazon about two hours ago, so I must be ready for a review, right? What the heck. That is what I say. First impressions are what they are so let's have a look. • Some irritations first. There are a large number of empty cross references like this on page 557 …
Book Review: Brewing Better Beer, Gordon Strong
Posted by on Monday, May 23, 2011 in - 8 comments
This came in the mail last week and I got a chance this long weekend to look it over. Gordon Strong is a very accomplished home brewer and judge so I was interested in reading what he admits is a very personal take on making your own beer at a high level of skill. • As you know, I am a bad … read more »
Prague: A Pisshead's Pub Guide by Max Bahnson
Posted by on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 in - 1 comment
Max, he of the Pivni Filosof, sent me a pdf of this book today. You can find it at Lulu. I have to qualify my comments right away to say that I have not been to Prague. All I know, in fact, is what I learned from Evan Rail and his CAMRA guide. So, bear with me. • This is a guide to pub crawls …
Book Review: Punched Drunk by Thompson and Genosko
Posted by on Saturday, February 26, 2011 in - 4 comments
Again, with the exhibits for your consideration: • Russia: "Normalising the beer production market and classifying it as alcohol is totally the right thing to do and will boost the health of our population," Yevgeny Bryun, the ministry of health's chief specialist on alcohol and drug abuse, said …
Book Review: Edinburgh Pub Walks by Bob Steel
Posted by on Sunday, January 30, 2011 in - 1 comment
I get cranky. Especially when I have had a cold since Thursday and couldn't get out on the snowshoes this weekend as planned. Heck, I really could not maintain much of a level of consciousness given the fever here, the aches there and the surreal effect of cold medication. Not prime time for the …
Book Review: Yeast, C. White and J. Zainasheff
Posted by on Monday, October 11, 2010 in - 2 comments
This came in the mail last week and I have to tell you - there are a lot of really big words in there. It even comes with its own warning in the Introduction: • This is not a book for the highly successful regional or larger brewer who already has multiple labs and a doctorate in microbiology …
Units And "Man Walks Into A Pub", 2nd Ed.
Posted by on Saturday, September 18, 2010 in - 10 comments
You know, I have often wondered about the odd measurement of alcohol strength that the UK uses - aka "the unit" - because it is so obscure. For me, I would like to see the number of ml of pure alcohol listed on every bottle. Wouldn't that be the easiest thing to do? Instead, we in Canada get …
Book Review: Brew North, by Ian Coutts
Posted by on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 in - 1 comment
I had lunch with author Ian Coutts at the Kingston Brew Pub today after finding out we lived in the same town. He provided me with a review copy of his new book, Brew North as well as an invite to the book launch a couple of Sundays from now. It was all like living in Toronto - the Big Smoke … read more »
Book Review: In Mixed Company, Julia Roberts
Posted by on Monday, September 6, 2010 in - 6 comments
Anyone interested in beer in Canada - or even colonial North America - really ought to have this book on the shelf. 2009's In Mixed Company: Taverns and Public Life in Upper Canada is a series of essays on topics related to the structure, regulation and use of taverns in what later became Ontario …
