A revised and updated edition of one of my all-time favorite beverage reference books, “The Wine Bible” (Workman, $24.95) by Karen MacNeil, was released earlier this month. To me, it’s an indispensable guide because it isn’t snooty and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for, simply arranged by country and region.
Also recently released by the same publisher, “The Beer Bible” (Workman, $19.95) by Jeff Alworth takes a similar approach, packing plenty of information for both novices and aficionados in a format that makes more sense for beer. Unlike “The Wine Bible,” it’s arranged by style, but there’s a good bit of geography, history and sensory stuff in there, too.
As it turns out, Alworth, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and writes the Beervana blog, will be in town Friday for an A Capella Books event at Ale Yeah in Decatur. I spoke with him on the phone last week about the book and how he went about writing it.
The promotional blurb claims Alworth’s research spanned over 17,000 miles, six countries, and 52 breweries — which made me wonder, how did he manage to do it, and drink all that beer?
“I got the contract and it was like the dog that caught the car,” he said. “I had to figure out how to credibly write about all these different beer styles. That meant I had to travel to Europe and talk to the brewers making those beers.
“The 52 are the breweries I toured to learn their process. Of course, I’ve been to a lot more than that. But it took a couple of years to write the book and there was a fair amount of research involved. For each chapter, there’s a historical overview, a description of the beer and information on the way it’s brewed.”
A bit more controversial, perhaps, is “The Beers To Know” guide that follows each style section. For instance, under American Red Ales, Alworth recommends four: Marble Red Ale; Troegs Nugget Nectar; Cigar City Tocobaga Red Ale; Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster.
“That was a challenge,” Alworth admitted. “The way I approached it was to think, if you’ve just read a chapter about a beer style, and you want to go to the grocery store and try one of those beers, which one should you try?
“That really limited me, because I wanted to make sure I had beers that were available to someone in Atlanta or Portland or Fort Worth or Minneapolis. And I had to choose from beers that were likely to stay in regular production, at least seasonally, and have some kind of distribution beyond just a local brewpub.”
As far as the places he traveled for the book, I wondered if Alworth could choose one that was particularly memorable or surprising.
“Honestly, they were all amazing in their own way,” he said. “On a given day, I could choose each one of them as a place to exalt and recommend you go there. But the better answer to your question is that I think people should go to Prague and the Czech Republic.
“It’s a place people sort of associate with beer and we know pilsner came from there, but it’s sort of, ‘pilsner, who cares?’ My experience was the opposite. I was staggered by the diversity of beer, even within the svetly lezak style. But they also have amber and dark lagers and now they are getting into wheat beer and even Western European and American-style ales. And in terms of pub culture, you can’t beat Prague.”
EVENT PREVIEW
“The Beer Bible” book signing Friday 5-7 p.m. Free. Ale Yeah, 906 W. College Ave., Decatur, 404-371-4331.
About the Author
