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

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.