Amber, Gold & Black is a comprehensive history of British beer in all its variety. It covers all there is to know about the history of the beers Britons have brewed and enjoyed down the centuries—Bitter, Porter, Mild and Stout, IPA, Brown Ale, Burton Ale and Old Ale, Barley Wine and Stingo, Golden Ale, Gale Ale, Honey Ale, White Beer, Heather Ale, and Mum. This is a celebration of the depths of British beery heritage, a look at the roots of the styles that are enjoyed today as well as lost ales and beers, and a study of how the liquids that fill our beer glasses developed over the years. From beginner to beer buff, this history will tell you things you never knew before about Britain's favorite drink.
Amber, Gold and Black
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
One of the best and most thoroughly researched accounts of the history of British beer styles. If you already think you know it all, this is the book for you. --Jay Brooks, Bay Area News
This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in beer as a drinker, a retailer or a brewer. --John Cryne, former chairman, Campaign for Real Ale, London Drinker
This book is absolutely brilliantly revelatory ... the painstaking research that has gone into this work is phenomenal This is definitely a books that belongs on any beer-lover's bookshelf. It is a must read. --Brewsnews.com.au
A wonderful job of laying out the history of bitter, mild, porter and IPA based on research, not myth, and styles you may have only heard about such as Burton Ale and Stingo, as well as those news to me, such as Gale Ale. --beerwineandwhisky.com
This is essential reading for anyone with an interest in beer as a drinker, a retailer or a brewer. --John Cryne, former chairman, Campaign for Real Ale, London Drinker
This book is absolutely brilliantly revelatory ... the painstaking research that has gone into this work is phenomenal This is definitely a books that belongs on any beer-lover's bookshelf. It is a must read. --Brewsnews.com.au
A wonderful job of laying out the history of bitter, mild, porter and IPA based on research, not myth, and styles you may have only heard about such as Burton Ale and Stingo, as well as those news to me, such as Gale Ale. --beerwineandwhisky.com
About the Author
Martyn Cornell is an award-winning author and journalist, a founding member of the British Guild of Beer Writers, and a former Beer Writer of the Year. His other titles include Beer: The Story of the Pint and Beer Memorabilia.
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More About the Author
Martyn Cornell has been a journalist and a writer for more than 30 years, and first began writing about beer in 1980. Beer is far from the most important thing in his life (that would be his family first, music second and Queens Park Rangers soccer club third) but he enjoys beer greatly, and he enjoy talking about it and and writing about it, and exploring its many and varied ways. He was born on the site of an old pub - the Upper Flask, in Hampstead, North London, which vanished some time in the 18th century - and went to school in a building that had been an old coaching inn where Samuel Pepys once stayed on his way north, so perhaps he absorbed beery history from those walls. He can remember clearly his first pint, at the age of *hem*teen, in the garden of a pub owned by the Fremlins brewery in Kent, not far from Whitstable, and being shocked at how amazingly, deliciously hoppy it tasted. Thousands of pubs, and many tens of thousands of beers later, he still looks forward to each new pint. Learning about beer, and the history of beer, has been a journey that has taken him around the world, and made him a huge number of friends. He was a founder member of the British Guild of Beer Writers and has won four Guild awards, including Beer Writer of the Year and Beer Blogger of the Year. He invented the word zythophilia, meaning 'love of beer', and his blog, zythophile.wordpress.com, is one of the most popular beer blogs in Britain. He tweets as @zythophiliac
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I added this book to my Amazon wish list because it looked somewhat interesting... I then bought it when I was given Amazon gift vouchers for my birthday and I've now almost finished reading it. I am so glad I did because it is way more than "somewhat interesting"! It is a very well-researched and easy to read review of the history of brewing.
Even though I thought I knew most things about beer and brewing (and I've even written a book about beer myself - The Home Brewer's Recipe Database), I learned several new (to me) facts from reading this book. If asked, I'd have assumed that "Burton Ale" was a strong pale ale such as Inde Coope Burton Ale but this book shows that I'd have been wrong. Not only is Burton Ale a stronger, darker brew than any pale ale but I've actually drank several examples of the style and thoroughly enjoyed them!
Martyn also dispels some often-repeated myths about the origins of Porter, IPA and other styles. This is very refreshing (pun intended). It is perhaps not surprising that many changes in brewing practice were driven by changes in government tax legislation.
The chapter on use of herbs in brewing is fascinating - I never realised how many of the weeds growing my garden contained hallucinogens! These probably added to the experience of drinking ales brewing using them during history. Brewers probably didn't stop brewing with herbs because of any issues with beer quality - it was because it was banned by the government. Hops were taxed, herbs weren't.
Although this book is focussed on British brewing history, there are some connection with other country's beers. Commercial examples of some styles have survived outside the UK even when they have become extinct in the parent country.
This book has been a huge inspiration for brewing my own beers with a better informed knowledge of the history of brewing that allows me to not only develop new recipes but also a story behind the recipe. I'm sure that this is going to become one of the most useful books in my brewing library and I'll refer to it frequently while thinking up recipe designs. I'm sure that this book will be of interest to anyone interested in beer and its history, even if they aren't a brewer. Highly recommended.
Even though I thought I knew most things about beer and brewing (and I've even written a book about beer myself - The Home Brewer's Recipe Database), I learned several new (to me) facts from reading this book. If asked, I'd have assumed that "Burton Ale" was a strong pale ale such as Inde Coope Burton Ale but this book shows that I'd have been wrong. Not only is Burton Ale a stronger, darker brew than any pale ale but I've actually drank several examples of the style and thoroughly enjoyed them!
Martyn also dispels some often-repeated myths about the origins of Porter, IPA and other styles. This is very refreshing (pun intended). It is perhaps not surprising that many changes in brewing practice were driven by changes in government tax legislation.
The chapter on use of herbs in brewing is fascinating - I never realised how many of the weeds growing my garden contained hallucinogens! These probably added to the experience of drinking ales brewing using them during history. Brewers probably didn't stop brewing with herbs because of any issues with beer quality - it was because it was banned by the government. Hops were taxed, herbs weren't.
Although this book is focussed on British brewing history, there are some connection with other country's beers. Commercial examples of some styles have survived outside the UK even when they have become extinct in the parent country.
This book has been a huge inspiration for brewing my own beers with a better informed knowledge of the history of brewing that allows me to not only develop new recipes but also a story behind the recipe. I'm sure that this is going to become one of the most useful books in my brewing library and I'll refer to it frequently while thinking up recipe designs. I'm sure that this book will be of interest to anyone interested in beer and its history, even if they aren't a brewer. Highly recommended.
By David Dare
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Mr. Cornell is my kind of historian, and I follow his excellent online blog, because his outlook is one that I usually share. This small book is full of details, but not great as a style introduction book. I would highly recommend Randy Mosher's book: "Tasting Beer", which I believe is where I first heard of Martyn Cornell. (It may have been Randy's other great book for homebrewer's: Radical Brewing) This book gets much further into what these styles really were or may have been as time passed. It provides a much greater understanding on what these styles really were, and helps you to appreciate those who try to perpetuate some of them. An example of a brewery in New England, where I live, that works at this fairly well is the "Pretty Things Ale Project". They're not always a hit, but often provide some interesting contemplation. What is missing here in southern New England, as far as I'm aware, is the ability to taste some of these styles naturally - i.e. cask conditioned. This book is great for details and for its research, but it isn't the kind of book that is florid. It is laid out well and sometimes bears re-reading once certain parts of history from style to style overlap, but it doesn't seem overly complicated. Nor does it read like poetry. Sometimes I really appreciate this as a reader, where the imagination of the writer can improve the absorption of the topic. I find his writing style interesting enough on these topics, especially when contemplated with a beer that is as close as possible to the style being read about. Cheers!
1 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By MsRunner
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a gift so I can't comment on the book myself (though the reader, who is a beer expert and had asked for it, was very happy with it). Arrived quickly and in perfect condition.
