Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey [Paperback]

Brian Yaeger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008

Red, White, and Brew is the ultimate beer run across the United States, during which Brian Yaeger visits fourteen breweries of various sizes and talks to founders, owners, brewmasters, consumers, and anyone else he meets on his odyssey and who enjoys the making, tasting, and appreciating of brews.

Red, White, and Brew pursues the roots of brewers who brought their craft with them from their homeland and investigates how the tradition is faring today and where it may head in the future. Covering everything from fifth-generation family-run brewing companies to first-wave microbreweries, this book is a travelogue, guide, and genealogical study of beer families and homebrewers from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon. It is filled with eclectic characters and shrewd businesspeople who populate an industry as old as the New World, and who produce liquid philanthropy, one keg at a time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beer-enthusiast Yaeger writes about his travels throughout the country visiting microbreweries, and like most suds aficionados, he has an affinity for so-called craft beers. Throughout his odyssey—starting at the ancient Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, Pa., and going West before concluding at the upstart Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware—he spends less time on the many beers he quaffs than he does on portraying the dedicated brewers running these quixotic enterprises. There's good reason for that, as the people he comes across in his journey (crashing on couches, always buying a six-pack sampler of the local brewery's wares on the way out of town) are an uncommonly determined lot. In Yaeger's chatty interviews with the brewers, they talk about the business, the post-1980s renaissance in American beer and the common need to enter into distribution agreements with the likes of Anheuser Busch (if not letting themselves be bought outright). Yaeger's book is a solid and amiable rendering of a tough business. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Brian Yaeger’s frothy beer travelogue is as multifaceted as the industry he covers. Amusing from the first beer (a surreptitious Coors Light from Dad’s minifridge) to the last (a Dogfish Head microbrew), Red White and Brew is the perfect beer lover’s literary trip—road sodas included!”–Chris O’Hara, author of Great American Beer

"Let's hoist one for Brian Yaeger's beer journalism. Red, White, and Brew is like a well-made ale -- rich, tasty, interesting, and it leaves the reader with a nice buzz."--Ken Wells, author of Travels With Barley

"Ever wondered what beermakers really think about their work? Brian Yaeger supplies some answers in this coast-to-coast, behind-the-scenes tour of American breweries."--Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew

"Brian Yaeger understands that beer is more than just water, malt, and hops. It's also people, and not altogether normal people, either." -- Dan Baum, author of Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty

 

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312383142
• ISBN-13: 978-0312383145
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BRIAN YAEGER earned a Master in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California with a thesis on beer. He holds a double bachelor's degree in Religious Studies and Russian from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a college renowned for its beer consumption. He lives in San Francisco, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, but definitely not a tasting guide!, November 16, 2008

By 

Dave Shea (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey (Paperback)

As I make my way through Red, White and Brew I'm struck by how many fascinating stories there are to be told by those who make the beer we all love to drink. The strength of this book is in the history and perspectives of those personalities that Yaeger interviews along his journey through my neighbouring country to the south. (Yes, I am a Canadian who loves a good American microbrew.)

It's important to realize you won't learn much from this book about which beer you should be bringing home from the corner store; you will, however, uncover a ton of history about the brewery that made that beer, the people behind it, the business ups and downs, the process, and the blood sweat and tears that go into every bottle... uh, figuratively that is.

But the main takeaway for me was a new appreciation for how democratic beer can be. The Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors of the world might prefer you to believe that beer must come from large breweries, but the people in Red White and Brew all started down their various paths with a very different idea in mind. Beer is what you make of it, and for someone with a passion, putting *good* beer in the fridge is something you can always do for yourself. It just takes one trip down to the local homebrew store, and you're on your way.

As I've already warned my girlfriend, the day may arrive where I come home with a few bags of malt and hops, and start putting into practice the ideas I now have percolating in my mind thanks to Red, White and Brew.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific!, July 12, 2009

By 

fourinarow (Chicagoland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey (Paperback)

Great, great read! Makes you want to road trip across America, just like Brian did. My husband has always liked craft brews and homebrews. I was mildly interested, but after reading this book we're homebrewing together and constantly on the lookout for new and different beers to try. I've recommended this book to every beer drinker I know.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Beer Road Trip, October 27, 2008

By 

Derrick Peterman (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red, White, and Brew: An American Beer Odyssey (Paperback)

It's a pretty good read about a man's odessy (he actually uses this word many times) to travel the United States, visiting various breweries and brewpubs. He sticks mainly to long established, family run breweries and some many of the chapters are often mini-family business histories. The large Coors/ Miller / Anheiser-Busch breweries are often referenced, but aren't visited. The author seems more interested in the history of each business than the product. The strength of the book is that Jaeger is a top-notch interviewer. It's no small feat in this book, when in many cases, he had already downed a few cold ones before the interview.

Surprisingly, there's little said about how the end product of each brewery tastes. The author also visits a bunch of brewpubs on the trip, but too many times, just breezes through the visit leaving the author to wonder what each place is really like. Anyone looking for any sort of insights as to how each different place on the map fits into its time and place is going to go away a bit unsatisfied.

Given the strength and weaknesses, I'd give it 3 1/2 stars so I'll round it up to four stars. Beer enthusiasts will enjoy it, but others may want to look elsewhere in the road trip genre.