Customer Reviews

Secret Life of Beer: Legends, Lore & Little-Known Facts

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the most poorly written book I've ever read. It consists of a rambling, incohesive assortment of beer trivia and anecdotes that any beer geek already knows, random literary quotes containing the word "beer" or "ale" (example: "And when I think upon a pot of beer."- Lord Byron), and some eyewitness-type accounts of prehistoric brewing events. Furthermore, Mr. Eames devotes as much or more content to prohibitionist propoganda and factoids than to pro-beer trivia!
I think Mr. Eames and his editor were intoxicated. What a disappointment.

I still reference this book monthly as I search for little-known facts about beer and brewing history for our homebrew club newsletter. It was an entertaining read and deserves a spot on any true beer drinkers shelf.

Frequently demonstrably wrong, and regularly claims "facts" that do not seem to occur in any other source, casting serious doubt upon their authenticity. Anyone repeating anything from this book runs a severe risk of perpetuating inaccuracies. For example, the claim in the blurb that "Twenty people literally "drowned in beer" in 1814 when a vat in a London brewery exploded" is simply not true - only eight people died, all when buildings collapsed, and the vat never "exploded", one of the hoops broke and it collapsed.

I'm the kind of guy who's favorite beer is the one currently in his hand. I'm a home brewing hobbyist and I enjoy visiting microbreweries where they are reviving old beers and creating new ones every day.
I read this book a couple of years ago and have been quoting it ever since. This book does exactly what it says it does. From the people in my world I usually get a "hey I didn't know that".

To the "a customer" who panned this book...well he's probably a wine drinker.

I was expecting it to be a book and really it's like a book of quotations. Some good stuff about the ancient history of beer, which is really why I got it, but most of it is just quotations, that don't even necessarily have anything to do with beer they just have a word in it that relates to it. Pretty disappointed, but there is some good historical stuff.

If you really want to know ANYTHING about beer and how it relates to those who've consumed it over time, you need this book. Only a fool could pan this work! It's thoroughly researched and insightful. Buy it. Read it. Then drink it in.

This was the most boring, unimaginal work I have ever read. It was totally sensless.