Adventures with Hop Farmers, Craft Brewers, Chefs, Beer Sommeliers, and Fanatical Drinkers as a Beer Master in Training
October 15, 2016
Unique among current offerings on beer, this book is written by a woman who sought the Master Cicerone certification (akin to a high-level sommelier) and needed to understand everything about the beverage, from creation to service. Burningham, a journalist in the beer epicenter of Portland, OR, takes us through her adventures (bottling a homemade stout for giving at Christmas) and misadventures (five hours of rescuing a towed car in Brussels). A chapter devoted to the fragrant matter of growing hops and purchasing them is a good example of how this title stands out by digging into places that don't often get as much attention. The author is by turns amusing and self-effacing, and the support she gets from her family and from the community of beer makers around her is a delight to read. VERDICT More than the usual insight into beer from someone who is eminently qualified to write about it. A solid choice where books on beverages are popular.--Peter Hepburn, Coll. of the Canyons Lib., Santa Clarita, CA
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