Beer: a Lecture (Tasting Included)

In this book, a centuries-long beer history is told in a comprehensive, interesting, and practical manner. You will learn which beer styles were popular in each epoch, from Bronze Age to the 21st century, understand the reasons behind this popularity, and most importantly, explore the history by taste. The book comprises three parts. The first part is dedicated to pre-20th century history of beer, and tells the story of Medieval beers such as: * mumme, * koyt, * bock, * Bavarian lager, * Weissbier, as well as early British beers: * stock ales, * porter, stout, and Imperial stout, * ‘winter warmers’ and Burton ales, * India pale ale. The second part of the book is dedicated exclusively to Belgium. We will learn the true history of traditional Belgian ales: * lambic and all its varieties (faro, gueuze, kriek, etc.), * saison, * Flanders brown, and bust a ton of beer myths as well. Then I'll tell you about Belgian monastic brews (the ‘Trappist’ beers) and their commercial counterparts. Finally, the third part covers the history of what we now call ‘The Craft Revolution,’ from its very beginning and inventing ‘craft’ versions of traditional ales — California common, American Porter, American Pale Ale — to the newest developments and most recent stories, such as the rise of the New England IPA. This is an open-source book. You might find the source code at Github.