The Life of Beer:A Fermented Biography by Stephen Morris |
table of contents |
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"It's About Time." The author reflects on what has happened in the beer world since he first set out on the original beer trek. The beer landscape has changed entirely. He goes back to one of the first stops on the original trek, where he visited Tim Matson who had published an underground guide to an illegal pursuit, homebrewing. Now, just a few miles away, Vermont's newest and smallest brewery is operated by two women weaned on Tim Matson's home brew. (click to see a Sample Chapter) 
First Beer
The narrator is killing time in the Portland, Oregon airport when he experiences his epiphany. He stops for a beer, and can select from seven exotic, locally brewed beers.
He reflects on a lifetime of drinking beer, and his own small role in fomenting the revolution. This was a revolution that the good guys won.
The bartender talks incessantly about the beers, and the microbrewing scene. A cloud suddenly looms. Maybe the smug declaration of victory is pre-mature. Maybe the trends to high-priced yuppiness and overly exotic concoctions have spun out of control. Beer, after all, is a drink of the common man. Could the battles have been won, but the war been lost? The narrator realizes that the time for a new great beer trek has come.
Virtual Beer
The Great Beer Trek of 1978 could be done in a van in 90 days, visiting every operating brewery and plenty of highlights and lowlights in between. The trip would be impossible to re-create. How has the world of beer changed in 25 years? How does one "Trek" in the new order? The project takes shape as father realizes that it is time to pass the torch to his son.
 Zen and Now
The GBT relied heavily on the personalities encountered along the way. Some of the characters encountered have gone on to become brewing legends. Others have slipped beneath the suds. The authors will contact these people to update their stories, which will appear as sidebars throughout the book. Among the personalities to be interviewed: |
Fritz |
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Fritz Maytag was heir to appliance empire, but as a rash and impulsive young man decided to buy an ailing regional brewery. By emphasizing the basics of beer quality, he has shown that little guys can make big impacts. |
F.X. |
At the time of the Trek F.X. Matt, a third generation brewer in Utica, NY did not see how his company could survive the onslaught of national competition. Now, his son, F.X. the IV is at the helm. What a difference a generation makes. | |
The King |
Alan Eames is the self-proclaimed "King of Beer" and has done the Beer Trek one better, by taking the beer lovers quest into the most exotic nooks and crannies of the planet. He has pushed the boundaries of a beer drinker's passion. This is extreme beer. | |
Priscilla |
Tom Burns was the youngest brewer in the country and a founding father of a variety of fledgling brewing enterprises over the last 20 years. Just when he found one that was apparently succeeding, he died. His wife, Priscilla, who had endured a life with a beer zealot suddenly found herself as the owner operator of a microbrewery. | |
Charlie |
Charlie Papazian coined the phrase "Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" when he founded the American Homebrew's Association in 1978. Now it's an organization with 20,000 members and the leading information provider to microbrewers. Charlie spends his time travelling to homebrew groups nationwide, and he's anything but relaxed. (Charlie's book The Joy of Homebrewing has sold over 200,000 copies.) | |
Sam & Jim |
Jim Koch is the Harvard-educated founder of the Boston Brewing Company, brewers of Sam Adams beer. A descendent of a long line of professional brewers, his revolutionary idea was to use the excess capacity of failing regional breweries to make high quality craft beers. Now, after a successful public offering, he's running a national empire that might threaten the nationals. | |
Billy |
Billy Carter is dead, but he had fifteen minutes of fame that left many years of important lessons, from the ravages of alcohol to handling success in a small town. | |
Just Jack |
Jack MacAuliffe is the intrepid pioneer who stepped forth to open a new brewery in Sonoma, California when a new brewery had not been opened in the United States since World War II. He was also the first casualty of the microbrewing movement, but his equipment and recipes live on. | |
Michael |
Just months before The Great Beer Trek was published a handsome book called The World Guide to Beer appeared. Upon seeing it I immediately recognized that Michael Jackson, not me, was destined to become the dean of beer writers. And he has become just that, travelling the globe sampling and describing the best that the planet has to offer. | |
Buffalo Bill |
Bill Owens is the original renegade brewing entrepreneur. A homebrewer turned microbrewer turned publisher; he has defined the white guy brewer. | |
Ron |
Ron Siebel is a member of the brewing establishment. His company has been training brewers since Prohibition. His students used to be engineers and scientific types that needed to learn that brewing has a soul. Now, they are wild-eyed entrepreneurs who need to learn that good beer needs good science. | |
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The Evolution of Beer
The role of beer in civilization is examined in a lighthearted, humorous way. The author explains his basic theory that it was the discovery that solar energy could be stored in the form of fermented grain that ended the days of humans as hunter/gatherers and put the species on the path to modern civilization.
In the author's own evolution from a bearded beer evangelist to a gray-haired publisher trying to save the planet, beer has been one of the few constants. As he reviews a life filled with hops and foam, he wants an appropriate way to pass on the legacy to his son.
The Body of Beer
This is a semi-scientific look at how the body (and mind) reacts physically to beer. The authors shed light on the relationship of beer and health. Does beer lead to obesity? Is the current national epidemic of diabetes in any way beer related? Is the alcohol in beer processed by the body any differently than alcohol from any other source?
Global Beer
This is not a study of beers around the globe so much as a cross-cultural comparison of American beer drinking habits and customs to other cultures. The goal is to create a new and different measurement of America, particularly relevant in these days of increasing globalization. This will also look at how American beers are regarded by the beer drinkers in other cultures.
Beer and the Law
This chapter looks at how beer is currently regulated and compares the current institutional position with what it has been historically in America. Looking at such events as the Whiskey Rebellion and Prohibition provides new insight to larger issues such as freedom of the individual and the intentions of our Founding Fathers.
When Good Beer Goes Bad
There is undeniably a bad side to beer drinking that cannot be swept under the rug. Alcoholism, drunk driving, and binge drinking in colleges are three examples of the bad side of beer. This chapter takes a balanced look at beer's dark underbelly, trying to put it into perspective to regain beer's traditional reputation as the "beverage of moderation."
The Future of Beer
Taking their accumulation of knowledge the authors assess their original assessment that if we just get out beer-drinking right of this planet, everything else will fall into place. The tone might be mock epic, but the questions considered and the answers provided will be substantial enough to be credible with an intelligent and discriminating reader.
Other sidebar features
The Life of Beer will feature several sidebar features that will be inserted throughout the text:
The American Classics
The classic beer venues around the country are visited and described.
A Year of Beer
The sudsy events are calendarized, described, and visited (not necessarily in that order.)
Order of the Trek
The most outstanding exemplars of different brews will be accorded "The (Greatly Coveted) Order of the Trek" Award. Their creation and taste will be described in great detail.
Eating Beer
Good beer and great food go together like good food and great beer. The best (and most unique) combinations of beer and food will be profiled.
About the authors
Stephen Morris is an accomplished author, book publisher, and businessperson. His son Patrick is a recent graduate of Clark University in Worcester, MA. He is an accomplished amateur filmaker and performance artist.
Resume of Patrick Morris -- please request |
about the book
sample
contents
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Stephen Morris802.234.9130
fax: 802.234.6206
email: Stephen@StephenMorris.us |
Patrick MorrisP-Mo Productions
32 Highland Avenue Randolph, Vermont 05060 email: pmorris@clarku.edu
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