Hometown pride aside, Harpoon Brewery, their IPAs and seasonal brews produced on Northern Avenue are some of the best in these United States in our opinion. And at a recent gathering, friends and family arrived with many different beers to sample. A holiday party turned into an unintentional beer tasting.
As you can tell, beer runs in our veins and for that reason we joyfully consumed Brewed Awakening from Joshua Bernstein.
Brewed Awakening is a sort of all-purpose, comprehensive look at craft brewing in America, and worldwide. And it succeeds in its goal to inform and opine on the good, the bad and the ugly of the beer world. Don’t expect a dry take on the business and some nose-in-the-air analysis of the beers rolling off production lines large and small.
Brewed Awakening has the feel of a long form magazine article, hopping all over the map for profiles and perspectives from brewers large and small. The book also goes through the process of what makes a beer a beer, its components and processes; as well as what cred comes from being a craft beer.
Speaking about maps, the dust jacket of Brewed Awakenings folds out to reveal a massive infographic that splits off into dozens of nodes all the variety of beers found around the globe. From American Wheat Ale to Rauchbier, the maps serves as a quick view guide to the beer world.
Inside Brewed Awakenings Bernstein offers up several pages of beer recommendations from all the classes of brews. This was a fun exercise in seeing which of the dozens of recommendations we’d tried in our years of imbibing the amber liquid.
Now, as a beer book, the layout and design of the compact Brewed Awakenings has a little DNA in the foodie book world. As a result, the interior of Brewed Awakenings is smartly designed and attractively laid out. The look means nuggets of info and photos nestled into sturdy khaki colored pages.
A great little book about the world of beer, great for the novice or the long time enthusiast, Brewed Awakenings is a book you’ll eagerly drink up.
Brewed Awakenings by Joshua Bernstein was purchased for review by the Boston Book Bums
