Beer is Proof God Loves Us
Charles W. Bamforth
Charles Bamforth’s 32 years’ experience in the brewing industry includes research, academia and a brewing company. He has written several books beer, brewing science, and alcohol ranging from books appealing to a popular audience to more technical books finding their way onto brewer’s bookshelves to weighty academic tomes. This book presents the history and culture of beer to a popular audience and weaves together Bamforth’s personal experiences as a beer drinker with his professional knowledge. Much of it comes across as an educated conversation one might have in a pub. He strikes a balance between craft beer and the large brewers such as Anheuser-Busch. In Bamforth’s eyes they both make good beer. He decries both the waning of traditional pub culture and the rise of alcohol free beer and alternative malt beverages. He provides a very good discussion of beer quality and wanders around some significant social issues and then explores potential threats to traditional brewing. He rambles at times and wanders off on tangents but the book, like Bamforth, is charming, personable, knowledgeable and entertaining. I enjoyed it.