Miracle Brew
By Pete Brown
$19.95, Chelsea Green Publishing
There is no shortage of books on beer or its four primary ingredients. So what sets Pete Brown’s latest work apart? Pete Brown does. In his latest book, Brown draws upon his experience travelling the world to share the magic of hops, barley, water and yeast, with each of those ingredients having its own section. While entire books have been written about these four ingredients, few have done it with as much wit as Brown. He even manages to make the science interesting and oftentimes humorous (as when he has a malt company’s representative speaking in comic sans). You may know the story of these four ingredients and how they magically come together to create beer, but you’re going to want to hear it from Pete Brown all the same.–Daniel Hartis