USA Places - Travels with Barley: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America
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List Price: $24.00
USA Places Price: $17.52
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Manufacturer: Free Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.230973
EAN: 9780743232784
ISBN: 074323278X
Label: Free Press
Manufacturer: Free Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2004-10-05
Publisher: Free Press
Studio: Free Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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Do beer yeast rustlers really exist? Who patented the Beer Goddess? How can you tell a Beer Geek from a Beer Nazi? Where exactly is Beervana? Does Big Beer hate Little Beer? Ken Wells, a novelist, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and longtime Wall Street Journal writer, answers these questions and more by bringing a keen eye and prodigious reportage to the people and passions that have propelled beer into America's favorite alcoholic beverage and the beer industry into a $75 billion commercial juggernaut, not to mention a potent force in American culture. Travels with Barley is a lively, literate tour through the precincts of the beer makers, sellers, drinkers, and thinkers who collectively drive the mighty River of Beer onward. The heart of the book is a journey along the Mississippi River, from Minnesota to Louisiana, in a quixotic search for the Perfect Beer Joint -- a journey that turns out to be the perfect pretext for viewing America through the prism of a beer glass. Along the river, you'll visit the beer bar once owned by the brewer Al Capone, glide by The World's Largest Six Pack, and check into Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel to plumb the surprisingly controversial question of whether Elvis actually drank beer. But the trip also includes numerous detours up quirky tributaries, among them: a visit to an Extreme Beer maker in Delaware with ambitions to make 50-proof brew, a look at the murky world of beer yeast rustlers in California, and a journey to the portals of ultimate beer power at the Anheuser-Busch plant in St. Louis, where making the grade as a Clydesdale draft horse is harder than you might imagine. Entertaining, enlightening, and written with Wells's trademark verve, Travels with Barley is a perfect gift -- not just for America's 84 million beer enthusiasts, but for all discerning readers of flavorful nonfiction.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not great
Comment: I agree with the other reviewers that have rated this book low (3 stars or less) - the supposed mission that the author was on is completely blown by his choice of territory to cover and his personal schedule. This is like reading about the authors vacation - driving from small town to small town and going out for a beer each day. Let me tell you, this gets repetitive very quickly.
The only thing I learned from this book are some towns to avoid if I am looking for a flavorful craft-brewed beer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must-read for all beer lovers throughout North America
Comment: TRAVELS WITH BARLEY - A JOURNEY THROUGH BEER CULTURE IN AMERICA chronicles an industry that has undergone explosive growth through the renaissance of US craft beer that began some thirty years ago.
A long-time career journalist originally hailing from Louisiana's Cajun Bayou, Ken Wells is a Wall Street Journal Pulitzer Prize finalist with a gift for weaving a masterpiece. His "River of Beer" explores beer cities along the Mississippi, from the heart of Minnesota to the delta of Louisiana. Along the way, he displays a tapestry of the finest hops and malts, accented with exuberance for the complexity that is the heart of the brewing world.
Wells satisfies the thirst of beer lovers - from the social drinker to the aficionado - with tales of gangsters, extreme beer brewers, power giants and designer ingredients - while subsequently searching for exemplary examples of the "perfect beer joint" in an industry that boasts of creative entrepreneurs and cordial camaraderie.
He breaks from the limits of the Mississippi to areas of the country molded by beer - Seattle, California, Delaware, Boston, and the hop farms of Idaho. As a self-proclaimed, incurable hophead, Wells explores the ultimate in triple zymurgy and designer beer, speaks with experts like Garrett Oliver and the relationship of beer to food, and explores the accomplishments of the contemporary capital of the brewing world, also known as "Brewvana." With Wells by our side, we peer into the shrouded world of California's beer-yeast rustlers. "Among the Yeast People, there is nothing simple or ordinary about beer yeast. It is beautiful, glorious, mysterious, magical, sexy, and, of course, to them, the single most important ingredient in beer," writes Wells.
This is a must-read for all beer lovers throughout North America.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Tasty!
Comment: Wells is the first person to attempt this kind of beer book and I think he succeeds wonderfully. Neophites can learn a lot about beer and the craft brew movement (not to mention a nicely delivered short history of beer in the world and America) and the beer savvy will like his chapters on Extreme Beer, yeast rustlers and a home brewing contest. Meanwhile, if you like travelogue there's lot of tasty stuff in there. The first chapter on a "beer spill" at a legendary Florida beach bar is funny and informative and Wells' trip down the Mississippi River in search of the perfect beer joint is a nice ride. Perusing the reviewer before me who declared the book "awful" I can't help but think: it's not that Wells can't write. It's that some reviewers can't read!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Cheap American Pale Lager of Beer Books
Comment: Simply awful. Though author Ken Wells may not have succeeded in finding "the perfect beer joint" (as the "premise" of this book seems to have been), he certainly succeeded in writing an awful book about a delightful subject.
Travels with Barley is uninspired, aimless, uninteresting, and and pointless. I gave the book a very generous 2 stars only because I found the chapter on "yeast rustling" very interesting -- it would have made a very good newpaper feature article, as very few of the chapters in the books might have. This collection of mediocre newspaper articles is mashed up into one barely readable book.
If you know little to absolutely nothing about beer but would like to learn a little or buy a nice gift for a beer lover, then DO NOT buy Travels with Barley (stick with one of Michael Jackson's books [not the King of P--, the Beer Writer]).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining look at Beer Culture
Comment: Even though it was stated that a goal of this book was to find a perfect beer joint, the true essence of this book (as the TITLE depicts) is to show Beer Culture in America.
It is an entertaining read spotted with humor. I don't think Ken demonizes the American Lager Style and, in fact, drinks his share of those industrial beers along his journey. But he does prove that there's far more being brewed in the US than tasteless yellow beer.
This book is great for anyone who enjoys beer, whether you're a beer geek, brewer, beer judge, or just occasional sipper.
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