The Audacity of Hops

The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution by Tom Acitelli, 400 pages

This book is exactly what the subtitle says it is — a history of craft beer in America, from the early 1970s until Acitelli finished writing it in 2012. The author does a great job presenting this history, with short sections on the creation, major developments, and, sadly, sometimes the demise of various craft breweries across the country. He also does a wonderful job bringing the "characters" to life, including beer critic Michael Jackson, Anchor founder Jack McAuliffe, Boston Brewing's Jim Koch, and perhaps the snarkiest of the bunch, Tony Magee, founder of Lagunitas Brewing, who made up obviously fake stories and beer styles to lend "gravitas" to his brews. (I particularly liked his tale about how Octoberfest came from the Irish slaves in Germany, who made such a ruckus with the potato harvest that the Germans all shouted, "Ach! Tuber Fest!" Like I said, obviously fake.)

My one complaint about Acitelli's book is that he largely ignores those states between the coasts. Sure, he talks about some breweries in Colorado and Minnesota, and touches briefly on the first brewery in Kansas in 108 years, but there's something seriously wrong with Boulevard being the only Missouri brewery mentioned. Perhaps I'm a bit biased (OK, forget the "perhaps" part), but the St. Louis Brewery (AKA Schlafly) has a heck of a story, growing up in the shadow of A-B, with founder Tom Schlafly lobbying successfully to legalize small breweries in the state. For crying out loud, just the image of a craft brew keg being delivered by dog-drawn wagon into Busch Stadium should have been enough to include what is now the biggest locally owned brewery in St. Louis. Acitelli spent a LOT of ink on the cold (and sometimes hot) war between Big Beer and craft breweries. Schlafly's St. Louis Brewery would have been perfect for this.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox. Despite that one rather glaring omission, this was a fantastic book. I highly recommend it, particularly with a nice local, hoppy beer. I'll be buying this one for my own shelf, to be placed right next to Schafly's memoir, A New Religion in Mecca.