Ancient Brews, Patrick E. McGovern
Ancient Brews, Patrick E. McGovern
List: $20.49 | Sale: $14.34
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Ancient Brews
Rediscovered and Re-created

Author: Patrick E. McGovern, Sam Calagione

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 10 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/13/2017

Categories: Cooking, Nonfiction


Synopsis

Patrick E. McGovern takes us on a fascinating journey through time to the dawn of brewing when our ancestors might well have made a Palaeo-Brew of wild fruits, honey, cereals, and botanicals. Early beverage-makers must have marveled at the magical process of fermentation. Their amazement grew as they drank the mind-altering drinks, which were to become the medicines, religious symbols, and social lubricants of later cultures.

McGovern recounts how the re-created Ancient Ales and Spirits of Dogfish Head came about as he circles the globe—to China, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Scandinavia, Honduras, Peru, and Mexico. He interweaves archaeology and science and tells the stories and struggles in making the most authentic versions possible of these liquid time capsules. Accompanying homebrew interpretations—brimming with unusual spicy, fruity, and malty aromas and tastes—help bring the past alive, as our senses and imaginations travel "Back to the Future."

About Patrick E. McGovern

Patrick E. McGovern is the scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, where he is also an adjunct professor of anthropology.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Darcey on June 26, 2019

This was a book about the history and archaeology of alcoholic beverages. In theory, this should have been really interesting, but in practice, the book was really poorly written. The author, Pat McGovern, is a chemical archaeologist; he studies the history of alcoholic beverages by analyzing the che......more

Goodreads review by Jason on December 14, 2017

Logging the last of my 2017 reads today so that they'll count towards this year's Reading Challenge totals. Full review coming in early 2018.......more

Goodreads review by Diane on June 02, 2017

For someone who knows very little about alcoholic beverages, I found this book to be very interesting and easy to read. The author, a bit of an archeologist/scientist/experimenter joins forces with a craft brewer to discover and possibly recreate ancient beverages. They travel all over the world, ex......more

Goodreads review by Mo on March 27, 2018

I think it was likely the narrator of this audio book that made the material seem so very dry. I mean, this is fascinating stuff, how ancient peoples made booze and how Dogfish Head recreated them. But, it just seemed to lumber on and my motivation to even continue listening to it waned. I mean, he......more

Goodreads review by Fred on July 05, 2017

Kind of a long commercial for Dogfish Head brewery. The recipes may be inspired by historic brews, but "re-created" is stretching credulity, and the writing accompanying each project reinforces that. The meal pairings are pretty pointless, and make it seem like the book doesn't know what sort of aud......more