Drink up beer history, more in 'Tasting' book

"Tasting Beer" by Randy Mosher

By: Joe Tennis | TriCities.com
Published: December 17, 2009

On paper, Randy Mosher comes across like a blend between a chemist and a well-schooled drinking buddy.
A public speaker, writer and teacher, Mosher is more than just a fan of beer. Why, Mosher calls it “The World’s Greatest Drink” in his latest book, “Tasting Beer” (Storey Publishing, $16.95). Still, he’s no guzzler. This author appears to slowly sip his suds as he tells you why beer should get just as much respect as wine. The Chicago resident, for one, serves up a guide to understanding all the lights and darks of beer.
He gives practical tips on making the most of beer festivals – “Go when the crowds are lightest,” “know your limits” and “Eat. Make sure your body is well cared for.”
Mosher also spills the hops, yeast and malt on the traditional ingredients of beer – and how the beverage has evolved over thousands of years. It actually originated more than 10,000 years ago, just after the last Ice Age. Much later, various inventions aided the brewing process – steam power, the thermometer, hydrometer and refrigeration.
By 1935, the first beer cans showed up, made by the Krueger Brewing Co. of Newark, N.J., and test-marketed in Richmond, Va. “Cans, by the way, are neutral as far as their effect on the product inside, even though by the 1980s they were snobbishly viewed as a low-class marker for the ‘Joe-Six-Pack’ lifestyle,” Mosher writes.
In another chapter, Mosher explains the rise and popularity of homebrewing – a hobby that was legalized in 1979. “To this day,” Mosher writes, “homebrewing provides the reservoir of energy, ideas, and manpower from which commercial craft beer springs.”
In fact, many local operations – including the microbreweries of Abingdon, Va., and Jonesborough, Tenn. – owe their origins to the homebrewing interests of their brewmasters.
“Craft brewing adapts itself to the culture, market, and tastes of wherever it finds itself, but the basics are always the same: people passionate about the flavor of great beer, brewing up fresh, character-filled beers of all strengths, shades, and sensibilities,” Mosher writes.
In “Tasting Beer,” Mosher makes suggestions on what beers and ales to try – with names like “Oatmeal Stout,” “Northern English Brown Ale,” “American Malt Liquor” and “Fruit Wheat Beer.”
The author also offers a glossary, just so words like “aftertaste,” “extract,” “draught,” and “pasteurization” can be easily understood.
“Beer really is the world’s best beverage. It may be quenching or nourishing, cooling or warming, simple or worthy of deep meditation,” Mosher writes. “It is a drink of a thousand aromas, a rainbow of color, and a range of character as diverse as the people who brew and enjoy it. It has ten thousand years of history, with gods, goddesses, heroes, and songs to celebrate its glories. It brings us together. Beer makes us happy.”

Drink up beer history, more in 'Tasting' book

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