Beer in America: The Early Years--1587-1840: Beer's Role in the Settling of America and the Birth of a Nation

One of the most important but little-known aspects of early American history was beer's role in the founding of our country and its formative years. The definitive account of beer's impact on people and events that shaped the birth of a nation will astonish readers.

Customer Reviews:

Story of beer with an American History back drop.

By A Customer - August 5, 1999

Any beer lover with a passing interest in history should enjoy "Beer a America: The Early Years" as an fun trip through the story of brewing in the United States. Not intended as a pure history book, it is instead the story of beer and brewers against the back drop of American History. In the telling it shows how beer was there, as a significant part of our culture as the country developed.In the first part of the book author Gregg Smith takes y?u along a path, chapter by chapter, from the settling of the country, to English domination in North America, to the revolution and beyond to the formation of the country. Along the way he tells of beer's arrival, the development of an infant brewing industry, and the great events that occurred over a tankard of ale. Concluding the first part are brief histories of the most famous breweries of America's formative years.In the second part of the book Smith continues on with chapters devoted to specific aspects of... read more

A Novel Look at American History

By Michael Schoene - September 5, 2001

This book is a very creative look at American history starting with the landing of the Mayflower in 1587. The book looks at the birth of a country from the perspective of a beer lover. The book seems to be historically accurate but I question if the role of beer is overstated in this book. At times Smith gives the impression that without beer the country would still be under English rule because there would have been no continental army if not for the beer retions. All in all Smith succeeds in entertaining you. There is no doubt that great minds like Washington and Adams came up with some of their best ideas over a pint of ale at the local pub. One of the strongest points of the book is the chapter on colonial drinks. This chapter makes the book worth it all by itself. The reader will be amazed at what the colonists considered a good drink. The book comes with my strong recomendation because it is easy to read and it gives some insight into how our founding fathers liked to... read more

Am. History Fueled by Fermentation as much as Fomenentation

By David Sutula (dsutula@stratos.net) - January 23, 1999

From our grade school history lessons we know that Ben Franklin was a great man. He invented the library, the fire department, the bifocal and discovered electricity. What they never told us is that an even better case could be made for his greatness. Ben Franklin also offered relief in times of beer shortage with the first published recipe for a pumpkin ale and relief from hop shortages with instructions on using spruce as a replacement. One of Ben's greatest disappointments in life was that his son, William Franklin, the Governor of New Jersey, was a British loyalist during the War for Independence but he no doubt took comfort in the fact that when the chips were down, he did enact laws to restrict the flow of American beer to British soldiers. In his book Beer In America - The Early Years 1587 - 1840, Gregg Smith retells the story of America's earliest years from the vantage of the American Brewing Industry. In his well documented account, beer, ale and cider are... read more

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Beer in America: The Early Years--1587-1840: Beer's Role in the Settling of America and the Birth of a Nation

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