If you’re like me and have only started brewing in recent years, you might know the name Charlie Papazian, but may not know much more about him nor have read any of his books.
Although the classic The Complete Joy of Homebrewing is still in print, I’m almost embarrassed to say I don’t own a copy and certainly haven’t read it cover to cover. In fact, I’ve only really just browsed it (even though it once sat on my desk for a month after checking it out from the library.)
Like many of today’s homebrewers, I started with John Palmer’s How to Brew, a more recently published treatise on homebrewing which in itself is so good, I’ve not had a reason to supplement my library with yet another basic text on homebrewing.
Recently, however, I’ve discovered another Papazian book, Microbrewed Adventures (and you gotta love this subtitle) A Lupulin Filled Journey to the Heart and Flavor of the World’s Great Craft Beers. It’s turning out to be such an enjoyable read, I may just have to revisit Joy.
So who is Charlie Papazian and why should anyone, especially homebrewers, bother to read this book?
First off, his credentials are impressive. He was the founding president of the American Homebrewers Association in 1978, the same year homebrewing was legalized in the U.S. He also founded the Association of Brewers in 1979 – today the Brewer’s Association – for which he is currently President.
He founded the Great American Beer Festival after being invited to judge the Great British Beer Festival in 1981 and credits Michael Jackson (the Beer Hunter, NOT the singer) with encouraging and supporting this effort. He also founded the World Beer Cup, now the world’s largest commercial beer competition with 3300 entries in 2010.
Although some of this history is mentioned in the book, I use it to make a point: Papazian has had his finger on the pulse of the American craft beer movement since a time when the number of registered breweries in the United States wasn’t much more than the number of beers in a case! (There are over 1000 today.)
It is this connection to the evolution of American beer that make the stories in the book so compelling. In fact, the book is organized as a series of stories. Stories of beer places he’s been, beer people he’s known and beer history he’s been a part of. Stories told in a down-to-earth, personal style, like you’re hearing them over a beer at your favorite watering hole.
And the bonus for homebrewers? He punctuates most every story with a recipe!
You’ll find an eclectic mix of delightful recipes such as the original 1982 version of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a Belgian (!) Stout, a beer called Klibbety Jibbet, a “delicious” Green Chile Ale, Flying Fish’s Farmhouse Saison, Alaskan’s Winter Spruce Old Ale, and Sam Adams original Triple Bock – the beer that was the first in a series to claim the title, “World’s Strongest Beer.”
And that’s just a handful of the recipes you’ll find in just the first 100 pages. As the cover states, there’s over 50 recipes in the book and each is in some way tied to one of the stories he has to tell.
If you’re a homebrewer and interested in a bit of the history behind the American craft beer movement told by the father of the American homebrew movement, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Find it on Beertown.org, the official site of the Brewer’s Association.
Follow Charlie Papazian on his Beer Examiner Blog or on his Twitter Feed.
Brian, the Rabid Brewer
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