July 10, 2015 / Leslie

The Beer Wench’s Guide to Beer by Ashley Routson

An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer

Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Publish Date: May 2016
Format: Paperback | 256 pages
Rating: 5 of 5

From the Publisher

Ashley V. Routson (aka The Beer Wench) provides the first all-in-one guide that demystifies beer and makes learning fun. She’ll quickly bring you up to speed on beer styles, the brewing process, how to taste beer like a pro, and how to pair beer with food. Unconventional tastings, delicious recipes from killer craft breweries, eye-catching photos–and, of course, plenty of beer–means there’s never a dull moment.

My Thoughts

I love craft beers, but that wasn’t always the case . . .

My first experience with beer was while I was in college, and that was mostly cheap domestic beers. We thought Coors was exotic. Ok, so this was back in the 80s, what did we know. Since I wasn’t crazy about the taste of beer, I pretty much stuck with wine or an occasional mixed drink. It was easy to find a good tasting glass of wine that paired well with my meal. But beer, that was for the folks in the bar watching sports . . . until I stumbled into a ‘beer tasting’ held in conjunction with a wine tasting event a few years ago and found an entirely new type of beverage. Beer had changed.

I admit, I don’t know a lot about beer, it’s history, or how it is made, but I know what I like when I taste it, and I have now developed a taste for craft beers. When I heard about The Beer Wench’s Guide to Beer, and that it was written by a woman, I wanted to read it. I was ready for an informative guide to lead me through the many types of beers that are readily available today. What I got was much more.

The book is divided into three sections: A guide to beer styles and their history, the brewing process, and a recipe section on cooking with beer and pairing beer with foods. Don’t let the fact that it’s paperback fool you. It is a full-size book and nicely laid out with full color photos and graphics on heavy glossy paper.

This is an excellent guide for someone like me who wants to learn more about beer but doesn’t want to read something written in formal textbook style. The author makes learning about beer interesting and even entertaining with her conversational writing style. An extensive assortment of beers are included throughout with enough detail to make this a good reference guide. And with the inclusion of many delicious sounding recipes, this book has a place on my cookbook shelf.

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Source: Review copy from the publisher through AmazonVine.
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