Early Days Of American Craft Beer Through The Eyes Of Ale Street News Paperback – June 9, 2025

This book is about my accidental journey in beer, which became a mission when I launched, with my brother-in-law, the brewspaper Ale Street News in 1992. As a Brit I already had deep roots in traditional beer which blossomed into an appreciation and promotion of craft beer.The book covers the early days of craft beer, highlighting the personalities, the evangelists who were responsible for this revival of full-flavored, traditional beer styles and the pioneers who eventually took beer in totally new directions, sparking a worldwide revolution.Rather than presenting this evolution from an industry viewpoint, it is covered from the personal perspective of a journalist who had a perfect, intimate perch to watch this delicate sapling of a movement grow into a robust tree whose branches reached out to the nation and to the world.The book is filled with photos, anecdotes and quotes from folks who were there – the tapestry of tinkers, dreamers, mavericks and rebels who brewed the beers and more importantly the curious, thirsty, insatiable beer hunters who consumed them.It will also draw on the author's penchant for poetry and attempts at artwork in the form of portrait drawings.Six chapters (approx 180 pages) will cover an introduction (the lead-up); the launching of a newspaper on a wing and a prayer; the early, intimate days of the microbrewing movement; the first roadblocks and shakeout of the late 1990s, and the subsequent survival and acceptance of craft beer by the mainstream beer establishment.The interested will be Gen X and Millennials (probably not Z), the new generation of brewers and beer lovers, some of whom are interested in craft beer's roots, some of whom couldn't give a damn. But mostly it will be the Boomers, who still read and like to look back at times they remember. Read more