Author: Pete Brown

• 
  Book Reviews

  The Beer Bible

  September 1, 2015 - Pete Brown The biggest problem with the present overabundance of books appealing to beer’s ever-growing audience is that many don’t seem to have figured out whom they’re talking to. Following the formula that was scratched onto the walls when Michael Jackson named the planets and distorted over the decades by Chinese whispers, you often find obligatory sections... View Article
• 
  Web Only

  Beer: The Drink Tuscan Food Has Been Waiting For

  November 18, 2014 - Pete Brown Imagine you had to introduce beer to an environment where it was all but unknown. People don’t drink much, but when they do drink, it’s almost always wine. So there are few pubs or bars—not as we know them—and hardly any selling draft beer. There are restaurants and cafes, and coffee shops that arguably serve... View Article
• 
  Culture - Full Pints

  Surviving Being Over-Entertained

  November 17, 2010 - Pete Brown Swearing, when judiciously employed, is brilliant. Sometimes, there’s simply no non-cuss word that will do, no mild alternative that can add the same perfect spice and flavor to a sentence. Arguably, one of the sweariest – and certainly one of the most quotable – films of all time is the Brit cult comedy Withnail and... View Article
• 
  Full Pints - History

  Mythbusting the IPA

  November 1, 2009 - Pete Brown Most people would call it crazy, but the crazies call it ‘living archeology’: if material remains of our past no longer exist, we have to recreate past times as best we can in order to figure out the truth of how people lived back then. It drives some to live as bronze-age villagers, others to... View Article
• 
  History - Sidebars

  Blind Eyes, Bribes and Beer on the High Seas

  November 1, 2009 - Pete Brown The only people who drink in this bar are sailors, drug dealers and whores.  Shall we go in?”
• 
  Sidebars - Styles Features

  Burton Beers Today

  March 1, 2007 - Pete Brown A visit to Burton-on-Trent can still yield delights for the discerning beer drinker. These beers may not fit the American idea of what an IPA should be, but they are all heirs to the tradition and have much to recommend them. Pedigree 4.5% ABV, Marston’s Unlike Coors, which strips the minerals out of its water... View Article
• 
  Full Pints - Styles Features

  Burton-on-Trent—The World’s Most Important Beer Town

  March 1, 2007 - Pete Brown Ask your typical British beer drinker what Burton-on-Trent is famous for, and you might not get the answer you were expecting. They’ll probably frown, think for a second, then say, “Oh yeah, the FA Cup upset last year!”
• 
  Full Pints - It's My Round

  Rounds and Reciprocity

  November 1, 2005 - Pete Brown Let’s call him Dave (that was, after all, his name). Years ago, when my friends and I were on the cusp of legal drinking age, we’d go to the pub every Friday and Saturday night, simply because we could. Standing there self-consciously holding our pints, trying to grow wispy moustaches, we were a bunch of... View Article