Red, White, and Brew by Brian Yaeger

There is no Mecca for beer. It has no geographical focal point; no singular destination for beer pilgrims. But there are lots of spots that many a beer lover dreams of visiting. Cram these spots into one, long trip and you've got the ultimate beer vacation. This is the basic idea behind Red, White, and Brew. Take a beer geek, a car and very limited funds. Start on the East Coast and head west then back again hitting some of the best known craft breweries in the US.

I would gladly recommend this book to anyone interested in American beer or the craft beer renaissance.

Snapping a Picture of American Craft Beer

The chapters are divided into two distinct parts. The first is what one would expect from a beer/travel book such as this. Yaeger notes the community and environment of the brewery that he's visiting. Then after a glance at the facility itself he has an in-depth discussion with whoever is the driving force behind the brewery. The second part is a strange little travelogue recounting Yaegers's personal experience with his trip. He makes note of things like where he slept and how he got there, his meals and other road-trip minutiae. His journey was made on a tight budget so we find our hero occasionally sleeping at rest stops or on the couches of friends of friends while complaining about the price of or complimenting the quality of a burger served to him at a roadside diner. These curious little chapter closers are not as distasteful as they might sound here; they are actually pretty interesting and lend the narrative a certain bit of personal charm.

But the trip is only the frame of the portrait of craft beer in America today that emerges. At each brewery we find Yaeger endlessly interested in its familial legacy. It is no wonder that he stops at both Yuengling and Leinenkugel, two breweries well known for their age, their history and their families. The current head of any brewery is only the temporary curator in Yaeger's view. The man running Yuengling now is only filling his place in the long line of Yuenglings that have run the brewery before now and he only holds it in trust for future generations.

The result is a snapshot of the industry as it stands right now. Written in a casual and entertaining voice it is a fun book to read but its real value lies in the candid thoughts of important figures in America's craft beer scene. Yaeger sits down with Kim Jordan, Rob and Kurt Widmer, Fritz Maytag, Dick Yuengling Jr., Sam Caglione and others for frank and personal conversations about beer, their breweries and their place in the industry.