The Audacity of Hops

Overview

The first and only history of the American craft beer movement

Charting the birth and growth of craft beer across the United States, Tom Acitelli offers an epic, story-driven account of one of the most inspiring and surprising American grassroots movements. In 1975, there was a single craft brewery in the United States; today there are more than 2,000. Now this once-fledgling movement has become ubiquitous nationwide—there's even a honey ale brewed at the White House. This book not only tells the stories of the major figures and businesses within the movement, but it also ties in the movement with larger American culinary developments. It also charts the explosion of the mass-market craft beer culture, including magazines, festivals, home brewing, and more. This entertaining and informative history brims with charming, remarkable stories, which together weave a very American business tale of formidable odds and refreshing success.

Reviews

"This is the story of how the 'Kingdom of Beer' was returned to the drinker. It's about the nurturing of the beer epiphany in a time when word of a revolution in the making was passed on one glass of brew at a time. The Audacity of Hops is an absorbing reflection on what goes into every professional craft-brewed beer in America. Impassioned millions have taken the kingdom back."  —Charlie Papazian, founder of the American Homebrewers Association and author of The Complete Joy of Homebrewing 

"Everyone who cares about good beer owes Tom Acitelli a huge thanks: his history of American craft beer is lively, substantive, and thoughtful."  —Maureen Ogle, author of Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer

"Excellent history of the American craft brewing movement."  —Slate

"Mr. Acitelli's exhaustive chronicle of the American beer revolution . . . lovingly told."  —The Wall Street Journal

"Highly quaffable and enjoyable. You can crack open a section or two, pore over it for an hour or so, and familiarize yourself with the moments and luminaries who contributed heavily to the American brewing renaissance. Heady stuff."  —Sam Calagione, president and founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and author of Brewing Up a Business

"[Tom Acitelli]'s thorough research into the craft beer revolution tells a great story and shows how a ragtag yet purposeful group of passionate individuals can build an industry. He did an amazing job capturing the characters, improbable tales, and astounding passion that make up the craft brewing community."  —Ken Grossman, founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

"A lot of beer books come across my desk, but few are as thorough, well-researched and approachable as The Audacity of Hops. Author Tom Acitelli takes a reporter's approach to telling the story of the rise of craft beer in America."  —Evan S. Benn, Esquire magazine beer columnist

"Journalist and beer-lover Acitelli's exceptional document of this remarkable growth profiles the brewers, breweries, and brewhounds that have played a part in today's booming craft beer industry . . . It's an ingenious means of telling a story with so many influential characters, and Acitelli pulls it off, with an eye for detail and a nose for drama."  —Publishers Weekly 

Author Biography

Tom Acitelli is a writer and former senior editor at the New York Observer. His work has appeared in the New York Post, the New York Times, Redbook, and Town & Country. He is a regular contributor to All About Beer, the brewing industry’s leading trade magazine. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.