Beer in America : the early years, 1587-1840 : beer's role in the settling of America and the birth of a nation

Portrays beer as a major player in the retelling of early American history and reconstructs the cultural and political context out of which it rose--Cover. Includes the history of beer in America along with factors influencing beer drinking and brewing in the Colonial Period.;Beer Arrives in North America : The Start of a Journey to Greatness -- Building a home and a brewery, too : the early 1600s -- Beer settles in: the late 1600s -- Beer and the birth of an American Culture : the early 1700s -- Independence : when fermentation aided fomentation -- Beer and the Revolutionary War -- Life, liberty, and the pursuit of porter : postwar beer -- The nation and breweries expand : the early 1800s -- Fame and fortune: the emergence of the big breweries of the 1800s -- Factors Influencing Beer Drinking and Brewing in the Colonial Period -- The government takes a bite out of beer : taxation -- Beer's home : the tavern -- Beer drinks : the colonial cocktail -- Homebrewing : America's beer heritage -- Beer under fire : temperance and prohibition -- Colonial brewing technology -- Colonial beer timeline.

One of the most important but little-known aspects of early American history was beer's role in the founding of our country and its formative years. The definitive account of beer's impact on people and events that shaped the birth of a nation will astonish readers.

Booknews

Beer historian Smith proposes that all the values and beliefs European colonists brought with them to North America were formed of the millennia-old marriage between society and beer. He draws on diaries, letters, early law, and well documented events. The first part is a chronological narrative. The second considers such topics as taxation, the tavern, homebrewing, temperance and prohibition, and brewing technology. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

A definitive and fresh account of the role of beer in our country’s founding and formative years. Beginning with the colonial era and ending with America’s emergence as an industrial power, Beer in America contains many surprising revelations, including the reason the Mayflower really landed at Plymouth, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as homebrewers, and forging the Constitution after hours over beer.