Review: Drink Beer, Think Beer

As Senior Editor of Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine, former editor of All About Beer Magazine, author of a beer cookbook and co-host of a beer podcast, John Holl has spent a lot of time drinking, discussing, writing and thinking about beer. His latest effort, Drink Beer, Think Beer: Getting to the Bottom of Every Pint is an extended homage to modern brewing and its independent producers.

While it’s clear Hull is a lover of  beer, he does not come off as a beer snob. The book makes it clear that craft beer can and should be enjoyed by everyone. “It’s easy to get caught up in the fever of chasing a new, rare, or local beer without stopping to reconsider and appreciate the classics,” writes Hull. “This is time spent worrying about what a beer should be or could be rather than what it is, and when that happens we lose sight of what got us excited about beer in the first place. Each new trip to the bar, each new beer opened, is a chance to break that cycle and to focus on the moment at hand.”

With the explosion of the craft beer scene there are now more breweries in the United States than at any time since prohibition, and while not a guide to the many styles of beer available, Drink Beer, Think Beer (Digital gallery, Perseus Books) offers ample advice on tasting and judging beer. With the knowledge shared in the book drinkers will be better equipped to determine beer quality and make choices that match their own drinking preferences.

While Drink Beer, Think Beer covers the state of the beer industry, its economics and the threat to independent brewers posed by giants such as AB InBev, the book never gets bogged down. Hull’s writing pedigree includes stints and the New York Times, Newark Star-Ledger and the Indianapolis Star and his journalism skills shows in this most approachable of beer books.