Beer making began with many small-scale brewers, but it quickly grew to a powerful industry as America’s taste for brew grew with immigration and urbanization. Prohibition briefly drove brewers back home to circumvent Volstead Act restrictions, but with the coming of repeal, beer was one of the first alcoholic beverages to reappear. Big business and mass advertising concentrated beer making into the hands of a few brewing giants. But Americans returning from European jaunts noticed the difference between foreign beers and ales and American standardized, mass-produced lagers. And thus, in the 1970s, small breweries began to spring up, and America’s craft-beer revolution was under way. Acitelli offers portraits of the dozens of entrepreneurs nationwide who started small-production runs and soon developed a following, often through their own brewpubs. The cast of characters he has marshaled demonstrates these microbreweries’ diverse individuality, even as some have grown into significant corporations of their own. --Mark Knoblauch
"The Audacity of Hops chronicles the rich history of America's craft brewing revolution with deft portraits of the resourceful pioneers, the innovative brewers, and the intrepid entrepreneurs who are changing the way the world thinks about beer."
-Steve Hindy, co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery and co-author of
Beer School"A new and excellent history of craft beers in America." -
Harvey Steiman,
Wine Spectator"Rather than become mired in a minutiae of names and dates, Acitelli wisely frames his narrative as a discrete selection of entertaining vignettes that focus on key players and moments in America's craft-beer revolution as representative of the larger movement. It's an entertaining
and informative read for anyone remotely interested in the history of American craft beer." -
The Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) "Tom Acitelli has compiled an extensive collection of firsthand accounts from the pioneers, brewers and industry luminaries that have taken beer back from industrial giants. A book for the craft beer nerd who thinks he or she already knows the story,
The Audacity of Hops is sure to provide new insight into craft beer's explosive popularity."
-The Los Angeles Times“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 Starred review