Review of A Natural History of Beer by Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle

I listened to the A Natural History of Beer by Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle, as an audiobook borrowed from a local library. Quick comments.

The book was quite informative, it had a decent section on the history of beer, so much chemistry, couple of chapters about the biology of taste and drunkenness, the science of water and hops and barley that goes towards making beer, modern yeast technology, fermentation, and everything in between. It was technically a decent book, there was nothing I found lacking or more desiring.

The thing is, listening to this book made me realize I couldn't give a crap about beer at all. Who cares about international bitterness unit, who cares about the eight stages of tasting and smelling the beer, who cares about the American brewing association chart / circle of beer flavorings. They were a passing interest, and nothing really held my attention. I'm interested in fermentation, the alcoholic kind as well, but there was something about the whole beer saga that didn't get my attention. Perhaps I find hops too strong while mentioning beer, or perhaps malted barley feels like a bit of a cheat for someone used to do mold fermentation. Regardless, listening to the otherwise decently written book gave me the understanding that I don't care about beer, and would rather listen to literally anything else in the world. Not the authors' fault, not blaming them.

Yeah I'll give this book a 7.5 out of 10 despite everything, beer enthusiasts will be buzzed by this book.