We’re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to spend one more post on the Beer Bible book tour.
We had the official launch last Thursday night. A full house turned out to hear the conversation I had with Gigantic co-founders Ben Love and Van Havig. Until we were in the middle of it, the successful structure of these events was merely theoretical. We planned them to be fun events entirely separate from the book itself. The idea is to use a local brewery’s beer and approach to brewing as a way of surfacing the kind of material you find in the book.

In the case of Gigantic, I wanted to highlight the brewery’s twin threads—traditional styles and cutting-edge hoppy ales—to illustrate how national tradition functions. And guess what? It worked! Van and Ben were as engaging as I expected, and we had a rollicking conversation, including a mid-chat debate about brewing history. It’s a great format because so often fans of a brewery haven’t ever seen the brewers talk about their beer.

It also undermines another element of these things I find bothersome. I hate trying to get a bunch of people to come to what is effectively a sales event. It’s weird and awkward. This structure allows everyone to have fun with no expectations. You can come and enjoy the evening and if you feel inspired, buy a book and have it signed. (Okay, one expectation: buy a pint of beer or two and enjoy it while you listen.) It also makes me feel very inspired to primer the events, because they celebrate some of the best and most interesting breweries in the country. Since pictures often tell more than words, have a look at these and see if it doesn’t look like a blast.

In that spirit, I’d like to direct you to the events in the first leg of the tour, starting this Sunday, Oct 3rd. A couple of these are ticketed, and because the breweries have gone out on a limb for those, I really hope you consider joining us. (Looking at you New Yorkers.) A fuller list with more details is here.

Carton Brewing (Atlantic Highlands, NJ), Sunday, Oct 3, 1:00 pm, 6 E.Washington, free
Bonn Place (Bethlehem, PA), Mon, Oct 4, 5:30 pm, 310-14 Taylor, free
Hailey’s Harp (Metuchen, NJ), Tues, Oct 5, 7:00 pm, 400 Main St, Ticketed beer dinner
Torch and Crown (Manhattan, NYC), Weds Oct 6, 6:00 pm, 12 Vandam (Manhattan), Ticketed beer dinner with special guest Josh Bernstein
Guinness (Baltimore, MD), Thu, Oct 7, 4-7 pm, 5001 Washington, free