An eye-opening journey into craft beer-making in America, and what you can find in the quest to brew the perfect pint Sean Lewis was living in Boston when he first set foot inside the Blue Hills Brewery. He was writing for BeerAdvocate magazine about America's craft brewers, and the then-fledgling Blue Hills was his first assignment. Lewis was immediately struck by the spirit of the brewers he met there. That visit would lead him first to an intensive study of beer-brewing, and later to a nation-spanning journey into the heart-and the art-of American beer making. What Lewis found along the way was a group of like-minded craftsmen-creators who weren't afraid to speak their minds, who saw their competitors as cherished friends. A group who takes sheer joy in their work, and who seeks the same kind of balance in their lives as they do in the barrels they brew. He shared pints with pioneering upstarts like Paul and Kim Kavulak of Nebraska Brewing Company, and talked shop with craft beer stalwarts like Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada and bombastic innovators like Greg Koch (the "Arrogant Bastard" behind Stone Brewing Co.). He found, in them and others, a community that put its soul into its work, who sees beer-making as an extension of themselves. We Make Beer is not just a celebration of American brewing, but of the spirit that binds brewers together. It's about what you can discover in yourself when you put your hands and your heart into crafting the perfect pint.

SEAN LEWIS is a frequent contributor to and former columnist for BeerAdvocate Magazine. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he is a sports and beer writer, and We Make Beer is his first book.

Contents

Introduction: "We're Making Beer, Man" 1
The Tao of Beer

1. "I See Creating and Inventing as Part of Beer's Tradition" 15
Old-World Tradition and New-World Innovation

2. "That Means I'm Doing It Right" 37
Appreciating Balance in Beer and Brewing

3. "Raising All the Boats" 53
Brewers as Collaborators, Not Competitors

4. "Everybody in Lancaster Hates Each Other" 67
A Fraternity of Brewers

5. "Something to Be Proud Of" 88
Brewing for the Community

6. "The Recipe Doesn't Mean Shit" 103
The Craft of Brewing

7. "The Most Important Thing" 120
Providing for Family

8. "There's an Underlying Theme Here" 132
The Attraction to Brewing

9. "Somebody Please Notice We're Here!" 146
Making Bold and Aggressive Decisions

10. "What Do You Think, You Like It?" 166
Appreciating a Good Beer

Epilogue: "We're Getting Bigger Every Day" 185
The Future of Craft Beer

Acknowledgments 201

Breweries Cited in This Book 203

Appendix: The Brewing Process 209

Glossary 211