Looking for a book on the history and development of beer styles

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Welshwizard

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Hi folks,

I've beem reading the excellent 'How to Brew' for a while now in between making my own brews. I'm a beginner and my house only had a very small kitchen so for now I'm extract brewing.

I'd like to learn more about the history of the different kinds of beer styles that are put there though if possible. While there are all sorts of different styles of beer I've not yet found a good cpmprehensive guide that explains how they developed and why (though Palmer's notes on some of his recipes in 'How to Brew' are very good). Any recommendations? Cheers folks.
 
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I bought this recently. It was £6.00 + p&p from http://www.bibliophilebooks.com/

A really interesting read that goes through the development of modern brewing from the 17th century to the present day.
 
Pattinson has his place and he's properly referred to as a "beer historian", but I get a sense that the OP is more interested in the socio-cultural development of a style than the evolution of a recipe or a brand. They are two sides of the same coin and I find both fascinating. I bought Mark Dredge's "A Brief History of Lager" in desperation at having nothing to read and I loved every page- discovering history through a lifelong pub crawl is definitely the way to do it. Again, I found Boak and Bailey's "Balmy (sic) Nectar" appalling, but The WIse One put "Gambrinus Waltz" into her Amazon Basket to make up the amount needed for free delivery and it's a cracking little booklet. Neither she nor I had ever heard of the battle of Fishguard in 1797 when we were invaded by the French- I'd thought they'd got all that out of their system in 1066!
I could mention Martyn Cornell's "Story of the Pint", which I enjoyed yonks and yonks ago, but It's so long ago I can't remember what's in it.
Edit:
Anything by Jeff Alworth is well worth reading.
 
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