Publisher Description

"This important volume sheds new light on the social, political, and economic role of beer in society.... Highly Recommended."—ChoiceA Choice Outstanding Academic Book of The Year 2011
Winner of the 2011 Gourmand World Cookbook UK AwardBeer is an ancient alcoholic drink which, although produced through a more complex process than wine, was developed by a wide range of cultures to become internationally popular. This book is the first multidisciplinary, cross-cultural collection about beer. It explores the brewing processes used in antiquity and in traditional societies; the social and symbolic roles of beer-drinking; the beliefs and activities associated with it; the health-promoting effects as well as the health-damaging risks; and analyses the modern role of large multinational companies, which own many of the breweries, and the marketing techniques that they the introduction:
What made you pick up this book? Was it the thought of that foaming pint while you relaxed in a British pub, a German beer garden, a Czech restaurant, an American or 'Continental' bar, on a beach or ski slope or in front of the television at home? Wherever your beer was purchased, in much of the world you would have been offered choice. The choice might only have been between different brand names of bottled beer, or it might have been between a wide range of ales, lagers, wheat and other beers from a cask, a keg, cans or bottles. Even people who do not drink beer will be aware of this diversity….the editors believe that this collation of perspectives on beer will also intrigue many readers in the general public.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
List of ContributorsIntroduction
Helen Macbeth and Wulf SchiefenhövelChapter 1. Natural Ingestion of Ethanol by Animals:  Why?
2. Healthy or Detrimental? Physiological, Psychiatric and Evolutionary Aspects of Drinking Beer
Peter Kaiser, Gerhard Medicus and Martin BrüneChapter 3. Beer: How it's made – the Basics of Brewing
Keith ThomasChapter 4. Interdisciplinary Investigations into the Brewing Technology of the Ancient Near East and the Potential of the Cold Mashing Process
Martin Zarnkow, Adelheid Otto and Berthold EinwagChapter 5. Beer in Prehistoric Europe
Hans-Peter StikaChapter 6. Beer and Beer Culture in Germany
Franz MeussdoerfferChapter 7. Europe North and South, Beer and Wine: Some Reflections about Beer and Mediterranean Food
F. Xavier MedinaChapter 8. Living in the Streets:  Beer Acceptance in Andalusia during the Twentieth Century
Isabel González TurmoChapter 9. The Thirst for Tradition:  Beer Production and Consumption in the United Kingdom
Paul Collinson and Helen MacbethChapter 10. Beer in the Czech Republic
Jana Parízková and Martina VlkovaChapter 11. Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking in German Fraternities: Anthropological and Social Psychological Aspects 
Gerard DammannChapter 12. Rugby, Racing and Beer in New Zealand: Colonising a Consuming Culture
Nancy J. PollockChapter 13. Beer, Ritual and Conviviality in Northern Cameroon
Igor de GarineChapter 14. The Gender of Beer:  Beer Symbolism among the Kapsiki/Higi and the Dogon
Walter van BeekChapter 15. Ritual Use of Beer in South West Tanzania
Ruth KutalekChapter 16. Brewing Sorghum Beer in Burkina Faso: a Study in Food Technology from the Perspective of Anthropological Linguistics
François BelliardChapter 17. Rice Beer and Social Cohesion in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak
Monica JanowskiChapter 18. Tradition and Change: Beer Consumption in Northeast Luzon, Philippines
Dante Aquino and Gerard PersoonChapter 19. Culture, Market and Beer Consumption
Mabel Gracia ArnaizChapter 20. Beer and European Media: Global vs. Local
Luis Cantarero and Monica StacconiGlossary
Index

Review

"This important volume sheds new light on the social, political, and economic role of beer in society and greatly increases the depth and breadth of anthropological studies on drinking. Schiefenhövel and Macbeth have compiled a holistic and to some extent comprehensive volume that embraces biological, archaeological, linguistic, and sociocultural perspectives on beer…Highly Recommended." • Choice"This volume has three main strengths, although a careful reading of each of its chapters will yield many other gems of insight and information…makes a solid and I expect long-lasting contribution to the anthropology of food." • JRAI"This book is both an excellent source of original interdisciplinary research on many aspects of beer and an entertaining read, suitable for both scholars and the educated general public. It contains well written studies of a beverage that has become a staple in many cultures, including those of the German-speaking peoples." • Yearbook of German-American Studies"With contributions from a wide range of disciplines, this book provides an introduction to the social aspects of beer in modern society and how this has evolved over the very many years of its history and development…I found this book to be completely absorbing and thought provoking…an unexpected gem and the perfect book to keep in a travel bag." • Brewer & Distiller International"This impressive volume based on an original interdisciplinary and cross-national approach to the study of beer and brewing… will not only make an important contribution to our knowledge of beer and brewing, but also of drinking cultures and historical change. It will be of interest to anthropologists, social scientists and the wider public." • Marion Demossier, University of Bath

Prizes

Winner of Choice Magazine Outstanding Reference/Academic Book Award 2011

Review Quote

"This important volume sheds new light on the social, political, and economic role of beer in society and greatly increases the depth and breadth of anthropological studies on drinking. Schiefenh

Promotional "Headline"

The first multidisciplinary, cross-cultural look at beer, the mostpopular alcoholic drink in the US, will appeal to everyone who enjoysthis ancient beverage from home brewers to occasional beer drinkers.

Description for Reader

The first multidisciplinary, cross-cultural discussion about the mostpopular alcoholic drink in North America: beer. Liquid Bread: Beerand Brewing in Cross-Cultural Perspective will not only make animportant contribution to our knowledge of beer and brewing but it alsolooks at the social and symbolic roles of beer-drinking, itshealth-promoting effects as well as its health-damaging risks, and themodern role of breweries and the multinational companies that own them.

Details