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Title: Grape vs. Grain: A Historical, Technological, and Social Comparison of Wine and Beer
ISBN: 0521849373
Author:
Charles Bamforth
Publicate Date: 2008-03-10
Publish: 2008-03-10
List Price: $27.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.71
Amazon Merchant Price: $17.82
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Everyone Has An Opinion
I am always amazed that people often go for the throat of another human being, rather that stating the positive aspects of what we see and leave the criticism to the individual reader. I have seen Charles Bamforth speak on a few occasions and he is delightfully playful. He jokes about nearly everything, both the beer and the wine industry. In regards to the book, I just get that he wants people to understand that it takes skill to brew beer as well.
I actually prefer the taste of wine over beer, and not being an expert about either, had no idea how each is made in great detail. From all the advertisements I have ever been exposed to however, beer certainly has always been made to look like the lesser form of the two beverages. Now that I have been exposed to more information from Dr. Bamforth, I know that's not true. They both take a lot of skill and expertise to produce a good product.
I mean, when it all boils down to it, just like anything, no one is better or worse than the other and I think Dr. Bamforth would heartily agree it is all about individual preference. I think beer has just gotten a bad rap and the book was intended to give readers a little clearer perspective as to what it is really all about.
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2: Well worth the read
I think some of you may be missing the point a bit. The author, I believe, is trying to make the arguement throughout the book that the wine industry has, undeservedly, stolen the moral high ground when it comes to comparing beer and wine. The arguements Bamforth puts forward are really asking why has the wine industry been able to do this, while the beer industry has not (either intentionally or not)? He points out that there really is no proof that wine is any healthier than any other type of alcohol, that the retail mark up of wine is disproportionate to what is costs to produce and he questions the hole notion of "vintage" as an excuse for lack of consistencty. Bamforth just dares to say the beer deserves its place at the table just like wine. A great read.
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3: An excellent read
Relax, K Manning! I think that when the author said he had no idea what a winemaker does "the rest of the year" he was being facetious. I would suggest that you try not to take yourself and your love of wine so seriously and brew up a sense of humor. And by the way, your comment that "it is propaganda like this that has helped lead to so many cases of genocide in the past" is completely ridiculous, offensive and does nothing other than to discredit the rest of your review, because you come across as a bitter, and dare I say pompous, wine snob. This is an extremely well written book, full of humor and while there is no small amount of bias towards beer I would suggest that this be taken with a "grain" of salt. Factual, interesting, informative, funny and it kept my attention throughout. Highly recommended.
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4: Non-biased review
Please, take this book for what it is worth. It's written by a brewer, so obviously it is going to be skewed to brewing. The author never denies this. Look at the first paragraph. This books is great at showing why wine has gained the social status that it has and why beer has not, but should have. Wine has always been considered a rich mans drink, and beer is considered to be a poor mans drink. This book goes to show why this is not true. Beer is just as social and respectable as wine and should be considered so.
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5: Interesting, but scattered.
The author obviously knows his subject, but his presentation wanders and mixes very technical aspects with gross simplifications. That combined with his beer bias detracts from what could be a more useful and informative book.
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