Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty

by Rich Wagner, Lew Bryson (Foreword by)

Overview

Discover and celebrate the untapped history of Philadelphia beer.

The finely aged history of Philadelphia brewing has been fermenting since before the crack appeared in the Liberty Bell.

By the time thirsty immigrants made the city the birthplace of the American lager in the nineteenth century, Philadelphia was already on the leading edge of the country's brewing technology and production. Today, the City of Brotherly Love continues to foster that enterprising spirit of innovation with an enviable community of bold new brewers, beer aficionados and brewing festivals. Pennsylvania brewery historian Rich Wagner takes readers on a satisfying journey from the earliest ale brewers and the heyday of lager beer through the dismally dry years of Prohibition and into the current craft-brewing renaissance

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609494544
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	04/25/2012
Series:	American Palate
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	244,635
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Author Rich Wagner has developed tours of breweries past and present for Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and south-central Pennsylvania. His interest in breweriana led to taking a very early retirement from his teaching career in order to participate in the emerging craft brewing industry. He attended the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he received a diploma in brewing technology and spent seven years working in Philadelphia's craft breweries. He has spent a decade as an officer of District Philadelphia, Master Brewers Association of the Americas, most of that time as secretary and membership chair. He currently spends his time researching and writing about Pennsylvania breweries and brewing techniques of antiquity. He is a public speaker and demonstrates colonial brewing.

Table of Contents

Foreword Lew Bryson 7

Preface 11

Acknowledgements 13

Introduction 15

Chapter 1 Brewing in Early Philadelphia 17

Chapter 2 Growth of Ale Breweries 27

Chapter 3 Lager Beer 35

Chapter 4 Neighborhoods of Breweries 43

Chapter 5 Prohibition 89

Chapter 6 After Repeal 101

Chapter 7 The Craft Brewing Renaissance 121

Bibliography 145

Index 49

About the Author 157

Editorial Reviews

...Every neighborhood had its own brewery, and every corner had a saloon ...The city's population was barely half of today's, and yet it had 12 times the number of breweries we boast of in 2012. —Don "Joe Sixpack" Russell Philadelphia Daily News 05-24-12

... The History Press should be commended for hiring Rich Wagner to produce the first modern history of Philadelphia brewing. — Martin Morse Wooster Mid-Atlantic Brewing News June/July 2012

...Pennsylvania beer historian Rich Wagner chronicles it all, with gorgeous historic prints that bring Philly's great beer heritage alive, culminating in its current renaissance.

— Craig LaBan Philadelphia Inquirerer 05-31-12

From the Publisher