The Beer Renaissance is in full swing, and home brewing has never been more popular. According to the American Homebrewers Association, there are currently 1.2 million home brewers in the country, and their numbers keep rising. Tired of the stale ale, bland beer and lackadaisical lagers mass-produced by the commercial labels, Americans are discovering the many advantages of brewing their own batch of that beloved beverage: superior aroma, color, body and flavor.

For both amateur alchemists eager to tap into this burgeoning field and seasoned zymurgists looking to improve their brews, The Brewmaster's Bible is the ultimate resource. Its features include: Updated data on liquid yeasts, which have become a hot topic for brewers; 30 recipes in each of the classic beer styles of Germany, Belgium, Britain and the U.S.; extensive profiles of grains, malts, adjuncts, additives and sanitizers; recipe formulation charts in an easy-to-read spreadsheet format; detailed water analyses for more than 25 cities and 6 bottled waters; directories to hundreds of shops; and much more.

Create you own backyard winery

From breaking ground to savoring the finished product, Jeff Cox's From Vines to Wines is the most complete and up-to-date guide to growing flawless grapes and making extraordinary wine.

Wine connoisseurs, gardeners, and home winemakers will find the latest techniques in this fully revised and updated edition. With thorough, illustrated instructions, you'll learn how to:

-- Choose and prepare a vineyard site

-- Construct sturdy and effective trellising systems

-- Plant, prune, and harvest the perfect grapes for your climate

-- Press, ferment, age and bottle your own wine

-- Judge wine for clarity, color, aroma, body, and taste

Amazingly delicious guilt-free recipes for any fun-filled cocktail party

Margaritas and cosmos and mudslides, oh my Blended drinks, mixed drinks, fruity drinks . . . any and every cocktail you desire is here in Hungry Girl Happy Hour, and they've all got HG's guilt-free guarantee Also included are recipes for Hungry Girl's delicious, decadent, party-pleasing finger foods and appetizers.

Indulge in:

Cocoa-nut Banana Rum-ble Frenzy (188 calories)

Hungry, Hungry Hurricane (132 calories)

Blendy Bananas Foster (227 calories)

Red Hot Cinnamon Shots (98 calories)

Spiked Strawberry Shake (204 calories)

Black Forest Jell-O Shot Desserts (49 calories)

Plus:

Buff Chick Hot Wing Dip (68 calories)

De-Pudged Pigs in a Blanket (134 calories)

Bacon-Bundled BBQ Shrimp (116 calories)

. . . And much more

Ecompassing thirty-five major wine-producing regions, this compact, illustrated handbook identifies wines made in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, and the Far East and furnishes helpful information on top producers, must-have vintages, grape varieties, wineries, and more.

"A heartfelt paean to the pioneering breweries of the Midwest, packed with details and excellent photos. Land of Amber Waters is sure to delight anyone interested in the storied history of American brewing." --Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, and author of The Brewmaster's Table

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." --Dave Barry

For centuries, brewmasters both professional and homegrown have pursued the perfect pour--a delectable combination of barley, yeast, water, and hops--and few states can claim as devoted a relationship to beer as Minnesota. For a time it seemed that every town had its brewery and a beer garden was a highlight of every local celebration. Dedicated home brewers and casual pub crawlers alike will be amazed by the stories of Minnesota beers and breweries featured in Land of Amber Waters.

Starting with the first brewery in 1849, Doug Hoverson tells the story of the state's beer industry from the small-town breweries that gave way to larger companies with regional and national prominence, including Hamm's, Grain Belt, and Schell's, to the vibrant beer culture of today, led by a new wave of breweries such as Summit, Lake Superior Brewing Co., and Surly, and brewpubs like Town Hall Brewery, Fitger's, and Granite City Brewpub, and sustained by microbreweries, home brewers, and beer aficionados.

From the first illegal brewer at Fort Snelling to the craft brewers and major companies of today, nearly 300 breweries have opened and operated at one time or another in 125 cities and towns around the state. Complete with a comprehensive list of Minnesota's breweries--including many never before published--and more than 300 tempting illustrations of beer and breweriana, Land of Amber Waters marvelously chronicles Minnesota's rich brewing traditions.

Doug Hoverson teaches social studies and coaches the debate team at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. He is the assistant editor of American Breweriana Journal, an award-winning homebrewer, and a certified beer judge.

The Vikings called North America "Vinland," the land of wine. Giovanni de Verrazzano, the Italian explorer who first described the grapes of the New World, was sure that "they would yield excellent wines." And when the English settlers found grapes growing so thickly that they covered the ground down to the very seashore, they concluded that "in all the world the like abundance is not to be found." Thus, from the very beginning the promise of America was, in part, the alluring promise of wine. How that promise was repeatedly baffled, how its realization was gradually begun, and how at last it has been triumphantly fulfilled is the story told in this book.

Zinfandel--California's mystery grape, so called because of the obscurity of its origins--has pursued a picaresque career, coming to epitomize the course and character of California wine. Here Darlington delves into the myriad legends surrounding Zinfandel and interweaves them with his own wine-making experience.

The only reporter present at the mythic Paris Tasting of 1976--a blind tasting where a panel of esteemed French judges chose upstart California wines over France's best--for the first time introduces the eccentric American winemakers and records the tremendous aftershocks of this historic event that changed forever the world of wine.

A portrait of the Gallos uncovers the existence of the family's black sheep, Joseph jr.--Ernest and Julio's younger brother--and probes into why he was denied his third of the winery.