Beer Culture in Theory and Practice

Beer culture has grown exponentially in the United States, from the days of Prohibition to the signing of HR 1337 by then-President Jimmy Carter, which legalized homebrewing for personal and household use, to the potential hop shortage that all brewers are facing today. This expansion of the culture, both socially and commercially, has created a linguistic and cultural turn that is just now starting to be fully recognized. The contributors of Beer Culture in Theory and Practice: Understanding Craft Beer Culture in the United States examine varying facets of beer culture in the United States, from becoming a home brewer, to connecting it to the community, to what a beer brand means, to the social realities and shortcomings that exist within the beer and brewing communities. The book aims to move beer away from the cooler and taproom, and into the dynamic conversation of Popular and American cultural studies that is happening right now, both within and outside of the classroom.

Craft breweries are taking over the nation! In Beer Culture in Theory and Practice, editor Adam W. Tyma and a team of insightful contributors provide essential analysis that reveals just how intricately linked beer and popular culture are in America. This book is essential reading and is filled with exemplary research and exquisite writing that readers will find themselves looking at again and again. With Tyma’s book, I think we can safely conclude that there is nothing more American than beer!, Tyma’s book opens up new ground in the study of alcohol by studying beer culture in and of itself, and also by implicitly linking it to larger cultural issues in American society. While historical, legal, and economic studies abound, this work drills down into a number of topics familiar to homebrewers and professionals alike…Positioning itself as one of the first examinations of beer culture in the United States from the perspective of the homebrewer, consumer, and connoisseur, Tyma’s work challenges and expands what we know about beer culture, but also provides an array of questions about how beer fits into Americans’ understanding of what it means to be a consumer and how alcohol fits into the American identity.

Adam W. Tyma is associate professor of critical media studies and graduate program chair in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska Omaha.