Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer
Attention beer lovers: This one's for you Everyone knows the name Sam Adams - if not the beer then the colonial-era patriot and prominent maltster who encouraged home production and consumption of beer. But fewer are familiar with Colonel Jacob Ruppert.  The George Steinbrenner of the mid-20th century, Ruppert owned the New York Yankees from 1914 until his death in 1939. He also owned the Ruppert Brewery, which had million-barrel sales prior to Prohibition and was a leader of the brewing industry during Prohibition and Repeal. Babe Ruth was at his deathbed and over 15,000 people attended his funeral including Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Lou Gehrig. Such tidbits of American breweriana are available in a new book by Amherst historian and writer Amy Mittelman. "Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer" (Algora Publishing, 2007) is a story of the American brewing industry and its leading figures, from colonial days to the present. The chronicle includes the story of the struggle of German immigrant brewers to establish themselves in America, and the more recent emergence of micro-brewers. --Amherst Bulletin, December 14, 2007