This is a wonderful resource for folks who are interested in using unique ingredients in their beers. I appreciate the beautiful illustrations, the breakdowns of the plant, how the plant can be used, and a variety of sources. I've discovered new ingredients to experiment with and new beers that I want to try. I also love that Marika Josephson of Scratch wrote the forward. I am originally from SoIL, so whenever we go visit, I try to make my way there! A lovely book that you will come back to again and again!

A fantastic resource for anyone who has a passion for beer and how it is made. Caruso's work is an encyclopedia of beer knowledge with sumptuous illustrations of a variety of herbs and botanicals that leave the reader wondering about the possibilities of future inspired beer creations. This book gives the reader the knowledge of botanicals and beer making ingredients, and has sparked many conversations around bottles and drafts of the beverage.

This book was an easy read, and would make an excellent addition to any beer enthusiast or home brewer's collection.

An incredibly interesting resource for brewers or beer enthusiasts! I must admit I was a little out of my depths with this one, but it was a fascinating and eye opening book brimming with information. My husband has been brewing for 6 years and has an environmental science background (he's the ideal audience for this book) and said the book would be an invaluable addition to his collection of beer/brewing related books once it's published. I don't think this would do particularly well in our bookshop as the demand for this type of publication in our store is sadly low to non-existent, however I think it would sell extremely well in home brew shops and would also be a great resource for libraries too.

I found this book to be helpful and informative on educating me about the different types of plants that are used in beers. I do not brew my own beer however I frequently drink it and visit many craft breweries. I am looking forward to my next visits now that I have more background knowledge about the botany of beer and just more general knowledge on plants.

A wonderfully illustrated technical guide not only for those interested in brewing but also for herbalists and gardeners that have an interest in botany and the use of plants beyond the basics. Highly recommend to plant lovers and beer enthusiasts alike.

This is a really interesting book and an interesting read. I have no real want to learn how to make beer or create it myself, but I do love tasting flights when out with friends, etc. So, this was a fun read to learn a bit more about beer and the "botany" behind it. I think it'd be a nice coffee table book or a gift for someone who is interested in beer.

This book is a fantastically comprehensive encyclopedia of any plant you could could think of that is used in beer. Caruso includes illustrations alongside his detailed descriptions of each plant's uses. On top of that, each entry has detailed info on the chemical properties of each plant, so brewers and botanists alike are able to understand their place and flavor. Truly a mind-blowingly comprehensive piece of work!

The Botany of Beer serves as an extensive reference volume of all things related to the botany of plants related to the brewing and production of beer in its various forms.
This volume provides extensive entries for literally hundreds of different plants used within the brewing process alongside clear citations for each entry. The addition of an extensive bibliography and glossary make this a valuable tool for scholars of this topic. This volume seems as though it is designed more for scholars and seasoned professions than it is for hobbyists.

My husband is a homebrewer, his best friend works in the craft beer industry, and I enjoy the results of this happy union. We’ve spent many nights beer tasting, reading beer labels, discussing its complexities, tastes, and ingredients, occasionally researching said ingredients. I thought this book would be a nice addition to our beer adventures.

Alas, this book is more botany forward than beer forward. The text is encyclopedic, detailing the plant profiles of 500+ plants, focusing on a near-scientific description on the plants, identifying their geographical origins of the plants, and listing their chemical and/or nutritional facts, then, finally, naming a likely beer style in which the plant could be an ingredient. The descriptions are accompanied by beautiful line draws of each plant.
This book is perhaps for botanists who enjoy beer and possibly beer chemists, not necessarily for beer drinkers or causal brewers. While it lists the parts possibly used in beers, the book does not discuss how or when adding the plant transforms a beer’s taste, texture, appearance, aroma, etc. No beer making techniques are discussed. I did appreciate that beers using each plant are listed, however, the reader would be looking up the plant to find the beer listing, not looking up the beer to find the plant listing. This is why I say it’s botany forward. In his introduction, the author encourages beer makers to review this book to find creativity in their beer making process and to that extent, the book succeeds. Who would’ve thought to brew with garlic?

The beer enthusiast would enjoy the 12 pages dedicated to the discussion of the cannabaceae (aka hop). Unlike other plants, this plant gets very in depth as it discusses subspecies, provides commentary on chemical composition, includes a table identifying the aromas of each subspecies, and another table detailing each hop type’s usage in various beers around the world.

While this book will not be joining our beer tasting nights, it’s a beautiful monument to the biodiversity involved in beer making and will be a beer nerdy botanist or botany nerdy beer chemist very happy.

I received temporary access to an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Botany of Beer is an illustrated technical guide to the plants used in fermentation and is the newest volume in the Arts and Traditions of the Table series. Originally released in 2019 in Italian, this English language translation is due out 9th Aug 2022 from Columbia University Press. It's 640 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is an encyclopedic collection of botany as it intersects brewing, along with a massive herbal containing 500+ plant profiles. It's a huge reference work and an impressively comprehensive one. The profiles are presented alphabetically, by botanical (Latin) name, followed by plant family, description, and salient information such as possible toxicities, habits, distribution, active organic chemical compounds and aromatics, uses in brewing - including styles of beer and specific profiles/brands, and citations for the sources used in each of the profiles.

This is an astoundingly useful book. Rigorously vetted, exhaustively annotated, and up-to-date. The text is peppered with simple botanical monochrome line drawings by the author himself. The translation work is impressively seamless and it's blissfully free from choppy turns of phrase or translation errors. The bibliography and links are likely worth the price of the book and will give readers many hours of further reading. The author has also included a useful glossary which will be helpful for students of botany, and a cross referenced index.

Five stars. Highly recommended for professional and hombrewing enthusiasts, students of botany, homesteaders, microbreweries, foodies, and other food/culture interested readers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is an excellent reference for those with a serious interest in beer, botany, or both of the above. For the amateur brewer, it offers insight into some new and exotic ingredients for experimental brews. For the amateur botanist, it offers greater understanding of how plants are used by mankind -- in one prominent domain, at least. For the beer connoisseur, it provides examples of some brews with unusual ingredients that might just expand one’s palate. The book is well-organized, easy-to-use, and has some fine ancillary features to make it an even more valuable tool.

For each of the 500-ish plants, there’s an orderly entry. Entries are arranged alphabetically by scientific name, and the book also provides alternate names, as well as common names and variations. There are drawings that break parts of the plant out for better identification, and there are sections offering both physical and chemical textual descriptions of each plant. There are also sections listing related species and cultivars (cultivated variants.) There is a geographic section that describes, if known, the place of origin of the plant, as well as the domain the plant has expanded to, or in which it’s now cultivated. One section describes what parts of the plant are used in beermaking, another provides a list of the styles of beers the plant has been (or might be) used in, and another (where applicable) an example of a beer in which that ingredient is found. As applicable, there’s also information about plant toxicity and – in some cases – fun facts related to the plant’s use in brewing. There’s a glossary, bibliography, and common name index, as well.

I’d put the included plants into three categories: 1.) plants that are common cultivated foods somewhere on the planet (note: that doesn’t mean they will appear in grocery stores in your particular neck-of-the-woods;) 2.) trees whose wood is used in barrel-making or smoking, but aren’t ingredients, per se; and 3.) ingredients that aren’t likely to appear on your plate unless you’re a hardcore forager or a deep-dive foodie with connections to a botanist or native population.

I found this book to be a well-crafted guide to beer-relevant plants, and would recommend readers interested in beer (or – more broadly – food and beverage ingredients) give it a look.

If you need a textbook or encyclopedia of plants that can be used as ingredients in beer with Latin names and in depth information about each one's components, this is your guide. It is extremely thorough and technical, with about a page of text for every plant and black and white ink drawings. This isn't a how-to guide as much as a scientific reference. I'm not sure who the target audience is, but it will be perfect for those people.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very technical read!

The book is truly a guide to different beer brewing plants. The book breaks them down by family, locality, beer-related uses, favors, and more! There's information and some drawings of the different plants. It's a very in-depth guide to all the different plants that go into making beer.

It's a deep dive into the different brew-related plants around the world.