Uncorking the Past

Book cover of Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages

Book description

In a lively tour around the world and through the millennia, "Uncorking the Past" tells the compelling story of humanity's ingenious, intoxicating quest for the perfect drink. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Uncorking the Past as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Derek Sandhaus

Author

Patrick McGovern is an archeologist on a mission to discover ancient tipples. In Uncorking the Past he recounts several of his most significant finds, including the world’s oldest-known manmade alcoholic beverage at Jiahu, a nine-thousand-year-old site near the Yellow River in north-central China. The story of its discovery—and recreation with Dogfish Head Brewery—is fascinating, but the explanation of the role of alcohol in neolithic Chinese life makes it required reading.

From Derek's list on Chinese alcohol and drinking culture.