Hops and Glory: One man's search for the beer that built the British Empire [Hardcover]

'The tale of his travels and the alcoholic history of the Raj is big beery fun.' --The Times

`A meaty tome and give good value as Brown is both an engaging and witty writer, creating an entertaining work combing travelogue with a decent bit of historical context. It contains a number of beer facts which I will find useful to have at my elbow and is a more than welcome addition to his body of work.'
--London Drinker

'This is one of the drink books of the year. Beer lovers should hope to find Hops and Glory beneath their Christmas tree.' --Daily Express

'Will stand the test of time as one of the best beer adventures ever written.'
--The Journal

'Covers everything from the definitive history of Indian Pale Ale to the chaotic recreation of its 30,000 mile sea journey.'

`The tale of his travels and the alcoholic history of the Raj is big beery fun.'

`This account of his beer-inspired voyage is as entertaining as it is enlightening.'

A raucous, rollicking history of the original India Pale Ale -- the finest beer ever brewed

The original India Pale Ale was pure gold in a glass -- a semi-mythical beer from the late 18th century, brewed in Britain to travel halfway around the world, through ocean storms and tropical sunshine, and arrive in perfect condition for a long, cold drink on an Indian veranda. And although you can still buy beers with 'IPA' on the label today, most are, frankly, pale imitations of the original. For the first time in 140 years, a keg of traditional Burton IPA has been brewed for a voyage to India by canal and tall ship, around the Cape of Good Hope; and the man carrying it is award-winning beer writer Pete Brown. Brazilian pirates and Iranian customs officials lie ahead, but will he even make it that far, having fallen in the canal just a few miles outside Burton-on-Trent? And if Pete does make it to the other side of the world with 'Barry' the barrel, one question remains: what will the real IPA taste like? Weaving first-class travel writing and new historical research with assured comedy, Hops and Glory is both a rollicking, raucous history of the Raj and a wonderfully entertaining, groundbreaking experiment to recreate the finest beer ever brewed. .

Pete Brown used to advertise lager for a living, until he realized that writing books about beer was even more fun, and entailed drinking even more beer. He appears regularly on television as a beer expert, writes on beer for a variety of publications and is the author of Man Walks into a Pub and the award-winning travel book Three Sheets to the Wind. He lives in London.