Say Hello to Brew Better Beer!

Please allow me to introduce Brew Better Beer! We're a little over a month away from the May 5th release date, and I could be more excited to get this out to your hands and kitchens. I really have to give a huge high five to the folks over at Ten Speed, who (once again) did an incredible job of taking my raw manuscript and making it look so dang good. Some preview pages of the book are below — take a look!

If you'd like to preorder your very own copy, you can do so through these links — I also encourage you to go to your local independent bookstores and give them your business.

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• IndieBound
• Google Books
• iBooks

I also have some upcoming events in the Bay Area! Mark your calendars!

4/4 - Kombucha Demo at the Freemont Whole Foods

4/22 - Where Food, Publishing, and Technology Connect at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto: A panel discussion with Cheryl Sternman Rule of 5 Second Rule and Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo, and moderated by Dianne Jacob of Will Write For Food

5/9 - Beer Knowledge Demo at the Freemont Whole Foods: Come sample some beers and learn about the different styles!

5/30 - Beer Brewing Table at the Alemeda Whole Foods: The beer doctor is in! Stop by the table to talk homebrewing, sample some homebrews, and take a look at the equipment and ingredients needed for homebrewing.

6/6 - Brew Better Beer at Omnivore Books: I'll be talking with Celia Sack about homebrewing, writing Brew Better Beer, and a love for beer. Samples will be provided.

More events to come! Stay tuned!

A full step-by-step visual guide to beer brewing is at the start of the book - plus lots of written details for those of us who like words!

Every chapter starts with a "Very Good" beer - a basic recipe to build from, tweak, and riff

Yes! There are sour beers! Also, whole chapters on gluten-free beers, session beers, and lagers

One of my favs from the book. It tastes like boozy Girl Scout Cookies.

And between every chapter of recipes, there are essays that go into more of the nitty gritty details of brewing or provide some fun ideas for other things to try

An Announcement Long Overdue: New Homebrewing Book in the Works!

Somehow in the hustle and bustle of True Brews being released and general life craziness, I neglected to share a key bit of information: I have a new brewing book in the works! The tentative title is Malts Water Hops Yeast and it will be an introduction to homebrewing basics along with 65 awesome recipes that I've been working on all summer. You want a hefeweizen? You've got a hefeweizen. You want a mango-infused Belgian-style tripel? You've got your mango-infused Belgian-style tripel (plus, perhaps, some coconut). 1-gallon or 5-gallon batches, newbie brewer or old brewing pro — my hope is that there's something in this new book for everyone.

Malts Water Hops Yeast is currently due out summer-ish 2015 from my favorites over at Ten Speed Press. Apologies for the lack of posting while I'm away working on the book. Thanks, everyone!

One Happy Thing: The Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

I was between books right before a weekend trip, and any chronic book reader will know what a genuinely panic-inducing moment this is. I downloaded a handful of ebooks from the library minutes before leaving for the airport and crossed my fingers.

Within a few paragraphs, I knew I'd struck gold with this book. Museum of Thieves kept me completely enthralled for the entire two hour plane ride, and I kept sneaking moments all weekend long to inhale more vibrant scenes of shifting magical rooms, deceitful caretakers, and plucky young thieves.

It tells the story of Goldie, a young girl growing up in a dystopian society where children are protected at all costs and society is under the thumb of the righteous and devious Keepers. Goldie escapes in a moment of spontaneous rebellion, and rather than finding herself cast out, is recruited to the Museum of Thieves for her daring-do and light bout of thievery. Of course, the Keepers come looking for her, and of course, they have an ulterior and insidious motive, and of course, Goldie must save the day.

From start to finish, this book was just a super-fun read. It's a young adult book, but aimed at a slightly younger young adult. The characters are well-developed and the zany world comes across as totally believable. And it's funny. I chuckled to myself several times while reading it (to the consternation of my airplane seat mates).

Verdict: highly recommended, particularly as a fun end-of-summer vacation read.

Find It! Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner