A Natural History of Beer

By: Ian Tattersall, Rob DeSalle

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

A celebration of beer - its science, its history, and its impact on human culture

What can beer teach us about biology, history, and the natural world? From ancient Mesopotamian fermentation practices to the resurgent American craft brewery, Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall peruse the historical record and traverse the globe for engaging and often surprising stories about beer. They explain how we came to drink beer, what ingredients combine to give beers their distinctive flavors, how beer's chemistry works at the molecular level, and how various societies have regulated the production and consumption of beer.

Drawing from such diverse subject areas as animal behavior, ecology, history, archaeology, chemistry, sociology, law, genetics, physiology, neurobiology, and more, DeSalle and Tattersall entertain and inform with their engaging stories of beer throughout human history and the science behind it all. Listeners are invited to grab a beer and explore the fascinating history of its creation.

©2015 Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle (P)2019 Recorded Books

A fascinating listen

Great historic detail. While the in-depth scientific information can approach being a little dry, there’s enough great material to keep a beer-aficionado enjoyably listening.

More chemistry and biology than history.

The book covers more explanation of scientific methods than actual history of beer. The same book could written substituting potatoes for beer and the main focus in explaining the scientific methods used would be the same.

Lacks visuals

An excellent overview of the making, history, and science of beer that goes a little deeper into many aspects than some of the other wide ranging attempts- but flawed in that there are many references to charts tables and diagrams which audible failed to make available as a pdf. Unless that is rectified you are better off with the print version.

It’s super scientific and technical

I wasn’t ready for the amount of detail this book went into dealing with science (Such as the biological information about how to determine the DNA sequence of different kinds of hops, the chemical makeup of water and how the specific chemical changes it undergoes when during the brewing process, down to an explanation of what the body does with beer in respect to storing fat which reminded me of a university Biochemistry class), but the information ended up being extremely interesting. The first three to five chapters are more of what I was looking for (fun facts about where beer comes from), and the middle is extreme science, and the last chapter ends on that same fun-fact note. I enjoyed it, but the title is a bit misleading.

short interesting listen

I was looking for something to keep me entertained for a short period and this was perfect.

More like lazy textbook

This book is a complete disappointment to its title. I was expecting to be educated on beer use throughout time and in different societies, instead the bulk of the book is a summary of one year of college physics, biology, and chemistry courses. The last chapter was interesting, yet the entirety of the book felt unorganized and lazy. Great idea, but its essentially a podcast episode with hours and hours of scientific filler. Moreover, the speed of which the scientific concepts are presented don’t leave the listener with any satisfaction, as concepts are presented and finished in one sentence. Highly recommend skipping this title.