Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles for Your Money

If the author's name sounds familiar, it's because his grandfather is famous for being the first to import Heineken beer. And freelance writer Van Munching, a veteran of the beer wars as a member of the family concern, here presents a history of beer in the U.S. that will be of interest to those who like to guzzle the brew and also to those who are curious about the business side of the beer world. The author informs us that beer was carried on the Mayflower and that the first commercial brewery in the New World was opened in New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1632. He shows how the introduction of German lager beers in the mid-19th century helped the industry grow and how WWI and the unpopularity of Germany led to Prohibition. He looks at the first ""diet"" beer, Gablinger's, which was inaugurated by New York-based Rheingold in the 1960s, and how that disaster in marketing strategy led to the successful ""lite"" beers of the '90s. He examines how Budweiser came to dominate the market; how Schlitz lost market share by diminishing the quality of its beer; the lucrative advertising relationship between beer and sports; and how Coors countered the public's perception of being right-wing and anti-union, -black, -gay and -women. An irreverent, snappy read that goes down like a cool one on a hot day. Author tour. (July)