I will talk with Ginger Johnson from WomenEnjoyBeer on her radio show, BeerRadio, today at 8 p.m. est. Please tune in.
Posts Tagged ‘Brewing Battles’
Beer Radio
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011Better Late Than Never
Saturday, September 24th, 2011The current issue of The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs has a review of Brewing Battles. The book was published over three and a half years ago but such delays are fairly common in academic reviewing.
If you want to read the full review you must be subscribed to the journal. If you have any interest in the topic I would encourage you to do that.
Martin Stack reviewed both Brewing Battles and Maureen Ogle’s Ambitious Brew. Here is an excerpt:
“Mittelman’s approach is quite different. She provides a more complete chronological overview, beginning decades before Ogle does. While she doesn’t spend as much time as does Ogle in connecting changes in the beer and the brewing industry to broader cultural and social developments, she is excellent on two key topics that Ogle downplays, regulation and worker-brewery relations. Mittelman examines thoroughly the history of the complex regulatory environment connecting beer, breweries, and the state and federal government, highlighting how and why this set of interconnections has changed over time. … Mittelman makes a significant contribution in her detailed discussions of how breweries and the federal government set about to develop a post-repeal regulatory system. …
Another topic Mittelman handles very well concerns worker-brewery relations. This discussion draws from some of her earlier work, and she provides some excellent analysis here. Of particular import is her discussion of brewery workers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; she notes that brewery workers, as did workers in many industries, focused too much on their internal struggles. For brewing this proved particularly short sighted, as workers and owners did not ‘form a self-conscious alliance … to combat prohibition forces … until 1913.’ (p. 61)
Together, the Mittelman and Ogle books bring much needed attention to an understudied topic. … As a student of this industry, I greatly prefer Mittelman’s book.”
It is never too late for such praise.
Alcohol and the Modern State
Thursday, June 30th, 2011Last week, I attended the Sixth Biennial Meeting of the Alcohol and Drug History Society. It was in Buffalo. I am a founding member of this organization, which was originally the Alcohol Temperance History group (ATHG). There were many nice people at the conference and many of the papers were excellent.
I chaired a panel on “Alcohol and the Modern State.” Brewing Battles deals with the relationship between the United States government and the brewing industry, that is probably why they choose me.
There were four papers and all were excellent. Noelle Plack spoke on “Wine, equality and taxation in the French Revolution.” Prior to the Revolution, there was a very high indirect tax on wine. Using the rhetoric of equality common people fought for the abolition of the tax. The taxes were reinstated between 1798 and 1804 but were much lower.
James Sumner’s paper was “Chemists in the brew house: Excise policy, chemical authority and the value of drink, 1790-1820. “ He looked at debates about how to determine the amount of alcohol in beer and what scientific methods to use. The English taxed beer indirectly and were looking for the most efficient, least corruptible way to maintain the tax and the revenue it generated.
Graceiela Marquez Colin and Gabriela Recio spoke on “Politicians and Brewers in Mexico: Taxing Beer in the 1920s.” By 1899, five firms controlled 63% of Mexico’s beer production. Prior to the Mexican Revolution beer did not pay the stamp tax that other alcoholic beverages did. The Mexican Revolution halted national distribution of beer. In 1912, the revolutionaries imposed taxes on beer for the first time and taxes rose five times between1912- 1922. In response, the brewers formed a trade association that sought tariff protection, lower taxes, and a labor code.
Jon Miller gave a talk on “Petroleum Nasby and the Comedy of Excise Taxes.” David Locke, a journalist, created Nasby as a fictional, satirical figure. Nasby drank whiskey straight and was a Democrat. Locke used Nasby to promote support of the Republican Party and its’ polices. One of the policies he promoted the most was the excise tax on liquor. A modern comparison to Nasby would be Stephen Colbert who pretends to be a conservative Republican. Nasby was very popular and a favorite of President Lincoln.
All four papers reveal the centrality of liquor taxation to states and their need for revenue. They also reveal the different responses that varying interest groups have to liquor taxation. In France, common people sought a reduction in taxes using the rhetoric of the revolution. In America, in the 1790s, western distillers rebelled against the imposition of a tax on whiskey.
Brewers in American, when faced with an excise tax to finance the Civil War, responded in a similar way to the Mexican brewers. They organized a trade association and sought amelioration within the tax system.The tax in the United States provided many patronage positions and this is one aspect of why Locke via Nasby supported the liquor excise. By looking at the relationship between states and liquor taxation, all the papers demonstrate how entangled liquor is in every aspect of modern life.
The Interview
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011Here are two links to my interview with Barry Eva: Interview with Barry Eva. If that doesn’t work try this: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/across-the-pond
On the Radio
Thursday, February 24th, 2011I will be a guest on “A Book and a Chat” on blogtalkradio, Tuesday March 1st – 6:30pm.
“A Book and a Chat” has proved a hugely popular radio program with people of all ages. With two hundred shows already recorded, Barry Eva’s format of “a chat over a cup of tea” has received nothing but rave reviews from guest and listeners alike. “A Book and a Chat” is a program for writers and readers, not so much a literary show, more like… let’s sit around have a cup of tea and a few laughs.”
Please tune in.
News
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010I recently got a yearlong appointment as a Five College Women’s Studies Research Center Associate. I actually found out in April but I have been very busy and a little reluctant to toot my own horn. I got the associateship because of my new project, Dames, Dishes, and Degrees. I also will be giving a paper at the History of Education Society 50th annual meeting in November and I will be giving a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association.
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours putting the above information on my website. That felt a little strange because of course my website is entitled Amy Mittelman Brewing Battles. I have many questions about how I will maintain a focus on beer and Brewing Battles and move towards prompting and discussing the new book.
I have been on Twitter for about six months and I am one tweet away from 100. As if have probably said before I feel twitter is best for things I probably would not blog about. I also like that you can follow a conversation about trending or immediate events. It is a lot of fun to follow #Yankees during a Yankee game.
I still have not really figured out how my various online activates connect or should connect. I had decided to keep tweeting and the blog separate but I am rethinking that. I also do not really see how to keep the website vibrant since most of the new content winds up on the blog. One idea I have is to put my twitter feed on the website, but I am not sure how to do that. I also think it would be nice to give my readers the opportunity to tweet about the blog. Again, I will have to figure out how to do that.
Getting the Associateship is a wonderful opportunity; I am most excited about having a Mount Holyoke College library card. I feel motivated to think about new directions for both my work and my online presence.
101 Posts
Friday, September 25th, 2009This is my one hundred and one-blog post if you count the thirty-eight I did before I had a word press blog. If anyone is interested in reading them go to my website, amymittelman.com, and click on archives.
At the panel discussion on Monday about women and blogging, Jenny Davidson said she had started her blog because she wanted to promote her novel. I initiated my website, then the blog in both versions, for the same reasons. Somewhere along the line, however, the blog has become its own entity. I enjoy writing and I think writing more frequently has helped me to become a better writer.
My public online presence or persona has also evolved. In the beginning, I felt it was important to stick to writing about beer and other topics that directly connected to Brewing Battles. I also wanted to sell as many books as possible so I tried not to write anything controversial or potentially offensive. I also tried not to generate controversy, which may have had the unwanted effect of limiting my audience.
I still want to sell books and maintain a professional demeanor but I have relaxed about topics and opinions. Partly I am never sure whom or how large my audience is. This has given me some freedom to express myself since it is entirely possible I am talking to myself.
The internet and web have changed ideas and expectations of privacy. Because I have consciously sought a public identity, I have to expect that when I Google my name various things come up. I live in a small town so car accidents and the like are news in a way that they would not be here in Manhattan. Because all newspapers have an online version, news items wind up being readily available.
The discussion on Monday touched on some of these privacy issues and Alexandra’s comments about the racial nature of disclosure are troubling. The real life consequences for someone’s risky behavior coming back to bite them later in life are very sobering.
Realizing this makes me more determined to behave online in an appropriate and professional way. My blog persona is therefore close to my real life persona but not necessary how I am in the safety and security of my home and family.
This is a little more serious than I initially planned to commemorate my 101 posts. I will keep posting about beer, politics, women, and any other subjects that interest me. If you have been reading, I hope you stay around. If you are new, welcome and cheers!
Beer and Wine in Israel
Friday, June 5th, 2009In my post about Jewish Beer and Brewing I discussed Israeli and Palestinian beer. While in Israel, I had the opportunity to taste both Goldstar and Macabee. Goldstar is a medium color lager with a decent flavor and a small hoppy taste. Maccabee was pretty bad, on par with Bud or Pabst. My husband had Nesher Malt, which is a non-alcoholic beer which has been produced since 1935.
Someone who was on our trip had Dancing Camel beer on tap and said it was very good. Their website has several different beers, some with funny names in the style of Shmaltz Brewing and He’Brew. The food scene in Israel is so amazing that I think it is just a matter of time before Israel has a thriving micro-brewery industry.
We also had a tour at the Carmel Winery in Zikhron Ya’akov. Most American Jews grow up drinking Manishevitz at Passover and think that is the extent of Jewish Kosher wine. The company dates back to 1882,Baron Edmund de Rothschild, owner of Chateau Lafite, helped established it.
Unlike Manishevitz, Carmel’s fine wines are not pasteurized which allows them to have a better flavor. The wine we tasted was very good and our tour guide was an amazing, extremely stylish woman, originally from Morocco. Unfortunately I can’t remember her name but I do have some pictures.
Wine Barrels
This was cross-posted from Women Grow Business
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Women Grow Business
“Am I a Woman in Business?” Learning to Promote Yourself the Same Way Businesses D
Am I a woman in business, a businesswoman?
That is an interesting question for me to contemplate in writing a post for Women Grow Business. I started my website, AmyMittelman.com, and my blog, Musings, because I wrote a book, Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer.
Many years ago, I had a business, Academic Publicity, that provided promotional help for academic authors.
In retrospect, my business plan had a fatal flaw: academics didn’t want to pay for my services.
In general, academics do not think of themselves as writers and thus do not want to pay to increase their book sales. The existence of the book itself punches their tenure ticket. And most academics write only one book. The one major business success I had was getting my husband‘s book, Nazism, the Jews, and American Zionism, 1933-1948 into paperback.
New business, young family, and next steps
At the time that I was running Academic Publicity, I had completed a PH.D in American history and had two small children at home. I had started the business because I was realizing it was unlikely I would be able to get an academic job without significant disruption to my life.
The perfect vision of hindsight
Because of life’s increasing complexity with family, including buying a new home, I ended the business after two years. With the perfect vision of hindsight, I realized that was too short a time to grow a business. I pulled the plug on Academic Publicity so quickly because I was losing money and I already had some feelings of guilt because I had been unable to find an academic position.
I think inadequacy, guilt, and feelings of illegitimacy are all common problems for women as they negotiate between professional goals and family life. I ended the business and quickly looked around for some way to be gainfully employed.
I settled on becoming a nurse.
I have been a nurse for 14 years and have worked in many different healthcare settings. I do not feel that being a nurse replaced being a historian. I brought all the skills and lessons I had acquired from my academic career, my business, and my family life to my new profession. Again, I think this is typical for women.
Many women’s lives do not occur in a linear fashion.
Both male and female baby boomers are famous for second acts and continually reinventing themselves. I believe this has always been truer for women and has certainly been true for me.
Contemplating a book on beer
Although I enjoyed being a nurse, I had always wanted to publish my dissertation as a book and that remained a goal. About seven years ago, with an increased focus, I began to contemplate taking material from my thesis and writing a book on beer. I was fortunate enough to obtain a publishing contract in the spring of 2006 and Brewing Battles was published in December 2007.
I believe persistence was the key to my achieving this long held goal.
And to achieve anything you probably have to have a passion for the endeavor.
Algora Publishing (who published Brewing Battles) is a very small press, providing very little marketing support for my book. So I have had to market the book myself. Luckily, I had the experience from once running my business Academic Publicity to fall back on. However, in the 15 intervening years since I ended the business, publicizing and marketing books changed completely.
I have marketed the book in both traditional and new ways.
I sent out advance copies to various academic and trade journals, hosted a book party, and have given book talks. Of course, almost all of my correspondence and press releases have been via email (…haven’t done any direct mailings). And many blogs also received my press release about Brewing Battles, in addition to traditional print media.
Learning curves and achieving mastery on the blogosphere
The blogosphere represents the most significant change from the world of book marketing 20 years ago. Setting up my own blog was definitely a challenge with several false starts. Every new task I have attempted has come with a new learning curve and a deep sense of accomplishment when I achieve mastery.
Persistence is key here as well.
Finding the answer to “Am I a woman in business?”
So in answer to my original question, I am a writer and that means I am in business for myself. My varied life experiences have taught me that everything in life is about marketing, marketing yourself. Not in a conceited or self-absorbed way but in the sense that…
You have to put yourself forward and promote yourself in the same way that businesses do.
Beer Books on Amazon
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Right now, 12: 55 p.m. on Saturday January 10, 2009, the hardcover version of Brewing Battles is number 87 in Amazon’s list of “The most popular items in Beer. Updated hourly.” Yesterday the paperback was 84 and the hardcover 100.
The rankings really do change by the hour so it could all be different by 2 p.m. I have always intended to write at least one blog about Amazon and I have been trying for a while to catch a moment when at least one of the versions of the book was on the list so I could write about the contents of the list rather than its meaning and value .
Number One right now is How to Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Right the First Time by John Palmer. Of the nine other books in the top ten, eight are about home brewing, including Charles Papazian’s classic, The Joy of Homebrewing which is number 3. Number 5 is The Alaskan Bootlegger’s Bible which, according to Amazon, tells the reader “how to make beer, wine, liqueurs, cider and moonshine whiskey.” Home distilling is illegal in the United States.
In my recent AHA talk, I discussed the fact that scholarly work on alcohol and temperance has been more weighted towards temperance than the industry. The reverse is true for popular literature as the Amazon list indicates.
Number 10 on the list is Charles Bamforth, Grape Versus Grain: A Historical, Technological and Social Comparison of Beer and Wine. Bamforth is the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Brewing Science at the University of California, Davis.
The next fifteen follow the same general path, being either about some aspect of brewing geared toward the home brewer, or about beer styles and types of beer. Number 18 , Stan Hieronymous, tells you how to Brew Like a Monk while number 23 is the late Michael Jackson’s opinion on the best beer in the world, Ultimate Beer. Charlie Papazian makes another appearance with the same book at 24 ( one of the many peculiarities of Amazon’s list – for another post).Shine on Shiner Beer rounds out the top twenty-five and commemorates the 100 year history of the Texas brewery.
Numbers 25 to 50 cover more brewing how-tos, a book on beer drinking games, a beer memoir by Steve Hindy, Beer School:Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery, Brewing For Dummies, another book by Michael Jackson as well as another by Charles Papazian. Numebr 36 New Jersey Breweries by Lew Bryson, is a guide book; the first history on the list is number 49, Maureren Ogle, Ambitious Brew, the hardcover.
Numbers 51 -75 include books on wine, sake, and root beer as well as another book by Charles Bamforth. Number 72 is Maureen Ogle in paperback ( that peculiarity again)
Okay I have been writing this for forty-five minutes . Let’s see if Brewing Battle’s is still on the list. I am but at 89. Number 77 is Gregg Smith, Beer in America: The Early years 1587-1840 which is a good , popular history of the pre-German American brewing industry. The rest of the groups is more of the same with beer drinking games, sake, Michael Jackson, The Big Book O’ Beer which is shaped like a beer can, and several cookbooks. Number86 is Ken Wells, Travels with Barley,a journalistic endeavor. The final book, number 100 is Bill Yenne, Beers of the World. Yenne has written several books on beer.
Even though the list changes every hours and did so while I have been writing, the actual content of the list does not vary very much. You can pretty much count on Jackson and Papazian as well as a few others; then books on home brewing and beer styles with a very small smattering of more serous works.
It would have been surprising to find an anti-alcohol work on this list, but having examined the beer list, I think I will try to find a similar list for health, temperance, prohibition or the like and see what that holds.
