Patrick E. McGovern takes us on a fascinating journey through time to the dawn of brewing when our ancestors might well have made a Palaeo-Brew of fruits, honey, cereals and botanicals. Early beverage-makers must have marvelled at the process of fermentation, their amazement growing as they drank the mind-altering drinks which were to become the medicines, religious symbols and social lubricants of later cultures.

McGovern circles the globe—to China, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Scandinavia, Honduras, Peru and Mexico—interweaving archaeology and science to tell stories of making liquid time capsules. Accompanying homebrew interpretations and matching meal recipes help bring the past alive, as our senses and imaginations travel “Back to the Future”.

Patrick E. McGovern is the scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at University of Pennsylvania Museum and an adjunct professor of anthropology. He and Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, collaborated on the series of Ancient Ales and Spirits.

WW Norton, 2017