Cask Strength
The Story of the Barrel, the Secret Ingredient in Your Drink

I’m being generous with my rating here - this is inoffensive spirits/travel writing centered around barrels, which is a pretty interesting if niche subject. A lot of it is written in a very “press release” or interview style, where the author asks a question and then follows it with a very long quot......more

Cask Strength by Mike Gerrard explores the past, present, and future of a quiet but mighty contributor to the crafting of wine, beer, and spirits: the humble barrel. The first few chapters unfold with fascinating tidbits about barrel-making: which trees make the best wood for barrels, how coopers pi......more

Solid Look At History, Current Uses, and Future Of The Barrel. At just 240 pages or so - and just 14% or so of that bibliography, which is where the single star deduction comes in - this is far from a truly in-depth look at the topic. But as kind of a "Barrel 101", this book really works. The majori......more

This book dives into all facets of the barrel. It talks a little about the history and making of the barrel but then focuses a lot on how barrels are used across various spirits and new to me - hot sauce! I like niche historíes and learned a lot here. However, I feel like it could have been organize......more