Beer Places is, most essentially, a road map for craft beer, taking readers to various locales to discover the beverage’s deep connections to place. At another level, Beer Places is an academic analysis of these geographical ties. Collected into sections that address authenticity and revitalization, politics and economics, and collectivity and collaboration, this book blends new research with a series of “postcards”: informal conversations and first-person dispatches from the field that transport readers to the spots where pints are shared, networks forged, and spaces defined.

With insight from social scientists, beer bloggers, travel writers, and food entrepreneurs who recount their experiences of taprooms, breweries, and bottle shops from North Carolina to Zimbabwe, Beer Places reveals differences in the craft beer scene across multiple geographies. Situating craft beer as an emerging and important component of food studies, the essays in this volume attest to the singular power of craft beer to connect people and places.

Daina Cheyenne Harvey is associate professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross. His current projects include a book about the effects of climate change on the future of apple orchards and cider production in New England.

Ellis Jones is associate professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross. Author of The Better World Shopping Guide: Every Dollar Makes a Difference, he studies and teaches about ethical consumerism and corporate sustainability.

Nathaniel G. Chapman is associate professor of sociology at Arkansas Tech University. The coauthor of Beer and Racism: How Beer Became White, Why It Matters, and the Movements to Change It, he writes about cultural production and consumption.