About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

In Three Sheets to the Wind Pete Brown sets out to show how various cultures approach beer and beer drinking. He takes the reader through Europe, Australia, America and Asia on this quest. The book is fun and informative.



Pros

• Entertaining read
• Engaging writing style

Cons

• Barely mentioned South America and Africa
• Very little said about the beer itself - styles, flavor, etc.

Description

• Fun book about beer and culture

• Written in a wry and witty style
• As informative as it is fun to read

Guide Review - Three Sheets to the Wind by Pete Brown

The subtitle of Three Sheets to the Wind by Pete Brown, "One man's quest for the meaning of beer," best describes it. Simply put, this is a chronicle of Brown's world wide pub crawl that took him from London to the Czech Republic then Spain, Belgium, Ireland, the U.S., Australia, Japan, China, Munich during Oktoberfest, Norway, and Sweden. He shares fascinating information about the culture and business of beer as well as engaging observations about the people that he encounters along the way.

Three Sheets is more than a travel book. Brown has found a wonderful way to look at the world. When seen, as he puts it, through the lens of beer one can learn a lot. This has nothing to do with beer goggles. Beer represents leisure time almost more than anything else and universally provides a sense of casualness that can make quick friends of strangers. By traveling the world and simply asking, "Why beer?" Brown gains valuable insight into other people and places.

But this is neither a book about international relations nor Let's Go: Beer. It is about Brown's journey more than anything else. While reading it I get the feeling that this is exactly the way that he would tell his story over a pint. Brown's casual and wry style makes this a very engaging and often funny read. I found myself laughing out loud more than once.

I'd recommend Three Sheets to anyone that loves travel, beer or both.