The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture, Yesterday & Today

Editorial Reviews

“An excellent resource for understanding the crucial task of rebuilding Catholic culture with our families. At a time when the prevailing culture promotes excess as the road to happiness, this valuable book helps cultivate a moderate enjoyment of God’s gifts—beer included!”—MOST REVEREND SAMUEL J. AQUILA, Archbishop of Denver

“Before there were cocktails, there was beer—a perfect illustration of Christianity’s capacity to baptize the best of what is human. Invented by those heathen Babylonians, beer was taken up and perfected in the medieval monasteries, parishes, and homes of Europe, and continues to form a healthy part of Catholic culture around the world. Jared Staudt’s Beer Option brings out these basic truths, and more, showing us—with effervescent cheer and orthodox acumen—how beer can continue to be a blessing around the Catholic hearth.”—MICHAEL P. FOLEY, author of Drinking with the Saints

“When H. G. Wells accused Chesterton and Belloc of placing a ‘boozy halo’ around Catholicism, his backhanded compliment backfired. The truth is that Belloc and Chesterton restored ‘laughter and the love of friends’ to their rightful place at the heart and hearth of Christendom. This being so, it is truly delightful that Jared Staudt offers us The Beer Option. My advice is that we take it as often as prudence and the love of friends dictates. I raise a glass to Dr. Staudt, wishing him all good things that Christendom brings, but especially barley brew!”—JOSEPH PEARCE, Senior Editor at the Augustine Institute

“Everyone seems to be about the business of ‘renewing culture,’ but Jared Staudt shows us how our rich and vibrant traditions can inform and transform us now, and how, in the case of The Beer Option, such a renewal of culture is right under our noses. Exploring the role of monks in rebuilding western culture—in part through beer—this book happily inspires us to join the renewal through our own ora et labora.”—JASON CRAIG, Vice President of Program for Fraternus