Local artist Mark Brewer, who has a great name for the creator of the new “Brewology: An Illustrated Dictionary for Beer Lovers,” is holding his book-launch party July 29 at Penn Brewery on the North Side.
The hardback (Skyhorse; June 16, 2015; $16.99) is full of his whimsical, colorful illustrations for beer terms from “alcohol by volume” and “altbier” to “yeast” and “zymurgy.”
The two-page depiction of “alcohol by volume” depicts a rock band jamming with beer-can-shaped drums and amp. But the accompanying text gives, along with the phrase’s correct pronunciation, the real definition of “A measurement used to determine the percentage of alcohol with the beer in terms of volume ... sometimes indicated on the product in the abbreviated form, ABV.”
Many of the artworks are paired with Mr. Brewer’s initial sketches for them, which he says was a relatively last-minute idea of his. “You can kind of see where my mind was going.”
The 44-year-old Connecticut native, who now lives with his family in South Fayette, has done everything from ink Archie comics, to illustrate newspaper stories, to create magazine covers to illustrate other people’s books. The idea for this book sprang from his days as a home brewer some 15 years ago, and the time just seemed right for it now, in part because of the continuing boom in the craft-beer industry.
He has been spending a lot of time at beer venues and events selling and signing books (this week, he’s hitting several breweries in Indiana and in and around Chicago). But Penn Brewery is appropriate for this big local launch, as that’s where he was inspired to pitch himself to breweries. He also drew the logo for this year’s Penn Microbrewers Fest.
The launch party, featuring music by Mark Dignam, runs from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be raffles of several prizes. Mr. Brewer is giving tickets to those who purchase his book.
Get the book and more information, including a calendar of other upcoming signings, at markbrewer.com/brewology.html.
Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@ post-gazette.com and 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.
First Published: July 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
