| Plot Summary of The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, Volume II |
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"This is not just another sad story of the demise of one great regional and a handful of local breweries. As depressing as the subject matter is, the Chicago battleground provides some interesting contrasts. The author notes that Chicago was the center of "an amber rectangle" running from LaCrosse, Wisconsin down to St. Louis and then over to Detroit and back to Milwaukee. With such a large population of beer drinkers, and in the last few decades of the 20th century at least, with so few local breweries, the Chicago market drew the attention of everybody brewing in the region: Heilemann, Anheuser-Busch, Stroh, and Schlitz, Pabst and Miller. All of these companies, first as individuals, and later as parts of combines, took a whack at the Chicago market.
The central section of the book goes into the history of the big mergers, and several merger attempts, that resulted in the ultimate death of Schlitz, then the old Pabst, then Heileman, then Stroh. The author has done his homework on this one, and he covers in great detail the problems Schlitz had (Schlitz had been the dominant out-of-town beer in Chicago for generations) first in Chicago, and then with itself.
The final part of the book is much more topical for the newer collector, as Skilnik traces the rise and fall of the first two Chicago microbreweries, Pavechevich and the Chicago Brewing Co.
Bad decisions, bad quality, bad advertising, bad management to no management; you name the possible problem, and it was visible in Chicago! Depressing? You bet, but it makes a heck of a good read for a beer fan!
"
Bob Skilnik, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, Volume II |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Kind Of History
Time of history:
- 1990's
- 1980's
- 1970's
Nationality?
- American--General
Economic History?
Yes
Industry
- Big Business
History of food?
Yes
Subjects of this Historical Account
Is the portrayal sympathetic?
- Somewhat unsympathetic
From a certain profession/group?
- businessmen
Intelligence of subject of
history:
- Smart
Main Adversary
From a certain profession/group?
- business executives
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Nationality?
- American
Is the portrayal sympathetic?
- Somewhat Sympathetic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Midwest
Style
How much gore?
- 1 ()
How fast-paced is the book?
- 8 ()
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Book makes you feel...
- frustrated
How much focus on stories of individuals?
- Focuses mostly on history of key players
How much romance?
- 2 ()
Minor characters feature lots of:
- businessmen
Pictures/Illustrations?
- A significant amount
Length of book
- 300-350 pages
How much emphasis on small details?
- 5 ()
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