Proof: The Science of Booze

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,009 ratings

Price: 13.72

Last update: 12-24-2024


About this item

A spirited narrative on the fascinating art and science of alcohol, sure to inspire cocktail party chats on making booze, tasting it, and its effects on our bodies and brains.

Drinking gets a lot more interesting when you know what's actually inside your glass of microbrewed ale, single-malt whisky, or Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. All of them begin with fermentation, where a fungus called yeast binges on sugar molecules and poops out ethanol. Humans have been drinking the results for 10,000 years. Distillation is a 2,000-year-old technology—invented by a woman—that we're still perfecting today. And the molecular codes of alcoholic flavors remain a mystery pursued by scientists with high-tech laboratories and serious funding.

In Proof, Adam Rogers reveals alcohol as a miracle of science, going deep into the pleasures of making and drinking booze—and the effects of the latter. The people who make and sell alcohol may talk about history and tradition, but alcohol production is really powered by physics, molecular biology, organic chemistry, and a bit of metallurgy—and our taste for those products is a melding of psychology and neurobiology.

Proof takes listeners from the whisky-making mecca of the Scottish highlands to the oenology labs at UC Davis, from Kentucky bourbon country to the most sophisticated gene-sequencing labs in the world—and to more than one bar—bringing to life the motley characters and evolving science behind the latest developments in boozy technology.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Ashley Anderson
    5.0 out of 5 stars pathetic semester of human biology
    Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2015
    I’ve never appreciated alcohol. I’m an early 90’s kid and I can count the ‘adult’ beverages I’ve had on one hand. Only a few weeks ago I learned about ‘shotgunning’ beer. Yeah, I’m that person.

    Oddly, Proof was just my kind of book. This was a massive information drop on a subject that I have never truly appreciated, and didn’t know much about. Rogers writes in journalistic style with enough wit and humor that made it both edgy and entertaining. The book made me thirsty, and as I drank, I began to appreciate alcohol. In the beginning of the book, terminology such as ‘amino acids’, ‘ATP, and ‘alleles’ were popping up. I began having flashbacks to my one, pathetic semester of human biology. My interest in organic and biochemistry was sparked. Rogers took me into biology labs, distilleries, and fermentation process labs where the I experienced the process of booze-making for the first time, the basics of ethanol, the role of ‘congeners’ (molecules other than ethanol and water in any drink that gives distillates their flavor), and how the mycology of both environment and storage impart the taste and finer flavor to the end-product.

    Whenever the book seemed to become a bit too dry, Rogers would masterfully become facetious, writing, “Few three-word phrases inspire less confidence than “according to yelp” or “23% of people do not get hangovers (the scientific term for them is “jerks”).” It’s important to remember that Rogers is not a scientist, but instead a journalist interested in science. The book is serious; it just doesn’t take itself too seriously. Rogers impressed me most by projecting the simple way alcohol can and should have a place in life. Most people my age are sots. They have no class. Handling alcohol with style is an instant point of difference the classy have over other drinkers. Rogers makes you want to rise above the “whoever drinks more” competitions, and to become a classy drinker who would never succumb to a thing as trite as peer pressure. I half expected Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart photographs at the end of the book to assist as representative examples.

    In the end, Rogers said it best: “People sometimes think science is about discovery. But the action in science, the fun part of doing it (or reading about it), isn’t answers. It’s questions, the stuff we don’t know. Behind every step of the process that produces fermented beverages and then distills those into spirits, there is deep science, with a lot of researchers trying to figure it all out.”

    I’m still trying to figure it all out. What I do know is that I’ve been impressed. Rogers’ book is a triumph. He has written a fantastic book, and we will have to live with the consequences.
  • D.C. Bull
    4.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating
    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2018
    Proof provides a pretty good overview of the scientific world of booze, albeit with a serious western angle. The chapters read well, and the last word on Hangovers is a joy to read for those of us all too familiar with the subject. I learnt quite a lot from the book, and it introduces some cool people and places too. It would be good to have an updated version that addresses Baiju as a category as the dry fermentation and the highly efficient if somewhat unorthodox distilling process (for those of used used to western distillation) are poorly understood and deserve more attention.

    Altogether a very enjoyable read, and recommended for drink fans looking for a considered glance at the state of the industry today.
  • CGIsackson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interested in Alcohol's History, Chemistry, and Drink Fermentation Processes?
    Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2019
    Interested in Alcohol's History, Chemistry, and Drink Fermentation Processes? Then this book will quickly become a go-to for cocktail information, making you a drinking companions hit conversationalist! It contains the history of drinking, brewing, types of yeasts, types of fermentation processes and much more in a very easy to read the book.

    I bought it as a gift to a fellow who happened to see it at another friend's home and was totally intrigued by it, so I got it for him. I used to distill alcohol and understand what the process entails and I found this book totally well written and worth the time to read (or have it ready for a long plane trip). Please buy this and become an alcohol expert!
  • Jacob
    5.0 out of 5 stars 10/10 Great Read for everyone interested in alcohol information and how stuff happens
    Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022
    I absolutely loved this book, and thought it was very well written and highly informative in the world of alcohol. I was marking up almost every page with cool information and funny tid-bits of information. I loved reading this book, and have recommended it to a handful of friends and family.
  • Peter Henry
    3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but rambling history of booze research.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2016
    While this is touted as a scientific text, it really is far more of a disjointed history of the science of booze. I was totally amused at the end when the writer talks about his editor not wanting a history book, but that he couldn't write what he wanted without historical context. This is an enjoyable romp through alcohol from start to finish, covering many topics - often well intertwined topics. It's organization is sparse, jumping back and forth between subjects sometimes seemingly at random, and it is filled with technical buzzwords. Often the author will have a whole paragraph of synonymous terms for something - not really necessary for a lay text, and while it sounds very CSI sciency, it really doesn't enhance the delivery or information conveyed.

    There is a lot of solid research and interesting material in here. Making it more condensed would have conveyed that information much more clearly, but would probably have upset the people who want page count. There are many anecdotes from personal interviews, some relevant, some not. The author's need to go into descriptions about the interviewee's dog or similar nonsense is sometimes distracting, but sometimes does help to add flavor to the cocktail. A lot of work went into the glossary and index.

    Overall, it's a fun book. It's not a science book. You'll get fun facts for use at your next trivia party, but not really much science out of this.

    I'm really glad I got the low cost Kindle edition. It was well worth $3, but would have been very disappointing at hardcover prices.

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