4.5 Stars

I've been fascinated with wildcrafting ever since I saw the movie Where the Lilies Bloom when I was about thirteen. I promptly inhaled the book by Bill and Vera Cleaver (I still have the 1974 release) and embarked on an interesting summer stay at my aunt's house in Burnsville, North Carolina, trying things like sodas made with Queen Anne's Lace (aka wild carrot) flowers and baked goods made with wild carrot seeds at the farmer's market. It was a short hop to my wild berries obsession. So I hesitated over whether or not to try this Net Galley offering because, having celiac disease, I feared the disappointment of seeing a whole bunch of gluten-based brewing recipes that would leave me disappointed. Boy, was I wrong! This book is a treasure trove for the alternative beer and winemaker. As a treatise just on growing wild yeasts it's a thrill. And to top it all off, this book is truly beautiful to look at.

This book may not be something an urban dweller will find easy to work with (although if you have a good farmers market there are plenty of workarounds). My only hesitation about recommending it is that, like a real wildcrafter, you had better be very sure about what you're picking and fermenting. The whole debate about thujones in wolfsbane aside, there are a lot of mildly to very poisonous things out there, from pokeweed to bittersweet to yew-berry to holly. Some are well known to be poisonous and some are lesser known. For city-raised brewers, having a guidebook or other resource to the plants and fruits you're planning to use is vital. Likewise, as Baudar points out, using these recipes if you're pregnant would not be wise.

With those caveats out of the way, this is a beautiful book that is going to be purchased for my New Hampshire kitchen. One of these days I'll hope to post photos of my version of the Mountain Raspberry/Blueberry soda!

This has a lot of great information, as well as full color photographs and easy to follow recipes. I will be getting a copy for my husband for Christmas! It's not just about home brew, though...it also has many great projects for the kids to work on, too.