Teachings from the Tap:
Life Lessons from our Year in Beer
by Merideth Canham-Nelson

Available Spring 2012!

After nearly 20 years of visiting breweries as a hobby, Merideth Canham-Nelson and her husband Chris embarked on their most ambitious adventure yet: a year-long journey discovering the world through beer culture. Aiming to fulfill their fantasy of becoming professional beer travelers, the couple spent a year visiting a major beer event or destination each month. What started out as a lofty escapade turned into a year of Canham-Nelson’s self-discovery, conquering insecurities and coming into her own.

Narrated in the first person by Canham-Nelson, Teachings from the Tap explores one or more journeys each month and pairs those beer travel tales with a corresponding life lesson. The result is a detailed account with one-of-a-kind stories that cover the range of emotions created by interesting encounters and new experiences.

The adventure begins in January, at the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival in Anchorage, where Merideth and her husband encounter a warm and embracing craft beer community. Through unexpected connections with the locals, Merideth discovers the magic of following her heart. The following months take the couple to places such as Boston (March), where they drink Guinness with a group of Canadians who drove all night in a quest to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Boston’s most famous Irish bar; London (August), which includes a challenging volunteer shift serving beer at the Great British Beer Festival; and Munich (September), where Merideth screams her way through a carnival ride at Oktoberfest.

Teachings from the Tap shares life lessons Merideth learns, such as “Everything deserves a second chance,” “Drink outside the box,” and “Dare to take the road less (tourist) traveled,” discovered during trips to Seattle, Ireland, and Germany. The book concludes in December with a tour around Belgium, where the couple drink world-class beer at a punk band’s after-show party, attempt to visit all seven Trappist breweries, and attend a beer festival in a small town’s community gymnasium. It’s in that final trip that the biggest life lesson of all is learned, “Never say never,” providing a most poetic conclusion to the year of a lifetime.

About the Author

Merideth Canham-Nelson is one of the most experienced female beer travelers in the country. For nearly two decades, Merideth and her husband Chris have traveled the world together looking for the next great beer experience. Merideth has visited over 670 different breweries throughout the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia.

Merideth’s beer adventures have been featured in print articles, including the Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle and the alternative travel website gonomad.com. Radio interviews have aired in cities such as Phoenix, Greensboro, Milwaukee, Seattle and Cambridge, Ontario in Canada. She is well received by audiences for her casual approach to beer and is known for the catch-phrase “It’s good!” to describe a beer to her liking. As a female in the predominantly male world of craft beer, Merideth proudly calls herself a “girl beer geek.”

The beer exploits of Merideth and her husband are chronicled through travelogues and videos on the website thebeergeek.com, which boasts both a national and international following.

Merideth lives in Carmel Valley, California with her husband, Chris and their two daschunds, Porter and Stout.