Beer Ghosts
In Search of Lost Hops and the Women Who Grew Them
Will be published approx. on 20. October 2026
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-226-85164-8 (ISBN)
Description
The little-known story of the young women who played a vital role in the rise of America's great breweries.
Water, malt, yeast, and hops: these are essential ingredients of beer. Hops, specifically, play an outsized role in determining its flavor and aroma. In Beer Ghosts, Jennifer Jordan takes us back to a brief but pivotal moment in the nineteenth century when Wisconsin produced much of the hops grown in the United States. Yet those long-ago hops are not the only ghosts in Jordan's story. Haunting the pages of this book are the young women whose work at harvest time was key to the rise of the American beer industry.
Until the early twentieth century, the work of picking hops was a time-consuming process that could only be done by hand, one cone at a time. In nineteenth-century Wisconsin, that work was performed almost exclusively by women and girls, who traveled to hop farms in droves as summer came to a close and the harvest began. At the height of the hop boom in the 1860s, farmers and their families laid out beds and prepared food for tens of thousands of seasonal laborers, and hosted parties and dances well into the night. Despite the scale of Wisconsin's hop boom (and subsequent crash), the industry left behind little trace aside from local records and archives. And it is that barely discernible trace that lures Jordan to dig deeper.
Jordan's vivid prose takes us back to this era by drawing on a rich trove of archival sources, from the thousands of hop farmers in the agricultural census to the extraordinary diary of a single hop picker, a young woman named Ella. The history of beer is incomplete without the history of Ella and the others who labored in the hop fields and in the houses that hosted them. In this book, Jordan gives life and voice to these beer ghosts who call to us from the past, showing the rich connections between a nation's beer and the lives that made it possible.
Water, malt, yeast, and hops: these are essential ingredients of beer. Hops, specifically, play an outsized role in determining its flavor and aroma. In Beer Ghosts, Jennifer Jordan takes us back to a brief but pivotal moment in the nineteenth century when Wisconsin produced much of the hops grown in the United States. Yet those long-ago hops are not the only ghosts in Jordan's story. Haunting the pages of this book are the young women whose work at harvest time was key to the rise of the American beer industry.
Until the early twentieth century, the work of picking hops was a time-consuming process that could only be done by hand, one cone at a time. In nineteenth-century Wisconsin, that work was performed almost exclusively by women and girls, who traveled to hop farms in droves as summer came to a close and the harvest began. At the height of the hop boom in the 1860s, farmers and their families laid out beds and prepared food for tens of thousands of seasonal laborers, and hosted parties and dances well into the night. Despite the scale of Wisconsin's hop boom (and subsequent crash), the industry left behind little trace aside from local records and archives. And it is that barely discernible trace that lures Jordan to dig deeper.
Jordan's vivid prose takes us back to this era by drawing on a rich trove of archival sources, from the thousands of hop farmers in the agricultural census to the extraordinary diary of a single hop picker, a young woman named Ella. The history of beer is incomplete without the history of Ella and the others who labored in the hop fields and in the houses that hosted them. In this book, Jordan gives life and voice to these beer ghosts who call to us from the past, showing the rich connections between a nation's beer and the lives that made it possible.
Reviews / Votes
"There is an incredible amount of totally new information in this book, even for those of us who know the history of how quickly hops came and went in Wisconsin. However, it will sit on the easy-to-reach section of my hops bookshelf because of what we learn about the lives of the farmers who cultivated the hops and the laborers who picked them. Somehow, Jennifer Jordan convinced ghosts to share their secrets." -- Stan Hieronymus, author of Brewing Local "In Beer Ghosts, Jennifer Jordan invites the reader to view the complex multinational brewing industry through the door of a simple 19th-century Wisconsin farmhouse. The work of thousands of young women who picked hops in Wisconsin and the farm families who hosted them was an essential step without which the refreshing beers of Milwaukee and beyond would not have been possible. Digging deep into diaries, census records, and newspaper accounts, Jordan's creative research and engaging writing tell a very personal local story in a fascinating global context. I'll never look at a glass of beer in quite the same way again!" -- Doug Hoverson, author of The Drink That Made Wisconsin Famous: Beer and Brewing in the Badger State "From Beer Ghost's opening pages, Jordan draws readers into the remarkable and unknown life of Ella Seymour. Ella emerges as a representative of a broader, forgotten cohort of skilled women laborers. Through their stories, Jordan restores visibility to the women who powered agricultural production, industrial growth, and the everyday economies behind brewing culture. They emerge as the true protagonists of the 19th-century American beer story. With meticulous research, she reconstructs a world in which women take center stage, ensuring they are no longer absent from history but are recognized for the essential roles they played." -- Liz Garibay, Executive Director, Beer Culture Center "I was floored by this impeccably researched book full of untold history, captivating multi-generational stories, unsurpassed hops knowledge, and true accounts of the humble women and families who laid the foundation for a multi-billion dollar industry. With a scholar's mind and a storyteller's eye, Jordan has crafted a chronicle of America's favorite beverage for the ages, and one that's indispensable for beer lovers anywhere." -- J. Ryan Stradal, author of The Lager Queen of MinnesotaMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Illustrations
17 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-85164-8 (9780226851648)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jennifer A. Jordan is professor of sociology, urban studies, and history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the author of Structures of Memory: Understanding Urban Change in Berlin and Beyond and Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes and other Forgotten Foods, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press. She lives in Milwaukee, where she and her husband grow hops in their backyard.
Content
Prologue: The Spirit of Ella
Part One: Groundwork
Chapter 1: Scow and Schooner: From New York to Wisconsin
Chapter 2: Axe and Cradle: Breaking the Land and Making Ella
Part Two: Lost Hops and Lager Beer
Chapter 3: Hops on the Rise in the 1850s
Chapter 4: "The Wild Grass of the Marshes Has Changed": Hops on the Move 1861-66
Chapter 5: "Thirty Regiments in Calico": The Women of the Hop Boom
Part Three: Death Knell
Chapter 6: "The Great Avenue for Losing Money": 1868
Chapter 7: Even Out and Fade Away: 1869 and Beyond
Chapter 8: Death and Rebirth in the Wisconsin Countryside
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Part One: Groundwork
Chapter 1: Scow and Schooner: From New York to Wisconsin
Chapter 2: Axe and Cradle: Breaking the Land and Making Ella
Part Two: Lost Hops and Lager Beer
Chapter 3: Hops on the Rise in the 1850s
Chapter 4: "The Wild Grass of the Marshes Has Changed": Hops on the Move 1861-66
Chapter 5: "Thirty Regiments in Calico": The Women of the Hop Boom
Part Three: Death Knell
Chapter 6: "The Great Avenue for Losing Money": 1868
Chapter 7: Even Out and Fade Away: 1869 and Beyond
Chapter 8: Death and Rebirth in the Wisconsin Countryside
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index