A new book that unwraps the culture and business of brewing and opens a window into the heart of beer and the brewmaster has been served up by brewing scientist Charles Bamforth of the University of California, Davis.

Bamforth, dubbed the “brewmaster general” in Playboy magazine’s recent “Roll Call” of the nation’s most intriguing college professors, is the author of the recently released book “Beer Is Proof God Loves Us: Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing.” The 250-page, hardcover volume is published by FT Press.

Bamforth will present a public lecture about the new book and a book signing from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, at UC Davis. The event will be held in the Silverado Vineyards Sensory Theater of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, with tickets costing $35 for the general public or $20 for Friends of the Robert Mondavi Institute and UC Davis faculty, staff and students.

Registration is available online at http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=5714 or by contacting Kim Bannister at the Robert Mondavi Institute at