Open, pore and pour
Nov 28 2008 by Alastair Gilmour, The Journal
NOT many of us can solve an anagram such as Fatlagrad Smorpundet. Even fewer would relish a Gumballhead association. But they’re beers, so the next best thing to do is read up on them and prepare for when you cross their paths in Sweden or the US.
Beer books are for contemplation, information and excitation. Reach into their pages and drool.
The Good Beer Guide West Coast USA by Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham (Camra Books, £14.99).
The pair of journalists call themselves “two clueless, booze-addled limey buffoons” but this is no wide-eyed innocents’ look at the American beer scene.
They may take a self-deprecating approach but it doesn’t disguise their vast knowledge, their ability to absorb different cultures and the time-consuming legwork which illuminates its 300-plus pages.
This is a travel, beer, food and cultural experience you can enjoy without leaving home as its highly readable descriptions of beers, breweries, pubs and people are written in an easy style that manages to stay on the “ish” side of “laddish”.
There is far more to American beer culture than Bud and Miller Lite; the craft brewing industry has developed enormously over the past 25 years and with experimentation top of the list the rest of the world benefits from an obsession with doing everything bigger and better than anybody else.
They write: “Like a bikini-clad babe chasing Benny Hill, Americans have adopted the neglected English beer style Porter as their own.” I can hear the music.
Ben and Tom discover that Las Vegas is a beer oasis, not what you’d expect in a city where you can get married for $99 in a Star Trek costume. They describe beer in Alaska, report on Hawaii and tell all from South California; they discover The Great American Dream is fully awake to enterprise and innovation. And it’s there to be enjoyed, even without leaving home.
50 Favourite Northumbrian Pubs by Stewart Bonney (£5.95).
Many guide books fail in one respect; they’re too bulky to slip into your pocket. But it’s the handy format of this publication that is its unique selling proposition. So, we ask the question: Is that 50 Favourite Northumbrian Pubs in your pocket or is it your wallet that’s bulging?
Stewart Bonney takes us on coastal trips, Tynedale travels and Hadrian’s Wall traverses. His descriptions may be succinct but they reveal just enough to rouse curiosity.
He too puts the hours in, he takes the photographs, writes the copy and delivers the goods.
“I probably went to about 150 pubs in total then started to whittle it down to include rock-solid definites,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be ‘the 50 best pubs’, though some are personal favourites.”
The idea started a year ago but as Stewart covers the region on behalf of The Northumbrian magazine which he has published for more than 30 years, it’s safe to say it’s been a long time gestating.
“So far it’s doing very well,” he says. “I’ve sold about half the print run in three months – all in small shops, tourist centres and the pubs themselves. It’s not a real ale guide but I was looking for pubs with character and flair or ones serving excellent food – and some that don’t have food at all.”
Should we be worried, however, at the high percentage of Northumbrian pubs we have visited to swap filthy lucre for an hour of their time? Not at all; the likes of The Plough at Allerdean, The Olde Ship at Seahouses and the Dipton Mill Inn are for seeking out, sneaking in and idling. Rock-solid definite.
The Beer Book: Your Drinking Companion To Over 1,700 Beers (Dorling Kindersley, £16.99).
Just as encyclopaedias and dictionaries are updated regularly, The Beer Book sweeps up and polishes the old, it introduces the new and reassures the world that the status quo is maintained before someone has taken the opportunity to swirl it around energetically and ensure that changes for the better have not been overlooked. It’s a work of enormous diligence, covering every beer-producing nation on Earth.
Sitting among well-researched explorations into key nations are short but informative pieces on flavourings, bottle shapes, glassware, hops and beer styles that feature every product from Aass to Zywiec. The snippets and facts unearthed include: A family member at Japan’s Morita Shuzo brewing business was joint founder of electronics giant Sony and Italian brewer Teo Musso plays music to his yeasts during fermentation.
The Beer Book is a touch large for a stocking-filler, but it’s an invaluable addition to every beer lover’s reference library – in our case, the pile on the bedroom floor. Pick it up, be transported to Refsvindinge or Rudgate, sleep on it, take the trip, buy the beer and swirl energetically.
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