Thursday, July 14, 2011
The New Beer Drinker's Guide is HereActually, that headline is about a month overdue. But piles kind of built up on my desk over those 5-1/2 months when I didn't post (which will be explained in the next week). And when I started rifling through them recently, I noticed some news blurbs were overdue. Like, um, this one.
If you're not familiar with the Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado, it is one of the finest resources for pub crawlers in this state. You've probably noticed them in breweries across Colorado, whether for sale or on display on the wall. A fold-out map lists 142 separate breweries across the Centennial State, from legends to little guys to all six free-standing Rock Bottoms.
But map author Mike Laur gives you more. There's listings on the back of beer bars, historic saloons, 14ers and parks. Laur explains basic beer characteristics and proper glassware. And he even throws in coupons to about two dozen breweries.
If anything, the brewery list may be too extensive for the average drinker. Laur includes both meaderies (which make a beer-like substance but not quite beer) and extract breweries (which make a substance that can only be referred to as "beer") next to the Great Divides and Odells of the world. In one of my favorite twists, though, he also includes breweries that are set to open soon but haven't quite cracked their doors, giving hard-care beer geeks things to watch for in the coming months.
All this is to say, in case you couldn't tell, that this fifth edition of the map (suggested retail: $14.95) continues to be a great product, and one that adds to the culture of beer fanaticism in this state. That Laur does it as a side business (he's also a Colorado Springs videographer) is testament to his love of the beverage.
Now, if only there were a book that true beer geeks could by along with his map to tell the stories of these places across the state .... But, as I mentioned earlier, just wait a couple of days and that too will be fully explained.
Cheers.
Labels: Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado
