Good Beer on America's West Coast
CAMRA'S Guide to the Breweries, Brewpubs, and Bars of West Coast USA
Find good beer across America's west coast: the best bars, breweries, and brewpubs in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide to West Coast USA, also with Las Vegas, Hawaii and Alaska.
The new Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA from CAMRA Books covers over 500 of the best brewpubs, breweries, and bars throughout the states of California, Washington, and Oregon, and also includes Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Alaska too. It was obviously a tough job, but someone had to do it, and the two hard-working authors were expert beer writers Tom Sandham and Ben McFarland. McFarland writes on drink for many British newspapers and magazines, and has twice been named the Beer Writer of the Year in the UK.
So what do these two British-based writers have to say about the beer across America... or at least the west coast? Well they obviously loved it, if their enthusiastic prose is anything to go by. It's an excellent book, and the authors make good traveling – and drinking – companions. The guide reads as if they did indeed visit and drink in every establishment they write about, which isn't always the case with guidebooks.
The Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA is something of a guidebook too, and not only a guide to the best places to drink beer. There are sections on how to get to the various destinations, accommodation, climate, traveling around, and introductions to each place which briefly mention some of the attractions. But the travel information is obviously light when compared to a real destination guide, like a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide.
When the attention turns to good beer, however, the Good Beer Guide really delivers. There are essays on the history of American beer, and on the brewing scene in each destination. There's an explanation of American beer styles, on pairing beer with food, and on cooking with beer. There are lots of maps and color photos, and the entry on each bar, brewery or brewpub carries full contact information, opening hours, and a website if there is one.
Some of the major breweries and brewpubs get lengthy entries of two pages and even more, while the rest of the places featured also get detailed reviews, usually three or four to a page. They cover the people behind the bars and the breweries, not just the decor and the ales and food. This makes it a very readable book, and the longer reviews are more like magazine features – very enjoyable.
CAMRA
CAMRA is a British-based organisation, the Campaign for Real Ale. Founded in 1971, it now has almost 90,000 members, and as well as being a campaigning organisation, it also has a healthy publishing arm. As well as the annual Good Beer Guide to Britain, there are also Good Beer Guides to Belgium, Germany, and to Prague and the Czech Republic. It says a lot for beer across America that CAMRA has now turned its attention to the USA, and to the West Coast of the USA in particular.
The Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA by Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham is published by CAMRA Books at $27.95 in the USA and £14.99 in the UK. More details from the CAMRA website.
