A tale of two magazines

A couple of days ago I was all set to write a post about what I thought was a pretty good magazine on beer, Draft. Of course some bloggers have pointed out that this isn't all that good of a magazine and sure it has its short comings, but I thought it was pretty good. My attitude changed this past weekend when my eyes caught hold of the newly renovated All About Beer Magazine. Now most beer aficionados know of this magazine, however, it was the first time I have seen it in my area. Having heard so much about it, I picked it up and couldn't be happier.
Here are just a few of the things I liked about it:

• The in depth articles were very informative and well written. The article on the history of IPA, while not covering a whole lot of new ground it was still a good article that would give a new comer a greater understanding of what has become an American Craft brewer's standard. The other was the article on the Publican. The intent of the story was celebrating Washington D.C.'s Brickseller, a taphouse that has been around for 50 years. However the article spread to many more taphouses around the country including the local favorite Gingerman's and Flying Saucer.
• A great guide to Beer Books. Covering everything from beer history to beer memorabilia, this was a great guide for book lovers.
• The tastings were very informative broken down into two distinct formats. The first is the traditional ratings of beer, the theme this month being Continental Ales, the second is called "Beer talk" and is a panel of beer experts each extolling on a specific selection of beers. The panel included such luminaries as Michael Jackson and Garret Oliver, among others.
  

All in all, I felt this was an incredibly easy read, good interviews with brewers and a fun look at news bits. They ave a great selection of writers, from Rick Lyke to Charlie Papazian and many others.
My nits are minor and consistent with my gripes for other magazines. The Activity Calendar is already out of date by the time the magazine comes to print. If magazines are going to put these things out, they need to do a better job of making them relevant. This magazine has now become a monthly pick up for me as its one of the few beer mag's that I have access to down in Houston. Unfortunately no Beer Advocate. I am thinking of writing another post on why Draft is no longer my favorite, maybe later this week.