New beer guide for Southern California
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Just what we’ve been needing: a detailed, up-to-date guide to the craft beer scene in Southern California. Or, as ‘The Beer Guppy’s Guide to Southern California’ describes itself, a ‘regional travel guide for the beer enthusiast.’
Burbank-based author Jay Sheveck earns his nom de cerveza, the Beer Guppy -- he really seems to swim in beer. He’s been chronicling the craft beer explosion since the early ‘90s, and he spent five years researching this guide. It lists 300 breweries, brewpubs and serious beer bars and liquor stores between Fresno and the Mexican border, plus southern Nevada, together with the product range, address, phone number, website, hours and a brief characterization of each. Icons show whether a brewery gives tours (with or without samples), whether a pub or tasting room has a beer garden, TVs, live music and pizza, and which places sell bottles and which sell kegs or growlers.
Sheveck celebrates home brew too, listing suppliers and clubs. There are even three pages of beer events, from the Cambria Chili Cook-Off, Car Show and Beer Tasting to the Tijuana International Beer Festival.
The 98-page magazine-format guide, which sells for $9.95, is as up-to-date as can be: Though it was published in June, it includes a couple of places that opened in May -- pretty fast turnaround for a reference work. It’s on sale at www.beerguppy.com, Culver City Home Brewing Supply, the Draft Beer Store in Northridge, Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, the Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills, the Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel and, for some reason, the Holiday Inn in Burbank. It’s also available on Amazon.
-- Charles Perry