January Magazine Wrap Up

On a recent trip to the World’s Biggest Bookstore, I noticed the abundance of beer magazines now filling the shelves. Back in October Alan over at A Good Beer Blog posted a similar story where he reviewed the contents of each mag, which generated a lot of feedback.

With the recent re-launch of TAPS: Canada’s Beer Magazine there are now six to choose from with content from around the world.

For American stories you can choose either All About Beer, Draft or Beer which are all based out of the US and each are different in their own right. The granddaddy of the US publications, All About Beer, has been my greatest resource while learning about the industry. Good content, classy photos and respectable and reputable contributors continue to uphold the quality of the magazine. The year old Draft continues to release terrific issues. This month’s issue caught my attention s it revolves around beer and food pairings, something I enjoy doing. It also profiles four amazing US gastro pubs. Beer magazine is geared towards a young crowd and is more interested in parties, sports and gadgets then they are with good beer articles. Beer Advocate also releases a great magazine, but it's only available through paid subscription.

Beers of the World is based out of the UK and reports on beer news from – you guessed it, around the world. This issue featured a good article on Toronto (which I have already mentioned last week), the Well’s and Young’s breweries, female Belgian brewers and the history of horses in the beer industry. Beers of the World is a very good magazine for those interested in learning more about beer on the other side of the pond.

There are only two magazines for all of Canada: TAPS and Chill. Chill is a magazine that the Beer Store puts out and is free at certain Beer Store locations or for purchase at select bookstores. The content is terrible and rarely has any relevant beer material; well, other that what Roger Mittag has to say. This issue features stories on Christmas, movies, charitable celebrities and the Toronto Raptors. There are actually no beer stories at all. Touché!

TAPS, as I have mentioned before, was recently re-launched and features good Ontario content with articles on Mill Street, the Canadian Brewing Awards, cooking with Ontario beer and beer event wrap ups. TAPS is a quarterly magazine so the next issue won’t be available until April, but they offer free podcasts if you visit their website.

So there you have it. Six beer magazines available right now with some good quality stories that should keep you preoccupied throughout the chilly month of January. Caution though – you’ll want to consume many beers during your reading period.