The Real Ale Pub Guide 2011
Posted on 20. Oct, 2010 by Robert Gale in Books
How the Book is Compiled
The book is edited by Nicholas Andrews ‘with the Real Ale Research Team’. It doesnt’ elaborate on who the Real Ale Research Team is but my guess is that the entries are compiled from reviews that people post or email to the publishers.
The entries are short and succinct and provide information about the names and number of ales likely to be found at the pub, a brief history and description of the pub, the opening hours and general information such as location, opening hours and whether food is available. Compared to the Good Beer Guide and Good Pub Guide, this guide focusses a lot more on trying to provide as much information as possible about the beer likely to be available at each pub.
The entries are arranged alphabetically by county and each county section begins with details of breweries, micro-breweries and brewpubs located in the area along with some of the beers they brew. London pubs are usefully sorted into post code area (e.g. EC1, EC2, EC3, etc) and as there are so many pubs in the capital, only the most consistently recommended pubs are listed.
Comparison with Other Guides
The Good Beer Guide, the Good Pub Guide and the Real Ale Pub Guide are three of the main books listing pubs in the UK. Each book has it’s own plus points and the Real Ale Pub Guide excels at listing beers likely to be available in each pub. It’s entries are as detailed as the other guides but it’s not as easy to read as the Good Beer Guide and it would be useful to include symbols with each entry to make it easy to find pubs, for example, that are close to a railway station.
Purchase the Book
The book is published by Foulsham and costs £14.99. You can get the book cheaper from the usual places including Amazon and The Book Depository.
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