I got my July issue of BeerAdvocate magazine in the mail today. It marks the conclusion of my first year of subscription and serves as a good reminder to think about what the magazine has accomplished and what it represents from my wee northern perspective. And it gives me something to type about on a summer evening without baseball when I wrenched my back - meaning no beer as the little pills do their work. So, in no particular order:
- I like the tone the Alstroms take even though the index-pinkie salute stuff gets a bit silly. But they take both their beer and the writing quality seriously while being married to no brewer, style or region. The magazine celebrates the omnibibe - which is something we all should support.
- The selection of authors is good but, like other beer magazines, suffers from being a somewhat fixed list. This may just be a reality of how they have to contract with their authors to ensure they have enough quality print and, honestly, is no big whoop. I read Andy Crouch first, followed by Don Russell and then the beer reviews.
- And the Alstroms are polite even with the index-pinkie salute stuff. When a photo of mine ended up in the magazine, they were gracious in response. I was even a bit surprised by the email response to some helpful hints I offered which made the experience quite pleasant, far from what I first expected.
- I am not thrilled with the Canadian price, more than twice the US subscription even with the loonie at parity. Why must this be? Why must I spend two extra six packs of good ale per year compared to you just there over the border?
- Complaints? I find there's too much about beer and food. Not that I don't care but I really don't care that much. For me, beer and food pairing is a far smaller niche than, say, home brewing but gets much more of the coverage. Is it just the pr0n-ability of food photos? I would leave it at Sean Paxton's excellent monthly column. And the news section at the front is too often out of date, given the reality of blogs over-telling the same stories at least a month before.
- Perhaps an odd observation, their selection of advertisers is good, informative, seemingly loyal to the cause and also balanced between all sectors of the industry. Unlike other beer mags, there are not too many - something which may affect their bottom line but actually may be part of the overall plan. I find they add to the total mag experience.
- I wish there was a regular column featuring great pubs, focusing on just one bar a month. The city scene section is fine but its 25 words or less approach to describing a bar is a bit too haiku or classified ad.
- The beer reviews are great. I like how they are fair to a good imported lager and will share disappointment with the odd over-hyped special release. I like how they praise the beer
that rates "B" rather than bemoan how it isn't an "A". Plus, I like the way reviews of two or three by a single brewer are often lumped together to give a sense of their range.
All in all, BeerAdvoca-zine is a strong addition to the global beery discourse. Best issue was the Scandinavian one. It goes some way to replace the lack of a CAMRA in North America. Is it too continental? Actually indicative of nowhere? Maybe the Alstroms needs to consider as it moves ahead somehow spinning off regional versions or local inserts to replicate those fabulous CAMRA branch quarterlies we all crave. I know I have not renewed, in case anyone brings that up, but I likely will soon - you should, too.
So, what is the emoticon for the index-pinkie salute? Maybe: ~!..!
Comments
Bob - July 18, 2008 4:05 pm
I'm only on my second issue of Beeradvocate, but I couldn't agree with you more. \m/
Shawn, the Beer Philosopher - July 18, 2008 5:32 pm
Alan,
Your analysis of BA magazine is spot on, in my opinion. You nailed the ups and the downs very accurately. As a "founding" subscriber, I find the most value in the editorial columns and the reviews as well. Most of the other news and info, as you point out, is generally outdated by the time the magazine is printed - a problem inherent to the medium itself. I'd also like to see a little more regional coverage, especially in the Midwest but I am, admittedly, biased in that regard.
You're a little kinder to the Alstrom bros. than I'm inclined to be. Though I've never met them in person, I have found their communication skills via the website to leave a little something to be desired. Suffice to say, a little more courtesy and humility mixed with a little less "punk ass-itude" would be a welcome development. I could very well be wrong about 'em and they're the nicest guys in the world ... but this is what I've taken away so far.
My two cents.
Alan - July 18, 2008 8:50 pm
Good comments. I suppose that even though I am now 45, look totally Dad, about 50 lbs too heavy, wear golf shirts, fret about home repairs and like to nap, I take solace in the fact that I was 14 in 1977 I bought my punk records when they were first released. I was a small town version of a brainy little punk shit when it was not neato. 31 years later, it all seems a bit Thomas the Tank Engine if you know what I mean and, as such, something of a fond recollection of now past youth so I don't mind that much.
Zack - July 19, 2008 9:52 am
Haven't read one in a bit, but I do remember them having some editing issues. I loved the content, but it always seemed plagued by typos and other errors. They may have cleaned that problem up in the past year though...
Jay - July 19, 2008 2:35 pm
I generally agree with you. I would say, though, that I'm a much bigger fan of the articles about pairing beer and food. And it just can't be/become a magazine about home brewing. That wouldn't be interesting to most of us.
Most of all, the Alstroms need a copy editor! Some of the issues have had a ridiculous number of errors....
Alan - July 19, 2008 2:58 pm
Hey - I only suggested that food pairing and home brewing were at best equivalents, not that it would be BeerYouMakeAdvocate! ;-)
Stonch - July 19, 2008 8:26 pm
On a side note, here in the UK CAMRA are relaunching their print output. Up until now there's been a centre supplement section called "BEER" in the monthly newspaper What's Brewing? That's being spun out into a quarterly glossy magazine with revamped content.
Jim - January 4, 2009 6:33 pm
A little late to the party, but better late than never. Your analysis is exactly how I feel about it. It's a good quality magazine, but I feel like even in their second year, they're still going through the same pains they did in the first. They've figured some things out, but it hasn't evolved much. I'm looking forward to my third year as a subscriber coming up.
As for the food vs homebrewing, they should be equals. We don't need full articles about food in every issue. A simple column would suit it better with maybe a quarterly full article to cover each of the seasons.
I'd also like to see more articles about breweries doing something innovative or something new. My favorite feature was the one about Allagash and their foray into lambics and spontaneous fermentation. It needs more of that.
The news section can stay or go, doesn't matter much to me. I read it, and while at least one of the stories is old news, some of them are interesting, especially when they're local to somewhere and don't get a lot of attention on the blogs.