What’s Brewing and Beer Magazine

The new Beer magazine from Camra is gorgeous. Full of lovingly-crafted articles, newsy features, taste tests and columns it is a delight to read from start to finish.

Highlights include a feature by acclaimed author Sebastian Faulks on England’s pub signs, Camra’s ‘perfect’ 10 pubs (including the wonderful Roscoe Head in Liverpool), and a booze up at Stonch’s gaff.

There’s also a new spirit to the writing, a more celebratory and sensual feel. The only problem with this quarterly publication will be its frequency – this magazine deserves to be bi-monthly at least.

Sad to say I was not impressed, however, by the new What’s Brewing, which has been transformed from a rough and ready paper into something resembling a Lib-Dem newsletter.

Huge type that’s leaded to feck, tiny features that go nowhere, reduced pagination, fewer readers letters, less humour and still the tiny crossword and the woefully unfunny Keg Buster cartoon.

It looks like it was knocked up by a graphic-design student rather than crafted by a grey cardigan.