The Growler List: 125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die By Rick Lyke Beer drinkers are particular not only about what they drink, but also where they drink. We all have our favorite places to enjoy a cold one. Some are laid back and relaxing. Others are loud and rollicking. Because beer is such a social beverage, our favorite places to sip a brew are often where our friends gather, or a pub where you can make new friends almost from the minute you arrive. All About Beer has been chronicling great watering holes for nearly three decades. In the process our writers have come up with a few favorite places of their own. The following list is an attempt to bring together the 125 best places in the world to have a beer. The Growler List, if you will. With any list of this sort, we fully expect it will cause some debate and even a few arguments. More art than science went into constructing this list, but we can assure you that having a beer at any location on this list is a special experience. We hope your favorite place is on the list. If its not, let us hear about it. After all, we are always in search of the next great place to have a pint. Click here to view the list.         May 2008 edition with feature articles on... The Breweriana Road Show by Dave Gausepohl with Julie Bradford; photographs by Lew Cady Until recent years, most pubs in Ireland provided patrons an opportunity to shop as well as to drink. Whether they do or do not sell burial shrouds or bicycles along with their beer, traditional pubs remain as much a fixture of Irish life as the parish church. FOOD FIGHT: Beer and Wine Square Off Across the Table by Marnie Olds and Sam Calagione It’s not a story of places and water and the discovery of new machines, like the history of European beer. These are New World stories: they’re about the beer, the brewer who made it and the people who liked it. Rolling Out the Barrel-Aged Beers by Alan Moen Why are some brewers experimenting with wooden barrels—containers that most breweries abandoned long ago for sterile stainless steel? Aging beer in wood can create exciting, complex flavors that are worth the extra work, and beer drinkers are taking notice. THE GROWLER LIST: 125 Places to Have a Beer Before You Die by Rick Lyke We all have our favorite places to enjoy a cold one. Some are down the block, and others are across the world. Here are exotic drinking locations, from Anchorage to Zanzibar. Plus... Buyer’s Guide for Beer Lovers - Stouts and Porters • Visiting the Pub • From Behind the Bar • In The Hopper • What's Brewing • New on the Shelves • Pull up a Stool with Brendan Moylan, Marin Brewing Co. and Moylan's Brewery and Restaurant • Beer Talk • Beyond Beer • Homebrewing • Beer Travelers • Stylistically Speaking • Beer Books • Market Place • A Beer Lover's Calendar   Subscribe to All About Beer Magazine and we'll ship you a free DVD, The American Brew, compliments of Here's To Beer. » Read more and watch a video clip

Updated: May 5, 2008 Craft Brew Merger Pyramid Breweries of Seattle, WA, and Magic Hat Brewing of South Burlington, VT (officially known as Magic Hat Brewing Company & Performing Arts Center), have announced plans for the magical member of the two craft breweries to acquire Pyramid. The deal is subject to the negotiation and execution of a definitive merger agreement ... [read more] Pink Boots Society Launched in San Diego Women are still very much a minority in the brewing industry, but Teri Fahrendorf, a well-respected and award-winning brewer, hopes to raise their visibility and numbers. She took the opportunity offered by the annual Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego last month to schedule the first meeting of the Pink Boots Society... [read more] » See all this week's stories in What's Brewing PULL UP A STOOL with Brendan Moylan Read All About Beer Magazine's interview with Brendan Moylan, Marin Brewing Co., Moylan’s Brewing and Restaurant. Click here.