I don’t like to promote or, frankly, even mention a book until I’ve read it but I’m making an exception for Amber, Gold and Black by Martyn Cornell.

Amber is about British beer styles. It looks at their history, development and current state of being. It is the book that I’ve been wishing existed for quite some time. Currently it’s available as an ebook and can be downloaded for £5 (around $10) at thecornerpub.co.uk.

I haven’t had a chance to get started on my copy yet as I’m working three other books for review but I’m confident in recommending it because of Cornell’s previous work. He wrote Beer – The Story of the Pint a few years ago which expertly examines the history of British beer. If you can track down a copy of this book you probably ought to pick it up, too. It is one of those rare beer books that relies on things like original sources and proper research instead of repeating stories that have been passed down and distorted over time. Cornell is also the proprietor of Zythophile, an excellent beer blog.

Here in the US the drinking age is 21. This requires young adults to wait until they are quite a bit older than people in other countries before they can legally consume alcohol. Being well beyond 21 myself and having no kids this isn’t something that I spend a lot of time worried about.

But there is a group that is keenly interested in trying to get the law changed. The organization is called Choosing Responsibility. They seek an “informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture” with a particular focus on the drinking age limit. The logic goes that if we allow adults at the age of 18 to vote, serve in the military and serve on juries why can’t we let them have a beer?

Makes sense to me.

Another group, related to Choosing Responsibility, recently formed. The Amethyst Initiative has the same goals but its membership is restricted to college and university presidents and chancellors. From their website:

It’s time to rethink the drinking age.
In 1984 Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10% of a state's federal highway appropriation on any state setting its drinking age lower than 21.
Twenty-four years later, our experience as college and university presidents convinces us that twenty-one is not working.
A culture of dangerous, clandestine “binge-drinking”—often conducted off-campus—has developed.
Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students.

Should this turn into a national debate let’s hope that heads remain cool, if that’s possible. There are real issues here that require dispassionate discussion.

What do you think? Check out the drinking age poll of at About's Cocktails site.

Whenever I head out of town one of the first things I do is look for the local sources of beer. Brewpubs take first priority then good beer bars with a wide selection then beer stores where I might find a brew I’ve yet to try.

My favorite website for this purpose is the BeerMappingProject.com. Using Google maps, the project neatly pinpoints most of the local beer spots and often, at least in the US, includes user reviews to check out. However it just doesn’t seem to have caught on outside of the US – far fewer locations have been identified and even fewer reviews have been posted.

If you’re in England and looking for a good pint you should check out We Love Local. This site covers all businesses but its users seem to have an affinity for pubs so there are lots of good reviews for the best beery spots all over England, Wales and Scotland.

There’s something about beer that gets inventors’ wheels turning. Here are a few beer products that have appeared in my inbox or at my front door recently.

• The money clip/bottle opener – This money clip has a notch on the hinge end that’s pretty handy for popping the top on a beer bottle. They can be personalized.
• Crystal beer glassware – When was the last time you drank beer from a really nice glass? Chunky pint glasses are often considered good enough for beer. Not so according to the folks at Spiegelau. They produce fine crystal beer glasses that bring beer enjoyment to a new level.
• Poolside beer pong table – This is an inflatable beerpong “table.” There really isn’t much more to say about this product than that!