newsgroup: alt.beer

Beer: it's a national pastime, a vice, a Saturday night solace, a problem to be twelve-stepped over and now, it's a newsgroup. If you want to get on either side of the macro vs micro tug of war, then jump into the fray and grab a piece of the rope. Does Budweiser makes you look like a redneck? Are the suds from the hands of Trappist monks supremely sublime? Alt.beer answers homebrewing questions (though rec.crafts.brewing might fulfill more of your hands-on needs) and refers participants to microbrews in their region. Out of a conversation about beer vending machines in Japan came a map all the vending machines in Japan and, to complement it, a map of rest-rooms in Tokyo. If you need a beer in Japan, this is very handy stuff. I could use something like this in my city. Read the poetry, sing the praises, and grab a stool in alt.beer. -D.L.J.

subject matter: food

regional affiliation: global

format: newsgroup

language: English

cost: no cost