Over the past thirty-plus years, the beer industry in the United States has slowly transformed itself from the butt of international jokes (courtesy of Prohibition and the subsequent dominance of mass-produced, lifeless lagers) to the most innovative and delicious craft beer culture on the planet. No region of the country has been more influential in helping shape and inspire the craft beer movement than Northern California. Following Fritz Maytag's revitalization of San Francisco's Anchor Brewing in the mid-1960s and the establishment of New Albion Brewing Company in Sonoma in the decade afterward, current brewing innovators such as Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing continue to ensure that there's never been a better time or place to seek out great beer. The Northern California Craft Beer Guide is the definitive handbook to the artistry, people, and culture of the region's craft beer scene. Many guidebooks rely on second-hand accounts or provide coverage that fails to do the groundwork discerning the insipid from the delicious. This isn't one of those books.