is an invaluable reference for beerhounds who want to know the Bay State's craft brew scene. It covers 43 working breweries, plus descriptions of ten more contract/tenant brewers in Massachusetts (really now, how many can you name?), and then it adds a half-a-dozen Rhode Island breweries that are not likely to ever get a book for their own little state. The book is 180pp paperback, including a comprehensive 8pp index and an often witty and irreverent 10pp glossary.

John Holl and April Darcy really did their homework on this book, including a lot of good information without ever becoming a lecture. Entries are thoughtfully grouped geographically, with useful information opening each section. This book is written to be used, like a very good tourist's guide.

Of course it is inevitable that as time marches on, some of the entries will become dated and we can only hope that the book is well-maintained. But for a few years at least, this book with stay in the Foodie Pilgrim expedition-planning stack.