Perhaps I’m picking a nit, but there’s a difference between being too serious about beer (as Stephen Beaumont points out here, and I must confess happens in these parts) and taking beer seriously.

Martyn Cornell illustrates that today when he answers the question, “So what IS the difference between barley wine and old ale?”

This is simply a brilliant bit of research, a classic illustration of looking beyond the obvious, and a superb piece of writing.

The bottom line: He tells us something new.

I realized as I started typing that I don’t think I’ve told you that Cornell’s Amber, Black & Gold — which I called the beer book of the year in 2008 (a more complete review) when it was available only in electronic form — is available Amazon’s U.S. site.

Now I have.

“. . . stuck in the timewarp of Tennent’s Lager, Belhaven Best and Guinness.”

From a simply brilliant post at I might have a glass of beer.

It’s about a pub outside of Glasgow (you know, Scotland), and includes this paragraph (the italics are mine): “It’s a 15 minute train journey and a 20 minute cycle from the nearest station to the pub. Not as far as it looks, though we got lost in the forest the first time. Once you know the way it’s easy.”

Go read it, please (the last word added after the original post in in deference to Mr. B).

So the first brewery chosen in The Beer Mapping Project’s Fourth GABF Fantasy Draught was Magnolia Gastropub & Brewery.

I was a little surprised too.

Turns out that RedRover, who had the first draught pick, was busy with something that must be really important since he put it ahead of beer, and he let the Beer Mapping computer make a random choice. Picked since were Cigar City Brewing, Chelsea Brewing, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Miller Brewing, Firestone Walker Brewing, and AleSmith Brewing.

Should I back up and explain? Beer Mapping Project founder Jonathan Surratt organized the first draught in 2007. When you are the floor at the Great American Beer Festival as competition manager Chris Swersey reads the names of the winners and you mention to the woman next to you that the brewery he just called out is on your “team” she’s likely to say something like, “Cool. How’s that work?”

And you explain that if Pizza Port Carlsbad wins a gold medal you earn three points, a silver two points and a bronze one point. Last year brewmaster Jeff Bagby ended up with seven medals, four of them gold, which is the major reason my “team” won the competition. This year, like in 2008 when we were in Switzerland, I’m just watching. Mostly because I figured there’s no way to duplicate last year. Carlsbad was my second round pick, and my fourth round pick won four medals; there were first round picks that won none.

But also because I thought it would be fun to offer commentary on the Beer Mapping discussion board, Twitter or here. I now realize I must wait until next week and most of the picks are made. Right now it would be rude to type something like, “Hey, I can’t believe Firestone Walker hasn’t been draughted yet.”

Meanwhile you can watch it unfold.