What is it with all the beer sites I’ve been finding lately? I don’t even drink beer. Maybe one day I’ll find a site that covers Craft Root Beer. Anyway, the Brewers Association has put together a Web site to highlight a great deal of information about Craft Beer. It’s called Craft Beer, strangely enough, and is available at http://www.craftbeer.com. There’s a lot to this site but I’m going to focus on what puts it into the category of “online information collections,” which is why it got into ResearchBuzz.

(I didn’t know what craft beer was — beer made from scrapbook materials? — so I looked it up. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbrewery it’s beer made using more traditional methods.)

Looking for a local brewery? Hit the Get Local section of this site. (This section searches breweries in the US but there’s also a place to search for non-US breweries.) You’ll be able to search for breweries by state or by keyword search. I looked for breweries in Minnesota and got a long page of results, from August Schell Brewing Co to Wellingtons Backwater Brewing Co. Listings feature both microbreweries and brewpubs (an eating establishment that also brews beer) and generally include address, phone number, and Web site address.

Perhaps since you are interested in craft beer you are a member of the American Homebrewers Association. This site also has a way to search for brewpubs and breweries that offer discounts to AHA members. I looked at Minnesota again and found over a dozen locations that offered discounts. Discounts were spelled out in the listings (generally something like 10% off food.)

If you’re interested more in events and less in locations, there’s also a calendar available. I took a look at March 2010 and found only on event; the 2nd Annual Myrtle Beach Beer Fest. This part of the site doesn’t seem as populated as the brewery listings.

As I noted at the beginning of this writeup, CraftBeer.com has a lot going on. In addition to the listings of breweries there are a number of other features, including recipes with beer, details about many different beer styles (chili beer? PUMPKIN BEER?), a history of beer, and details about homebrewing.