This Beer Guide was initially compiled as a personal gift to my Dad, Ray
Gottschalk, who was fortuitously instrumental in its conception. For it was
he who allowed that curious little eight-year-old to "try Dad's beer" for
the first time. I do not recall what brand of beer it was, but it could very
well have been an original Coors. For it was during that period of time in
the early 1970's when my family was residing west of the Mississippi River
in Dallas, Texas, where Coors was legally available for sale.
More than two decades later I was reunited with a high school classmate, Karen Smith Alvarado, who eagerly agreed to assist me on my information gathering adventure that resulted in the following resource material. The locating, testing, and compiling of the information required such an overwhelming amount of grueling research, there were times at which we questioned our ability to ever complete the project. Nevertheless, in spite of what appeared to be insurmountable physical obstacles constantly encroaching on our sense of clearminded purpose, we diligently plodded on to achieve what you now have before you.
This Beer Guide will not benefit the hard core beer aficianado or self-professed home "Brew Master." It is actually intended to assist the "casual" drinker of beer who is interested in slowly and systematically expanding their palette beyond the common mass produced and highly promoted beer brands, and is written from that perspective. However, it is not for the faint at heart, or should that be stomach! Although you will find a few recognizable staples of the beer world, the Guide does focus more on the lesser known imports and domestic micro-brewed ales.
When you decide to begin investigating and trying some of the more "heartier" brews that are available, this Guide should provide you with information in which to begin your adventure from a more enlightened perspective. Although the list is relatively extensive, with more than ninety beer brands included, it is by no means comprehensive. We intentionally limited our review of beers to ones that are easily obtainable from your local beverage warehouse or pub without having to go so far as to "special order" a more esoteric brew that is not so readily available.
We decided to make the list alphabetical as opposed to an
order of preference because both Karen and I had noticeably diverging
opinions as to what beers we felt were good or not. In describing each beer
we chose not to attempt any flowery language as you might find associated
with wine descriptions, but just limiting it to three basic categories:
(1) color, (2) taste, (3) additional comments, and how we liked it overall.
If either of us liked a beer overall it is tagged with a thumbs up icon
with a thumbs down icon 
if either of us did not particularly care for it,
or with a Yin-Yang symbol 
for any others. We labeled a beer thumbs up because
we felt it possessed unique and distinct flavor characteristics. We labeled
a beer thumbs down because one or both of us found something in it personally
distasteful and would most likely not purchase it again. A Yin-Yang symbol
signifies indifference. These beers are not to be considered bad. As a matter
of fact, most of them were actually pretty good, and we would probably order
them again. However, they lacked that one outstanding characteristic that
would have made them a "thumbs up." If we referred to one brand of beer while
describing another, it was not done so out of malice or to provoke undue
comparisons, but to be used as a point of reference or simply because we were
probably tasting each beer at the same time.
The Guide is solely a compendium of two individuals' opinions and is nothing more. It is meant to be an introduction to one or more beer selections from a number of breweries that have obtained distribution beyond their immediate locals. Hopefully, this Guide will provide a foundational launching pad to further more in-depth personal investigations from which you can form opinions of your own.
(Back up to top of alphabetical list)
