Christmas is just around the corner and everyone is searching for that perfect gift. So what do you get the real ale lover in your family? Hopefully the list below will give you a few ideas.

The Good Beer Guide 2010 is now in its 37th year and to me is the must have guide to pubs across the country.

Each pub is selected and reviewed by CAMRA members, which has passed the 100,000 mark this year.

It gives details of 4,500 pubs both urban and rural with details of opening hours, transport links, food, disabled access and family friendly information.

There is also a section on all the breweries in the UK that brew real ale with details of many of their wares.

The best deal I’ve seen for the Good Beer Guide 2010 is on Amazon.co.uk who have it for £7.99. Amazon has also a wide range of novelty beer items, from beer alarms - a small device that attaches to your glass and set off a warning siren if anyone comes too close to your beer, a Dog Tag Bottle Opener through to a lovely Pewter Trafalgar Tanker.

Alternatively many of the major supermarkets offer beer gift packs.

Two that have caught my eye are from Asda. The ‘Asda Extra Special Premium Ales’ pack contains 2 bottles of Whitechapel Porter, which they describe as a traditional porter combining roasted malt flavour with spicy hop notes, one bottle of Gentleman Jack, a malty, hoppy, satisfying ale and one bottle of Golden Ale, a well balanced fusion of malt and floral hop.

So three very different ales and the pack is £4.00, so that is only £1 a bottle.

At the same price, also from Asda, is the Shepherd Neame Kentish Ale Collection.

To me, Shepherd Neame is one of the top breweries in the county and all their ales are well worth checking out.

This pack contains one bottle of Bishops Finger (5.4% ABV) , one bottle of Spitfire (4.5% ABV), another of Master Brew (4% ABV) and a bottle of Whitstable Bay (4.5% ABV).

Bishop Finger is a quite a strong fruity flavoured beer. Spitfire is a hugely popular golden ale, malty with a subtle hint of toffee. Master Brew is a clean, dry bitter with a touch of sweetness. Finally Whitstable Bay is a light beer to complement the others in the gift pack.

Finally, two bits of news.

The Wetherspoons pub chain are doing what is in effect a mini-Christmas beer festival, with them offering a selection of seasonal beers. More on this in a future article.

Secondly, tickets for the Dorchester Beer Festival have gone on sale on the West Dorset branch of CAMRA’s website - it's at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester on 5-6 February 2010.