Tag: Beer Blogger conference

Posted on

Beer Blogger Conference – I’ve signed up!

After a two year hiatus, I am once again scheduled to appear (as myself) at the 2014 Beer Blogger Conference.

BBClogo

Not the Dublin one (though that would be nice) but at the much closer to my home base of Los Angeles American version in San Diego.  I had a grand time at the 1st conference in Boulder and the 2nd in Portland and I certainly wished I could have gone to the Boston and Indianapolis ones.  On a side note, I wish Asheville would host or Chicago.

The link above give you reasons why you should attend.  A) for $95 you would be hard pressed to find a conference that has that low of an admission fee and B) It gets you out of your chair and face to face with people with familiar and new faces.  For those who don’t go out, faces are on people when you talk to them in close proximity.

Posted on

Beer Blogger Conference – What I Learned

There was a lot of technical talk at the Beer Bloggers conference. About 1/2 of it was over my head. I know my widgets from my meta tags and/or trackbacks. But that is the smaller mechanical issue. I was searching for something else.

I wanted to know if I was on the right track with this blog. And I think, I am. Am I there yet? No, and I have no timetable either.

I post what excites me about the craft beer world. Is it groundbreaking journalism? No. Is it a regurgitation of already posted news? Sometimes. But that is acceptable to me. Why?

I want this blog to show my passion for beer, breweries, events and the industry. Like a squirrel before a bottle of BrewDog’s End of the World gets shoved up it’s…(sorry), I enjoy searching for and bringing back beer nugggets.

There was alot of good advice about how long it takes to monetize your blog and the ways to do it. People carefully explained how to adjust posts to your readers desires.

To me that is not as important as bringing the world of craft beer to my reader(s) in a short but fun way. And when I highlight a brewery in Louisiana or Alaska, it may be a list of a couple beers pulled from the brewery website but I want to push this information in front of casual but curious craft beer drinkers and travelers. I started the 50 Beers from 50 States quest to learn more about our country’s beers but I also hoped to intrigue all of you enough to try something new or at least learn something new.

A question was posed (rather too critically and rather grumpily, to my ear), why blog about beer and why go to a conference about it? Apart from the obvious reason of meeting people with the same passion, I wanted to learn from other bloggers on how to best accomplish my goal. I could not ask readers to go on this search without doing some searching myself. (And I implore that everyone keep on learning).

What I am trying to say is that I want to challenge you, the reader, to drink better and more varied beer. And this blog will evolve to do that better.

That is what I learned.

Posted on

Beer Blogger Conference – What I Drank

I drank about 45+ separate beers over the three day weekend.

I shall start with the best….
Rising Tide Brewing / Ishmael – A wonderful effervescent alt-bier with loads of malt taste.
Russian River Brewing / Sanctification – Sour and funky and fruity while still being easy to drink.
Quaff Brothers / Jones IPA – Not an IPA but a wonderful caramel and vanilla bourbon concoction.
Avery Brewing / Jerry’s Roggenbier – A great spicy and heavy brew for a fall day.
Great Lakes Brewing / Edmund Fitzgerald Porter – Just a perfectly done porter.

On my next level of must mentions are….
Twisted Pine Brewing / Ms. Jackie Brown – A pumpkin saison that was delicate and spicy.
Mountain Sun Brewpub / Cleveland Brown – What can I say, I’m in a brown ale mood.
Upslope Brewing / Pale Ale – Cool can design and great beer inside.
Brooklyn Brewing / Black Ops – Would be in top 5 if I was more of a imperial stout afficionado. A very smooth but strong offering.
Southern Star Brewing / Buried Hatchet – Another great stout. And this one is canned and from Texas. Wonders never cease.

The weird brews of the weekend are…
Epic Ales / Beatrice – Pepper and other spices in a weird flavor medley.
Avery Brewing / Ruminator – Rum aged but as strong as bourbon to me.

But what really got me excited was seeing….
Crow Peak / IPA – South Dakota off the list
Sun King / Wee Mac – Indiana off the list