Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
If you are here, you are into beer culture. Sorry to break it to you. And if you want more beer stories then there is a new, not read on a screen outlet coming – Final Gravity.
Order up Issue # 1 which will arrive in time for summer beer drinking season.
Don’t think I will be too worried about AI in beer writing if Beer Geek AI is any indication.
The link above sends you to an article about wort becoming beer in such an excited tone that you worry for the exclamation points. The headlines for each post also give away that it is some weird affectation as well.
But, who knows, maybe the next version will fix those flaws.
I have been a Guild member of the NAGBW since it started and they have started up a blog where members can express some of their beer writing to the world. Called The Reporter’s Notebook, there is currently a piece on proper day drinking etiquette with more beer knowledge to come. I highly suggest adding it to your reading list.
The newspaper and journalism scene in Los Angeles is a bit rosier now. The Times sits in new offices in El Segundo with a new owner and a brand new food writing staff as well as a new food stand-alone section coming this spring.
A new quarterly, The Land has sprung from the dumpster fire of the L.A. Weekly imbroglio and has released their initial issue filled with pieces about a Los Angeles that may be hidden from normal view.
And while there is no word on beer or wine and spirits as part of the domain for either, there is hope that the stories of beer can be woven into both. I would have loved one less rap article in The Land and would have heartily read more about little known beer culture instead.
Maybe there are plans for both to cover the issue because I believe as we grow (even in slower percentages) that there are stories to be told.
During a grocery store run, I saw a Time Magazine – Beer Issue. First thought was that Time is still kicking? Second thought was, should I even look at it?
Well, my judgemental side steered me wrong. Touring through the happier canyons of Twitter, I saw this….
So, I guess both you and I should pick this special issue up.
One of my favorite book series is the Best of {insert year} books. You can choose comics, sports writing, fiction, or my choice Food. Usually I am disappointed that there is not an article or two about beer. There is great short and long form writing out there that should be exposed to new eyes.
Which is why I am glad to see that there is, at least, a British tinted anthology of the best writing about beer. Pulled together by Adrian Tierney-Jones with the title Beer, In So Many Words.
You get current writers like Boak and Bailey, Roger Protz, Jeff Evans, Melissa Cole and Pete Brown co-mingled with famous authors of the past such as Dylan Thomas, Ian Rankin, Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene and Charles Dickens.
You can go from page one to final page about the typeface or you can jump between themed sections from The Taste of Beer, Beer in Pubs, Beer People, Brewing, Beer Journeys, Beer and Food and The Meaning of Beer.
It seems like the more I try to catch up, the more I fall behind. It is certainly that way with beers but now beer reading and beer education is becoming that way too! Then I heard about this website….
All you have to do is click HERE to find an archive of generally British articles on brewing from the impact of Michael Jackson to brewery history and book reviews. A great resource for learning that I will be using this year, now that I know about it.
This month I joined another Beer Writer group. The North American Guild of Beer Writers. I was swayed by this section of their mission statement: “Sometimes we act as evangelists, advocates and celebrators. Other times we are antagonists, agitators and truth-seekers. We are authors, writers, publicists, bloggers and columnists. We tirelessly cover the brewing industry — and those who appreciate beer — across North America.”
Hopefully, I will be able to learn a thing or three and bring even better posts to this website and promote craft beer in Los Angeles even more.