Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Two Years of The Brew Lounge...and counting

The end of The Brew Lounge's second year and beginning of its third was marked by a 50% reduction in its workforce. Adam took half of the interns with him over to BeerBits2 and I was left with the other half. They're a loyal bunch, I'll tell ya. But, I left August sorta slip by (okay, okay....September, too....y'know, that running thing that I talk about once in a while) without much mention of my second anniversary here. With Adam embarking on a new road, I took the opportunity to get acquainted with having the controls all to myself. It'll be odd for a while, but I'm starting the third year here by firmly stating that "The Show Will Go On." Let us take this opportunity to look at what has been and what will be of The Brew Lounge. Two Years of The Brew Lounge In Adam's farewell note, he wrote of the many things we had done over the first two years. No need to repeat them again here. But, you know the drill...beer dinners, tastings, events, festivals, reviews, calendars, tap lists....even a video cast from our backyard. My one year anniversary wrap-up last year resonates much the same. Basically, this all means that The Brew Lounge continued through the second year delivering much of the same content to which you all had become accustomed. A poll taken earlier this year seemed to reinforce that we were on the right track. Plus, readership and subscription levels continued to rise month after month, so we took that as a confirmation that The Brew Lounge had carved out a nice little place in the world of craft beer. The Next Year of The Brew Lounge I hope it is obvious that I thoroughly enjoy what I am building here at The Brew Lounge. I certainly cannot pay any bills with the proceeds of Google ads and I have never asked for any type of donations, except maybe some beer :) I have a day job (much to the surprise of some) and this is strictly a hobby...at least until someone comes along and wants to provide me with a cushy job to drink beer and to contribute my thoughts. Here is what I will focus on throughout Year Three: - search out great beer bars, brewpubs, and events/festivals and pass along my opinions...... - ......with a heavy emphasis on people and places. This is one thing that Michael Jackson taught us. While the beer is at the core of what this is all about, at the end of the day, who the people are, what they're doing, why and how they're doing it is what makes an even more compelling story - raise topics of interest and concern within the beer industry; mostly as they affect craft brewing - do something that creates more of an interactive experience at The Brew Lounge (still in the works, so don't ask me yet what it is) So, that's it for now. Thanks for all of your continued interest and support in The Brew Lounge. Please always feel free to pass along comments, suggestions, etc. Now let's all go get a beer!

4 comments:

Adam said...

Happy 2nd anniversary!

Hmmm...I have some Belgian style homebrew at my house! Stop on over for a celebratory glass :-)

Cheers!

Bryan Kolesar said...

I may just do that, thanks :)

We can also celebrate the Phillies first playoff game in 14 years, too!

Jeremy said...

Congrats on 2 years! We can celebrate over a beer at the Kennett Brewfest this weekend :-)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the 2 year anniversary Bryan! I will be sure to keep checking up on the BL as often as I can from Luxembourg. Hopefully sending you some thoughts and pictures of great places we will be getting to and great beers we will be trying...go Phillies!