Tuesday, December 08, 2009

2009, In Their Words--Part 1

I started off thinking that I would receive snippets of thoughts that could be woven into a year-end wrapup and future looking post. It would prove, therefore (hopefully!), to be more interesting then just hearing/reading my thoughts. Was it also a way to off-load some of the work involved in a year-end retrospective? Well, I NEVER!! After soliciting the serious, the irreverent, the brief, the lengthy---what I received was mostly at least moderate in length and serious in nature. So, then what am I supposed to do with that?! It turned out that I made a lot more work for myself if I was going to now pick apart what was sent to me, choosing only bits and pieces to suit some sort of an article. And, I gotta tell ya, time is running a bit short on supply around here. (Hawaii posting, anyone???? anyone?) So finally I decided the best approach was to go back to my original statement to these individuals...that this would be the year-end wrapup in their words. This would ensure that nothing got lost in translation and that the full context was delivered. I am, though, cleaning up any obvious typos and grammatical errors...that's just the kind of guy I am...not just a cut and paste kind of guy!! And, I'd make it into linkedy-link fest...because, really, these folks are some of the best at what they do, so why shouldn't I help to bring attention to just that. Let's get on with it. Yesterday, you saw my personal review of 2009. Here comes (chosen in random order) Maureen Ogle, Carolyn Smagalski, Mike Scotese (Scoats), Jim Wiggins, and Nick Johnson. Please be sure to click the links and visit their sites. It shows that you came from The Brew Lounge and that you care about their work :)

Maureen Ogle (Historian & Author) "My year-end update/roundup/prediction is something like: godhelpmebuti'mgonnafinishthisnewbookin2010ifitkillsmewhichitmay. So I'm totally out of the loop re. beer. Wish I weren't but there you go
The Beer Fox-Carolyn Smagalski (Bella Online Contributor, Beer Connoisseur Journalist, to name just a couple) "2009 was a roller coaster of beer and whisky events, power-packed with enough fuel to keep the after-burners as hot as a hose-sass and my nose glowing as red as Rudolph's...or is that Rude Elf's? The Whisky Festival of Northern Netherlands celebrated the launch of International Whisky Day on the anniversary of Michael Jackson's birthday, 27 March, 2009 - to honor the Whisky Chaser himself and "...the many unsung heroes of the past and present, who have been crafting the King o' Drinks for centuries..." At the same festival, two important books were released: "Whisky & Jazz" written by Hans Offringa and dedicated to Michael Jackson, and "Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser," with contributions by 13 international beer and whisky writers, for the benefit of the Parkinson Society of the UK. Philly Beer Week reaffirmed its reverence for beer in the Philadelphia area with the enormous success of 679 events and a promise for continued expansion. Jeannine Marois made headlines with the Mondial de la Biere in both Montreal, Quebec and Strasbourg, France. The Sam Adams Longshot in Boston and the Pro-Am Competition in Denver proved that homebrewers and professional brewers walk hand-in-hand in creative artistry. Under the big top - the Colorado Convention Center - The Great American Beer Festival, with an additional 92,000 square feet, continues to set records with sell-out crowds who spilled over into the Beer & Food Pavilion, Farm to Table, the Brewers Studio Pavilion, and the largest commercial beer competition in the world. Tap that off with "The Naked Pint" by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune and a re-capping of Don Russell's Christmas Beer and life doesn't get much sweeter than that. Unless you're 2010. 2010 will bring continuous great beer with more intense flavor through environmental initiatives - our own terroir, the signature of the American Craft Brewer. In the meantime, this is the year of the World Beer Cup and yours truly, the Beer Fox, will continue to do her best to "taste and assess" as many beers as possible. Even if my nose does keep glowing red..."
Mike "Scoats" Scotese (Publican & Lodgemaster-The Grey Lodge Pub, Philadelphia, PA) "2009 brought craft beer in to the mainstream. It's hard to go anywhere in Philly and not find at least a half decent beer. A good beer focus now seems mandatory for any new establishment. Strangely 99.4% of all of new establishments in 2009 set up shop in South Philly. 2010 will bring more good things in small packages as session beers increase in popularity."
Jim Wiggins (Origlio Beverage Sales, Craft & Specialty Brand Segment) "2010 will bring still greater number of interesting offerings as even big craft brewers continue to expand their limited production offerings (i.e. Sierra Nevada Life and Limb, Harpoon 100 Barrel Series and Ommegang Adoration). We will see more Breweries open up the SEPA market as these craft brewer's home markets get saturated and this region's rep continues to resonate thought out the beer world. New Belgium?"
Nick Johnson (Tröegs Brewing Company, Sales-Eastern PA, NJ, DE) "2010---- Year of Local Craft Beer Movement and Steve Mashington.......... a hope that local craft beer takes back over the Philly taps which have been taken over by one-off-over-hyped-brews from out-of-state breweries.... get back to your roots everyone!!! On a totally unrelated note, 2010 will also bring the year that Steve Mashington graces the cover of GQ magazine sporting his once nicely well fitted red suit... and by the way not the GQ you are thinking of aimed at men who shave their chest (Casey Hughes) and wear tight pants (Mike Fava), we are talking Ginger Quarterly, the one and only print mag dedicated to Ginger folk!!! viva la red! See you all out at the bars! Cheers! Johnsonator, Tröegs Brewing Ambassador"

Stop back tomorrow to read sage tidbits from (chosen once again in random order) Lew Bryson, Brian Yaeger, and Jennie Hatton.

3 comments:

Steve said...

I was hoping to keep it under wraps, but it appears that the Johnsonator has spilled the beans over my soon to be magazine cover.

Keep it red!!

Bob said...

Did an Origlio rep just drop the news that New Belgium is coming to SEPA - that's pretty exciting!!

Steve said...

I wouldn't get your hopes up. New Belgium is coming to SEPA anytime soon.