Grand Opening of Grimm Brothers Brewhouse

Yesterday I attended the grand opening of the Grimm Brothers Brewhouse.




I had a couple of the Little Red Cap beers (an altbier). It was very tasty and had a little bite to it. I really enjoyed it. They were also offering their wheat beer (Snow Drop)and a dunkel (Fearless Youth).

The band was very good and the people seemed nice. I think I will drive back up there soon and fill up a growler of the Red Cap. Yum!

Why do we blog about Craft Beer?

The First Annual Beer Bloggers Conference will be convening in Boulder (which, luckily for me, happens to be my hometown) in early November (Nov 5-7, 2010). I recently attended a social get-together of local (Colorado) beer bloggers to discuss the upcoming conference. We were wined and dined and really had a great time. It was fun meeting other beer lovers (see my previous post: Beer Bloggers Gathering).

There are a variety of beer bloggers – some focus on events (like myself), some on beer tastings/ratings (I would love to learn more), some on how to homebrew, some on beer laws, and the list goes on.

But, it got me to thinking; why are we beer bloggers? I think we each have our own reason but probably we can lump us into a two broad categories: a) writers that write about beer and b) beer lovers that write about beer. Some beer bloggers are both and some are only one.

In my case, I am a beer lover that writes about beer. I am not a writer. I am a marketer that happens to love beer. I love promoting the craft beer industry. I love sharing the beer festivals, the beer/food pairings and beer dinners, new beer releases, tasting and sharing beers, and hanging out with other beer lovers/ aficionados.

I am impressed by the craft beer industry. I think these folks love what they do; they are creative, entrepreneurial and there is much comradeship. What other industry is like that? These guys aren’t competitors (okay, I am sure some are) but for the most part, they are ‘in it together’, they are more than willing to help each other, they frequently collaborate on beers, and they are changing the world together. Who wouldn’t want to help these guys?

I want to help them change the industry. I want to help change the distribution system laws. I want to help lobby for these guys. I want to help get State laws changed so that all small brewers can make their craft and sell it. I want them all to have a chance to succeed. I want them to have more shelf space and better shelf space. I want to help them steal market share from the big 2. I want these ‘little’ guys to make it – all of them!

The more we can get others to love the craft beer industry, like we do, the more clout we will have to get laws changed and the more support we can give to this industry and these nice folks. Win, win.

So, why should we attend the Beer Bloggers conference? What will we learn, experience, gain? I don’t know. But, I hope we a) create more exposure for the craft beer industry, b) get to spend time with others that feel the same way, c) we learn more about the industry so we can help create more interest in the wonderful world of craft beer and mostly, I think we will have fun!

Let me know your thoughts on this. Why are you a beer blogger? Will I see you at the Beer Bloggers Conference?

Cheers!
Jennifer

Beer Bloggers Gathering

Zepher Adventures/Alan Wright are launching the first Annual Beer Bloggers Conference. The first one will be held in Boulder, CO on Nov 5-7, 2010.

Alan and Chad (from OB) invited a few of the Colorado Beer Bloggers out to Oskar Blues Liquids & Solids yesterday afternoon. The idea was for us to be able to meet each other and discuss ideas for the conference.




Oskar Blues, a sponser of the conference, hosted our little gathering and fed us lots of beer and food. We were each given a beer flight - Pond Scum (an American-style Bitter), Maibock, SBus (Imperial Brown Ale), Columbian Supreme and ODB Barleywine. Kellner treated us to a tasting of Saison de Buff (collaboration beer by Stone, Victory and Dog Fish Head). Chef Jason kept us all happy with all sorts of yummy food - mussels, crawfish & toasted garlic bread, shrimp cerviche, wings, pizza and ribs.

We discussed possible speakers, conference topics and how to get the word out about the conference.

After all of that, we headed over to The Tasty Weasel for more beer and a brewery tour. We ran into Dale (owner/brewer) and ended up hanging out with him. He spent some time showing us some equipment (Triview) that shows if their cans are sealed properly. Pretty cool!



I ran home to feed my dog, Moxie, in between OBL&S and the Tasty Weasel. While I was home, I grabbed my last bottle of Bell's Cherry Stout to share with the group. Everyone enjoyed it!

I am definitely going to attend the first annual Beer Bloggers Conference on 11/5-11/7. Please join me there!