The San Francisco Dogfish Head premiere, as reviewed within an introspection on the business of beer writing

[Rob DeNunzio]

Hey gang. So I got around to posting a little wrap-up piece on last night's shindig at Ye Olde Toronadoe, and, as it typically happens, the post ended up having much less to do with the event in question than about a completely unrelated subject. (For those three of who have read my site before would liken this situation to what happens when I try to write simple tasting notes.) So while I'm sure you'll all get a kick out of the part where we compare the 2007 Immort Ale to Gorgonzola cheese, the reason I'm cross-posting it to the Aleuminati is to open up the discussion amongst fellow beer writers that emerged in my write-up, namely:

What's your inspiration to write about beer, and how do you feel your contribution to beer writing fits within the greater whole?

I'm intrigued to hear what y'all have to say. It's not like we're working within the canon of Western Literature, but the field is so amazingly crowded with talent these days, it's hard not to ponder one's place within the greater aim of aleuminating others on the joys of quality brewing. (It's probably something worth pondering with a glass of something nice in front of you, as well. With good tunes, to boot.) Curious to see what comes out of this...

[Chipper Dave]

Wow. Talk about good posts here. Well said. I don't consider myself a professional writer at all. I've been blogging on beer for just 6 months now and prior to that I blogged about online poker for 3 years (quite the contrast). I believe it's all of the beer I drank while playing poker that got me into the beer scene. My regular profession is being an Information Technology Engineer for a large computer company. I've worked in IT for the last 25 years now. So I'm used to writing technical manuals So far be it for me to call myself a "beer writer". I'm more of a "beer drinker with an opinion". The only thing that I got paid for to write was for an article in "Paintball Magazine" over 10 years ago and that was on a totally different topic.

For me, I like to blog as an outlet. Writing is more of a personal thing that just happens to mix well with others over the internet. i like reading other peoples blogs who share the same interest. Some ideas that I read about sparks some ideas of my own. I blog because it's fun. I'm an amateur compared to many of the writers out there. Do I think my writing matters? Well if someone happens to like what I write then I say "thank you". I certainly know that I'm not going to make any money by blogging about Colorado brews. But, if I can help someone decide what beer they want to drink next then perhaps I can give them a pointer or two. Exploring different styles and trying new beers is simply FUN. And when it's fun, it can be equally fun to write about. I hope that this "hobby" of mine will last for quite a while. There are certainly more beers in the world than days I have to drink them in. So I know I'll never run out of new brews to try. That's the nice part.

I feel that anyone with an interest in beer should be encouraged to write about it, whether it be for fun or a passion to be developed into a career. If we do not encourage people to write then who will our writers of tomorrow be? The Internet didn't write itself. It depends on people like you and me to contribute to it day in and day out. So lets not worry about qualifications to be a beer writer. If you love beer and have something to say about it then by all means DO!

[Rob DeNunzio]

Oh man, did you have to bring Jeff Gerstmann into this? I hope to someday go down in flames like that after writing a negative review of Miller Lite Chipotle Lime Cooler on my fancy new Miller-skinned Pfiff!

[Eli the Mad Beer Man]

Well, much like my addled brain of late I’m a bit discombobulated about what I was going to say. Fair warning: this is gonna be a rambling batch of ramblings. I’ve rewritten this thing like three times now. So grab a beer or three and pull up a chair…

I started reading the debate on Stan's blog about journalists and ethics and who should be "beer writers" and who shouldn't. I ended up reading every post. There’s a lot of great information going on in there. But before I started reading it I thought I was going to dive into a mess of established “beer writers” with gripes and moans and old guard attitudes who, as Shawn pointed out, might be very territorial and bitter towards the whole explosion of so-called “beer writers” now on the scene.

Part of the reason I came into it with that preconceived idea was based on an incident that took place recently with Andy Crouch (a well-known and respected “beer writer” and participant in the thread on Stan’s blog) and his (scathing criticism of the newest beer magazine, Beer Magazine. I didn’t agree with Andy’s comments, which came off as arrogant and condescending towards that new publication. In my opinion It wasn't a professional critique so much as a personal attack (more on that later).

But after reading every post… I agree with a lot of what they’re saying (including Andy!). ;)

First off let me state that I actually do get paid to write, and have been for about 3 years now. But not about beer (not yet anyway). I do freelance writing for a few of AOL's video game websites, and every now and then the odd gaming magazine (the few that still exist that is). I do everything from writing 1,000 word op-eds, previews, reviews, etc. to posting 4 - 5 short blogs a day. Technically, I am a video game critic.

While I don't have a journalism degree or creative writing degree, like Virgil, I too am a story teller by nature. I imagine that he -- and maybe some of you other writers out there -- feels a similar "need" to write. I can't explain it other then it's as vital as breathing. Lord Byron, the 19th century English poet, said it best: “If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad.” I've been writing since I was a kid. Short stories, comics, blogs, books (I have 3 novels in various stages of “incomplete”)…you name it. I was always a fairly good writer (or so I've been told), but since working for AOL I’ve learned a great deal about writing styles, editing... the actual craft of journalistic writing. It's made me a much, much better writer.

Like the rest of you, beer is something I am passionate about. I would love nothing more then to leave my "day job" behind and do nothing but write. It's a dream I’ve had for some time now, and I truly believe one day that will come true. What Shawn said about paying your dues is 100% accurate because I’ve done that. I actually fell into the AOL gig by luck. A gaming site I was writing at for a few years (for no money) was bought by AOL. Instead of getting tossed (like some did) they offered me a paid position. Over the last year more opportunities opened up, and it’s now turned into something that I never thought possible. Honestly, the pay is ridiculously lucrative. Bloggers make damn good money!

Real-time, on the spot, 24/7 contact and connecting is where everything is headed people; driven by the advancement in technology (look at the Twitter thread for instance). The “old school” journalism ways of banging away on a typewriter for X magazine or X newspaper is going away. I'm sure you are probably unaware of this, but video game magazines are going the way of the dinosaur. Soon, there won't be any left; and it’s not a far stretch to say in any genre. Magazines simply can’t compete anymore mainly because they can’t keep up with the pace of information. By the time a monthly mag hits the stands the information in it is so old it’s already been forgotten. Newspapers will likely remain immune, but they are feeling the pinch too. Specialty magazines (i.e., beer mags -- or video game mags -- with a far smaller subscription base) are doomed. Popping up a website is far easier, timelier, and far more cost effective.

Having been, for lack of a better term, a “video game journalist” for over 5 years now (and a gamer since Pong) I’ve noticed that the video game and craft beer industries are similar in many ways. Both started very small and have exploded into the big time. The gaming industry is as big as the movie industry and will soon overtake it. But it had to grow (still is actually) into it's new found glory, and in that growth have come a great many pains.

We have similar issues wherein the credibility, morals, and ethics of certain writers and sites have come into play. It happens all the time. In fact, a huge incident happened not long ago with a long time “established game writer” who was dismissed from his high ranking position at one of the biggest game sites. Rumors were rampant (and still are) about what exactly happened, even though the website (and publishing company) came out with an official press release. From the outside it looked like this writer was fired because he gave a game (from one of the major game publishers) a scathing review. This publisher probably funneled millions of dollars into the game site’s coffers via ad revenue. It was surmised that due to the scathing review (it wasn’t just a bad review, it was brutal, but it deserved it) those ads were going to get yanked. Of course no proof of that can be shown, but if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, well… it sure isn’t a mountain lion. See, we as game writers have to deal with morals and ethics all the time because we do get free stuff - from games to schwag to privy access to betas, etc. It’s almost identical to what the folks on Stan’s blog are talking about.

And it’s all part of growing up into the big boy pants our respective genres have been given after being in diapers for so many years. Growing ain’t easy, so I completely understand where the “established beer writers” are coming from. I respect Stephen Beaumont, Jay Brooks, Lew Bryson, Stan Hieronymous, Daniel and Julie Bradford, Fred Eckhardt, Charlie Papazian, and all the others who created the term “beer writer.” I also applaud what some of these folks are doing with the formation of the Beer Writers Guild (I want in!). It’s a fantastic first step, and a much needed one. The video game industry could use something like this, trust me.

But to address the other side of the coin… the industry is no longer comprised of the same dozen or so old guard people. Beer has hit the Big Show and it’s only going to get bigger. it just so happens that it comes at t time where every Tom, Dick, Jane and Harry can toss up a blog and write about it. Sure, many of them shouldn't be writing at all, but... there is room for everyone who wants to be a legit “beer writer” to be one.

And this is where my rambling diatribe comes full circle to what Andy Crouch (who I otherwise respect for his outspokenness because I’m the same way) had to say about Beer Magazine. I enjoy the Beer Magazine for its irreverence and frat boyish hijinks. The last thing we need is another “serious” beer magazine in what Andy calls “the increasingly crowded beer magazine niche.” I subscribe to pretty much every beer mag and there isn’t any like Beer Magazine. I’m thankful for it because we already have plenty of “serious” beer mags, which are all great (All About Beer is one of my faves) mind you. But diversity and having a different editorial slant is GOOD for the industry. Why may not agree with it, but so what?! Stan said it himself on his blog: “... we shouldn’t sound too self important while discussing it. It’s only beer.”

Damn straight. Beer = fun. And if we as “beer writers” lose that fun… well, then we've lost the whole damn point.

[Eli the Mad Beer Man]

Boy... do I have a lot to say about this. Started off short, ended up being a frakin' novel. Had to export it to Word to work on it! So expect it shortly. Shawn, great post by the way man... said everything I would have! Virg and Rob said stuff I agree with too. But ya'll know me (at least a bit) - I gots more to say. ;)

[Rob DeNunzio]

Love, *love* the insights.

I don't think this is the same conversation as that decameron of a comment thread over at Stan's blog, which (what I could handle reading before the fatigue set in, that is) seems to have more to do with ethics within beer writing vis a vis "authentic" journalism (see the Beer Writers Guild, for example). That's all and good, but as someone who's quite familiar with the world of online journalism and the effects that bloggers have had on traditional publishing, something tells me that line of conversation is part of something *much* bigger in the world of professional news and editorial.

This conversation, on the other hand, fascinates me because it's about the impetus amongst each of us to set time aside - time that could otherwise be used for some damn fine drinking - to go online, create, self-edit, and share - and usually, for nothing tangible in return. Already, between Virgil and Shawn, we have two completely unique reasons. I'm sure it'll only get better.

It reminds me in a way of a thread I saw recently on someone's blog (sorry I can't remember whose!) wherein the author asked those nameless numbers who visited the site to chime in and tell him who exactly they were. It's a curious question I'm tempted to ask over at Pfiff! - if I'm questioning my own role within the increasingly populous and talented field of beer writing, who are the folks who are stopping by to read, and what does that tell me about my own writing? Thanks for the responses so far!

[Virgil G]

I don't blog, per se, but I do write about beer (on a different private site). Why do I write about beer, I'm a story teller. That's what I do, it just so happens that I really like beer, and beer does make really good stories.

I write my stories for people who do some of their living through me. People who can't get the beers where they live; can't (or won't) afford a certain beer; can't (or won't) travel to get a certain beer. I'm willing to do those things, so I talk about it.

Also, I was a writer in the Army for 7 years, so it fills in the void.

V

[Shawn, the Beer Philosopher]

Careful what you ask for, Rob ... here's my initial foray into the subject (also soon to be posted on beerphilosopher.com):

Fellow beer blogger and kindred spirit, Rob, recently posed the question that has been irksome to me for some time as I contemplate my own motivations for putting pen to paper (or finger to key, as it were) to write about various and sundry topics related to one of my great passions – beer. I don’t think about it every time I write something, mind you, but I find myself contemplating my motives and the desires that drive them with alarming frequency as of late. Rob’s own introspection has simply given me the nudge I needed to finally write about why I write about what I write about. Got that?

Rob asks, “what's your inspiration to write about beer, and how do you feel your contribution to beer writing fits within the greater whole?”

For me, the inspiration is the easy part, although easy doesn’t always mean simple. At a very base level, I write about beer because I am passionate about beer. In other words, I do it “for the love of the game” more than any other reason. This, to me, is an important qualification and one that has been brought into sharper focus recently over on Stan Hieronymus’ blog ad nauseam. That discussion has really caused me to wonder whether I would consider myself or others would consider me a ‘beer writer’ at all – perhaps I am just someone who writes about beer instead. This seems to be something more than a mere quibble over semantics if the majority of commentators (comprised of mostly beer writers or writers about beer from what I can tell) on Stan’s blog are to be believed.

What, I muse, makes one a ‘beer writer’ anyway? Does one have to have had a published piece in a certain periodical, trade magazine or newspaper? How about a journalism degree? Does one have to write as a full-time occupation? If these are the qualifications, I am certainly not a beer writer and the chances that I’ll become a member of that elite society are slim to none at this point. If, however, a beer writer is someone who writes from their experiences and shares what they know about beer from their unique frame of reference, then I guess I qualify about as well as any could. Granted, this descriptor doesn’t speak to my depth of knowledge or lack thereof, but does the former really do that either? I don’t think for a minute I can simply assert that “I am not published, but I am passionate!” and expect that to be enough to get me by, but I’ve read some articles from writers who met the prior qualifications in spades but demonstrated clearly that they knew precious little about beer. This seems to be the case particularly with newspaper writers and reporters.

New media has thoroughly challenged the elevated status that traditional print media has enjoyed for so many years and, by and large, this is a good thing. I live it every day. My “real job” is in the New Media segment of a large traditional media company. I have the unique distinction of being both loved and hated, often by the same people at the same time. On the one hand, I represent new opportunities and a chance to extend the reach and immediacy of the journalistic arm of the company. On the other hand, I represent a complete disruption of the status quo and a companywide “climate change.” This is seldom, if ever, well received or promptly implemented. The dead tree-edition staffers tend to look at me with a suspicious eye. In a similar fashion, I often wonder if there might be an analogous unease among some of the more established beer writers toward these myriad upstarts (that would be me and those like me) who are blogging all over the web about everything under the sun that is beer-related. After all, we get online, get a free Blogger account and all of a sudden we have essentially the same access to the same audience that the established writers do (maybe more if we’re particularly adept at SEO)! If I were on the other side of this I can’t say that I wouldn’t be a little wary and a little territorial.

There is a sense in which you wanna say that a beer writer ought to “earn his/her place” somehow. You ought not be able to just sit in your living room in your underwear, start up a blog and within minutes … voila! …a beer writer is born. Let’s face it, beer blogs are a dime a dozen these days and some of ‘em aren’t worth a dime. I don’t think mine is one of those, or at least I hope it’s not. I’ve had a lot of feedback in the nearly three years I’ve been doing this gig, and most of it has been very positive so far. I see this as a pretty reliable indicator that at least those who read my blog regularly get something useful or entertaining out of it. It’s growing too, so I take that to be a good sign. On the other hand, I’ve also been told that I basically don’t know what I’m talking about so there you go. I don’t feel I owe anyone an explanation for my writing, per se, but I do feel a growing need for some means of establishing credibility. This is what the discussion on Stan’s blog is really all about … the ethics of it all. I’m confident in my knowledge of beery things and in my ability to string a decent thought together but this doesn’t assure that same confidence will find its way into the reader’s mind. I can have the purest of motivations for writing about beer, but I could still suck at doing it.

At the end of the day, it’s really not up to me whether I suck at it or not I have concluded. That assessment rests squarely with my readers. As I already said, I write about beer primarily because I love beer and the craft beer culture. I don’t get paid to do it and I very rarely get any free stuff, so I can’t be accused of being a “hack” as another commentator on Stan’s blog put it - referring to those who might write with the purpose of getting free beer, trips and so forth. If, then, there are ancillary reasons for my beer writing propensities, I’d have to say they are found simply in meeting and networking with others who share my passion, learning from the people I talk to, virtually or otherwise and as a pure creative outlet. I have had a blast with the creation of The Aleuminati, for example, and I’ve gotten to know some terrific, and terrifically talented, people as a result. Not to sound too cheesy about it, but this is both motivation and reward enough for me right there. The fact that I get to play around with designing logos and thinking up new content is just icing on that cake.

I’m no beer expert. There are men who have forgotten more about beer than I’ll even know, but the one thing no one can take a way from me is my passion. Passion, and a willingness to persist in what you love, can take you pretty much anywhere you wanna go. I know that sounds like a Hallmark card, but it’s really true. I look at guys like Sam Calagione or Tom Schlafly (they come to mind because they are both “beer heroes” of mine, but also because I’ve recently read both their respective books) and I see men who started small, like me. The common denominator in their continued success, as I see it, is predominantly passion and persistence. I may not be able to bring a resume of published articles or a journalism degree to the table, but I’ve got the passion and the persistence.

In other words, I’m just stubborn enough to keep writing simply because I enjoy it.

Would it be nice to be in a position to be paid for doing what I love to do anyway? Of course, that’s the elusive position everyone strives for, isn’t it? Would it be cool to be considered one of those industry people whose endorsement and/or attendance at the most important beer-related events are always sought after? You bet.

I’m not that guy, though, and I’m okay with that. The way I see it, if I keep doing what I’m doing, and people continue to enjoy it, maybe one day I will be one of those guys. I like to think this is my way of attempting to pay my dues and earn my keep. At the very least, maybe the beer writing establishment will let me in their fraternity simply because they finally conclude I’m not going to go away.

To address, in brief, the second part of Rob’s question, I still struggle with where my writing fits within the greater whole. In a sense, I often feel like a tiny blip on the beer radar, coming from the Bermuda Triangle of beer in Southern Illinois, that shows up momentarily only to disappear again into the blogging oblivion. I don’t like feeling like a blip. In another sense, I feel like I’ve got a genuinely unique perspective to share and my “audience” is continually growing. My blip is getting bigger. I don’t know where it will take me and I’m frankly not too concerned with the destination. I’m having a blast on the journey and if I continue to write, which I plan to do, then whatever comes of it all will be apparent in due time. I make no bones about the fact that I’d love to end up in the craft beer industry in some capacity, full-time, but I’m not going to force it and I’m not going to pretend that BeerPhilosopher.com or The Aleuminati thing will be the vehicle that gets me there. They’re both great fun and if they end up being something more, at some point, then maybe I’ll be ready to consider myself something other than a guy who ‘writes about beer.’