Archive for the ‘Miscellany’ Category

We are off to the Windy City of Chicago to tour some breweries, beer bars and see a little football game on Sunday. Please note, the last day to submit your holiday shipping orders is Thursday, December 16. The last day for Fedex Ground is Dec. 17. We are waiting for some product to fulfill existing orders and will process the remainder Wednesday through Friday of next week.

Enjoy your weekend and be sure to drop in this weekend for some liquid happiness!

Someone sent us this today. Seems about right.

Happy Thanksgiving, happy beer people!

Bruisin’ Ales is CLOSED TODAY, but we will reopen for regular hours through the weekend. 12:00-9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 12:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Celebrate and drink well!

Interesting things happening in Beer Blog World this week with many of the most ambitious converging on Boulder, Colo. for a weekend conference. This is the first ever Beer Bloggers Conference, which looks to be a great time of sharing ideas, methodology, and no doubt, a lot of beer. Yours truly isn’t there (obviously), but Asheville is being represented by Anne-Fitten Glenn of the new(ish) local beer blog, Brewgasm. Most of you know her from her weekly column in Mountain XPress. She also writes the column Edgy Mama. (Anne-Fitten Glenn will be speaking on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at BBC10. You can follow blogger tweets on Twitter using the #bbc10 hashtag.)

In a strange twist of timing on Wednesday, published beer writer Andy Crouch sent his thoughts into the blogosphere via the post “Beer Blogging: To What End?”. This somewhat critical, questioning, and really odd sort of post set Twitter a-flurry yesterday not only with the timing—just ahead of BBC10—but also with his opinions of beer bloggers in general. Some beer bloggers were outraged, some ambivalent, some defensive, with a mess of reactions in-between.

Yesterday, in a sleep-deprived state, I made an open Twitter comment on the subject:

“.@beerscribe‘s beer blogger post as #bbc10 starts IS controversial, however, he makes some very *practical* points. That’s my only comment.”

This was met with some that agreed and others that quickly rebutted. Frankly, my opinion was deliberately vague, non-confrontational, and meant to invite comment. Crouch’s post itself is not inherently offensive. My point was that he raises a good question about beer blogging, in particular with the posts topic: “Beer Blogging: To What End?”

Here’s the thing: While Crouch does have a small reputation of being somewhat of a curmudgeon, he is an exceptional beer writer. This is a writer who, along with the likes of just only a handful, comes from the Old Guard (for lack of a better term). He’s one of the pioneers of the trade who were writing about craft beer long before craft beer was cool and so front-and-center. He was writing about beer before there were blogs. While he’s been blogging for years, Crouch is primarily an author of books, so let’s keep that in mind. While some read his post as an attack on beer bloggers, I don’t really believe Crouch was intentionally attacking anyone. I do believe he was intentionally putting an important question to the forefront so that bloggers attending BBC10 would perhaps use part of their time to engage in discussion of what it means to be a beer blogger; determining your purpose as a beer blogger; and questioning the role you play within the industry itself. The post itself is a little rambling and there are specific statements that show that he doesn’t “get it” entirely. I mean, even I know what SEO is, and I really don’t hide my lack of knowledge when it comes to web stuff. (One funny thing I learned from Crouch’s post is that the Bruisin’ Ales Beer Blog came in at #73 out of 100 on the Wikio Beer Blogger rankings . I don’t even know what that means, frankly, but it sounds good, yes? And who doesn’t love lists?)

There are varied levels of beer blogging. Some are reviewers. Some are critics. Some are hobbyists. Some treat their blogs like diaries. It runs the entire spectrum. Crouch doesn’t seem to care one bit about those hobbyists and diary writers, documenting their beer experiences, travels, etc. He seems more focused on those trying to parlay these writings into a career, such as BeerNews.org and Drink With The Wench, both of whom he names specifically. Calling BeerNews.org uninteresting is silly, as it has become the go-to site for beer releases and news. This is value content, especially for people like me in the retail industry. His passive-agressive “not to pick on a particular person” while deliberately naming Ashley Routson, a.k.a. The Beer Wench, is also silly, because while clearly billing herself as a personae, she also provides value content, covering events, writing for Mutineer Magazine, working at breweries. She’s an active participant in the industry giving a firsthand look at some insider information. Ironically, her greatest project is her ongoing “Featured Beer Blogger Series” on Drink With The Wench, which highlights the other folks blogging about beer. (In full disclosure, I was featured on there.)

When it comes to beer blogging, there’s a fine line between being an original content blogger and regurgitating content. (Something I addressed specifically with the advent of 2010, that I would no longer be regurgitating content that could be found elsewhere online.) There’s a fine line between a review and an endorsement. There’s a fine line between a well-versed fan and an expert.

The important takeaway, no matter how you feel about Crouch’s post is this: What is your role as a blogger? How will you make a living off of this (if you want to)? Where are you headed? “To What End?“ The reality check here is the thing that sent many over the edge, but it is the harsh reality: There are simply not that many people who have successfully made the leap from beer blogger into a primary industry player. There are also very, very few that make money from blogging. (See Asheville’s Kelby Carr of Type A Mom Conference, who posted just yesterday about bloggers getting paid for endorsements.)

I sincerely hope that the beer bloggers out in Boulder this weekend aren’t sitting about Crouch-bashing. It would be easy to do. I do hope, however, that they are able to take a step back and discuss the main point in question, which at its heart, simply asks, “Where do we go from here? And how?”. It’s important, and judging by the great response of people attending the conference, a discussion opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. Wish I were there! Drink up, my friends.

This post probably doesn’t belong here. At least the beginning part, where I apologize for slacking on the blog among many other things for personal reasons. You see, it’s been tough around here at the humble storefront with a spring/summer of traveling back and forth to care for, give support to, and simply love an ailing family member. That person was Jason’s mother, Susie. She got sick earlier this year and passed away a few weeks ago on August 9. (Some of you might know that Jason also lost his father and mentor only last September.) Needless to say, it’s been a difficult process doing everything we can to keep this place open with smiles on our faces, without a corporate system to back us up, a big staff, and government time to use (not abuse) like the Family Leave Act. It’s been a rough year for us here. It’s even harder as a small business owner.

We publicly want to thank a multitude of awesome people, especially Mike Guarracino, who is The Best Employee on Planet Earth. We often joke that it’s unfair he wins Employee of the Month all the time (because he’s our only employee), but seriously, in our time of need, this one amazing person has kept Bruisin’ Ales functioning with open doors. Without his flexibility, understanding and completely unselfish nature, we could have lost many days of business through emergencies, visits and other random happenings that occurred throughout the year. We hope that we are at least two-thirds the employers to him that he is as an employee to us. He gives 100% all the time. We realize how lucky we are. (Also, please note, he shaved his head this week, so now, both Mike and Jason have shaved heads and beards with dark hair. Jason is the tall one; Mike is the one with the bike and the dogs you all love so much.)

Others to thank: Terri Lechner and Jason Martin: Our oldest and dearest friends in Asheville—who helped paint the interior of the humble storefront in the colors of Belgium—also came in to help clean-up and keep the shelves full. Sophie Thompson: The daughter of friends, she helps us out in summertime with cleaning, glassware, folding t-shirts, sweeping and other random stuff. Sophie and her dad, Tom, came in for a few hours during the funeral week to help Mike stock. Rebecca Bedingfield: Bruisin’ regular, she ran errands for me while I was out of town, helped stock, made people laugh and helped a very heated crowd (from a sweltering A/C unit) survive the Duck Rabbit tasting the other week. Scott Witherspoon: Customer turned great friend, he’s weathered a couple Saturday hours, helping make recommendations to people. If I’m forgetting anyone, it’s not on purpose. My brain is fried. Just know how very thankful we are for everything that everyone has done to help us through.

…

The day after Jason’s mom’s funeral, I got a message from Joe at Blatz Liquor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Blatz Liquor folks are our comrades—a small, independent beer store in downtown, just two years our junior. I banter with them a lot on Twitter and while many people think that indie beer stores compete with each other, we really don’t. The truth is, we all recognize how difficult it is to be competitive in this business and regularly support each other. Solidarity, if you will. We are a tough bunch, doing what we love, following our passion for beer in a world where corporate megastores and groceries want to crush us. That’s the long and short of it. You probably know where I’m going with this: Blatz Liquor is closing today.

From August 14:

Today it is with great sadness that I must announce the closing of Blatz Liquor.

For 2 years we have worked as hard as possible to bring the biggest and best beer selection to downtown Milwaukee. We have gained an awesome group of regular customers and an even better group of friends. Sadly with some increases in monthly costs and a leveling in sales its just too much for the already slim profit margins to handle. It breaks my heart to have to do this, since day one at Chicago Ave. Liquor I had planned on opening a store downtown that catered to all the beer geeks and people that enjoy a glass of wine or a mixed cocktail like myself. I’ve sacrificed emotionally, physically, financially and loved every second of it.

Joe

So, today I mourn also the loss of my comrades. That last part just about sums it up. This business comes with many sacrifices. We’re lucky we live in a town where supporting local businesses is a top priority, however, that attitude or practice doesn’t trickle down to everyone. When Sam’s Club sells certain beers at our cost and the groceries sell beer at a no-profit margin and megastores like Total Wine or World Market kill us with bulk pricing, that essentially negates certain brands we, and other stores like us, could and would otherwise carry. I cringe when I hear someone say, “This is 25-50¢ less at whereever-it-is.” The truth is, independent beer stores like ourselves are not trying to rip anyone off. We are just trying to make a living doing what we love. Here’s a trade secret: Beer has the lowest profit margin of all things alcoholic. Here’s another fact: Unlike a lot of other indie stores, we sell only beer. And, there it is.

We opened this store because we love beer, beer people, and want to provide a great selection of hard-to-find rare goodies in addition to a hard-to-beat selection of imports and American craft beer from across the country. It’s not an easy business; it is a difficult business. But, like Joe, we love every second of it. So, when I send out a Tweet or post to Facebook the friendly advisory to “support your local, independent beer store today”—I mean ALL of the indie retailers, yours, across the country, not just Bruisin’ Ales.

Join me today by dropping in to your local indie beer store and buy a beer in honor of Blatz Liquor. Let’s hope that their closing is not a sign of things to come in these questionable economic times. I know we hope to be here for a very long time.

And if you’re in Milwaukee today, go visit them for the big, closing bash. We’ll be there in spirit.

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise” —Oscar Wilde