What do you like about beer?
Well, there is a lot to like about beer especially if you live in Michigan, aka the Great Beer State – like I do – and live in about as good as an area as one can hope for if you’re a beer lover – like I do – and if you have an unquenchable thirst to constantly seek out new releases, limited releases and just flat-out good brew – like I do – than there is a lot to like about beer and the growing beer community that has been cultivated throughout the state.
And that my friends is what has led me here – Welcome to The Corner Stool: An ongoing discussion about beer, food, sports life and love from the mind of somebody who never takes himself seriously
But let’s get one thing straight before you continue – this is not a blog for beer geeks. There are plenty of sites, forums and group discussions dedicated to those who choose to take their beer geekdom to a higher level (some might say snobbishness), this is simply a blog that will be regularly generated from someone who is heads over heels in love with craft beer and beer culture. I have learned over the years that one of the very few areas where I am halfway competent is storytelling and I thought to myself – why not apply that “talent” to beer?
And it’s funny really, because this whole undertaking dovetails into an altogether different but related story in the digital transformation of our company, Heritage Newspapers. With a new bent for online-first and social media, the company went on a search for those interested in blogging. So, half-jokingly I asked if I could write a blog about craft beer. When I got a response that beer blogs are some of the most popular not only throughout our parent company of Journal Register Corporation, but in the country, well that’s all the motivation I needed.
So what will you find here at the Corner Stool? Well for one, you’re going to find beer and lots of it. The top priority here at Corner Stool Enterprises will be to promote local, and not so local, Michigan beer and subsequently the brewmasters, ownership themselves. Here you will find reviews, news about events and special releases, area brewpub news and views, news about your local craft beer retail – in short, this is Beer 101 my fellow degenerates and class is in session. In addition, I wouldn’t mind once in a while going off topic and initiating a discussion on area news and views and what have you. At the very heart of this blog will be community journalism, it’s just that the subject of beer will be foremost in application.
Why did I want to do this? That’s a great question Austen, as I now have apparently taken to talking to myself. Well, like I mentioned above I am a beer fan, wait let me correct that – I am a HUGE beer fan. I grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio and started my love affair with craft beer when my best friend got a job at a place called Brewmasters. It was, at the time anyway, a unique and provocative business venture started by an area homebrewer where customers would come in and choose the ingredients to make their own beer. The patron would be able to follow through the brewing process and in two to four weeks, depending on what kind of beer they ordered, they would have a half-barrel of “John’s Hopped Up Monster,” or “Susie’s Nice Little Brown Ale,” you get the idea. So, not only were you able to make up your own beer but you would receive a bit of an education as well, it was truly a neat idea.
It flopped miserably of course after about a year, but my friend worked there the entire time and it eventually led him to the Seibel Master Brewing program in Chicago but that’s an altogether different blog. Brewing is expensive and southern Ohio is not the type of place that would support something like that – it was doomed from the start, unfortunately.
But, like most situations a silver lining was soon apparent as the entire experience started my friend and I on a long and enjoyable journey to explore the world of good beer, how is it made and who’s behind it. Let’s not be glib about this, craft beer has exploded over the past 10 years and created its own market that essentially didn’t exist until the 1970s. It is something that I have a great amount of respect for and those behind the scenes, but that’s enough about me – let’s get down to brass tax.
Well, there is a lot to like about beer especially if you live in Michigan, aka the Great Beer State – like I do – and live in about as good as an area as one can hope for if you’re a beer lover – like I do – and if you have an unquenchable thirst to constantly seek out new releases, limited releases and just flat-out good brew – like I do – than there is a lot to like about beer and the growing beer community that has been cultivated throughout the state.
And that my friends is what has led me here – Welcome to The Corner Stool: An ongoing discussion about beer, food, sports life and love from the mind of somebody who never takes himself seriously
But let’s get one thing straight before you continue – this is not a blog for beer geeks. There are plenty of sites, forums and group discussions dedicated to those who choose to take their beer geekdom to a higher level (some might say snobbishness), this is simply a blog that will be regularly generated from someone who is heads over heels in love with craft beer and beer culture. I have learned over the years that one of the very few areas where I am halfway competent is storytelling and I thought to myself – why not apply that “talent” to beer?
And it’s funny really, because this whole undertaking dovetails into an altogether different but related story in the digital transformation of our company, Heritage Newspapers. With a new bent for online-first and social media, the company went on a search for those interested in blogging. So, half-jokingly I asked if I could write a blog about craft beer. When I got a response that beer blogs are some of the most popular not only throughout our parent company of Journal Register Corporation, but in the country, well that’s all the motivation I needed.
So what will you find here at the Corner Stool? Well for one, you’re going to find beer and lots of it. The top priority here at Corner Stool Enterprises will be to promote local, and not so local, Michigan beer and subsequently the brewmasters, ownership themselves. Here you will find reviews, news about events and special releases, area brewpub news and views, news about your local craft beer retail – in short, this is Beer 101 my fellow degenerates and class is in session. In addition, I wouldn’t mind once in a while going off topic and initiating a discussion on area news and views and what have you. At the very heart of this blog will be community journalism, it’s just that the subject of beer will be foremost in application.
Why did I want to do this? That’s a great question Austen, as I now have apparently taken to talking to myself. Well, like I mentioned above I am a beer fan, wait let me correct that – I am a HUGE beer fan. I grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio and started my love affair with craft beer when my best friend got a job at a place called Brewmasters. It was, at the time anyway, a unique and provocative business venture started by an area homebrewer where customers would come in and choose the ingredients to make their own beer. The patron would be able to follow through the brewing process and in two to four weeks, depending on what kind of beer they ordered, they would have a half-barrel of “John’s Hopped Up Monster,” or “Susie’s Nice Little Brown Ale,” you get the idea. So, not only were you able to make up your own beer but you would receive a bit of an education as well, it was truly a neat idea.
It flopped miserably of course after about a year, but my friend worked there the entire time and it eventually led him to the Seibel Master Brewing program in Chicago but that’s an altogether different blog. Brewing is expensive and southern Ohio is not the type of place that would support something like that – it was doomed from the start, unfortunately.
But, like most situations a silver lining was soon apparent as the entire experience started my friend and I on a long and enjoyable journey to explore the world of good beer, how is it made and who’s behind it. Let’s not be glib about this, craft beer has exploded over the past 10 years and created its own market that essentially didn’t exist until the 1970s. It is something that I have a great amount of respect for and those behind the scenes, but that’s enough about me – let’s get down to brass tax.
No comments:
Post a Comment