Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that I’m not particularly good at self-promotion. Despite a healthy ego, I’m often paralyzed by the idea that someone might think I’m bragging about something, so I often keep any news to my immediate family and celebrate in private.
But I just won something I’m very proud of. The North American Guild of Beer Writers – those authorial champions of both words and brews – chose my blog as the #1 Beer Blog in their first annual contest. The contest covered the best in beer writing for 2012-2013 across pretty much every text medium – books, feature magazine articles, blogs, and more. I’m in very good company, too: Alan McCormick of Growler Fills placed second in the blog category, and Terry Lozoff of Drink Insider placed third. Check out their blogs if you’re into that well-written beverage commentary stuff.
This award means so much because I’m just one guy with a laptop and a camera, kept going by avocados, a very supportive wife, and probably too much English bitter. To be recognized by a group of established, talented writers is all I could really ask for. I’d like to thank everyone at the NAGBW for running this contest, choosing me, and doing so much to promote and encourage the art of beer writing.
I’d also like to thank everyone who reads this blog. All of you. I’d buy you a beer if I could. You’re the ones who keep me coming back to this old keyboard, a thing so worn that the “S” and “L” keys are just smooth black squares. A writer without readers is like a car without wheels; the engine may start, but it’s not going anywhere. I owe my success to everyone who takes the time to read, like, and comment on my work. It’s a debt I can only repay in words.
Here’s to grammar and grain, linguistics and lupulin, manuscripts and malt, and even more beer writing in 2014!
Cheers!
Literature and Libation 