Living in Wisconsin, AKA Brew City, we are saturated with good beer and people’s opinions about beer. Of course, I have my own opinions, but this beer blog is dedicated to the people who geek out over the history of hops and the different components you can add to beer. My name is Maggie. I love beer. I run a girls beer club (Milwaukee Girls Pint Out), and I live in Milwaukee and have a job that has nothing to do with beer. I know, super sad. But this is my beer journey.
Do you remember your first craft beer? I used to love Goose Island’s 312. I was called a beer snob and I didn’t get why. I just liked the way it tasted and it wasn’t one of the old college favorites like Ice House, Busch, or (dare I say)Milwaukee’s Beast. We all have skeletons in our beer closet. I’ll admit it, I’ve been known to down some PBR’s while out bar-hopping with friends, or even sipping on Corona’s while on the beach in Puerto Rico. You like what you like. Own it.
Wisconsin Craft Beer Festival goers enjoying Avery Brewing Co. (CO) and Ballast Point (CA)
On my beer journey this past October, I was able to volunteer and attend the inaugural Wisconsin Craft Beer Festival, a tasting and teaching craft beer event, on the Harley-Davidson Museum grounds. During the event, I interviewed John Boulton, CEO & Co-Founder of Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine, the company behind the event. John partnered up with a local media company, Klambach Publishing Company, to bring this event to Milwaukee. The event had three or four hour sessions and hosted several seminars taught by beer legends.
(From Left to Right: Randy Mosher, Brad Smith, Maggie Skinner, John Palmer and Stan Hieronymus)
After attending several beer festivals outside of Wisconsin, John and his team identified problem areas in other festivals and made it a point to solve those when it came to putting on this one. I can say that they certainly did an outstanding job problem-solving but almost to a fault.
John and I discussed not only his craft beer festival but his take on the AB InBev acquisition of SABMiller. Simply put, he said that business is business. “The craft beer industry should focus on creating great beer, creating great products and developing great relationships- that’s where we should focus our energy."
Overall, it was a jam-packed weekend of great beer, good food and the chance to meet beer legends. I look forward to an even bigger event next year from John and his team.
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You can find Girl Meets Beer on the Shepherd Express website as well as Facebook and Twitter.
