Comments on: Not quite mainstream, but…

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:52:32 +0000

Hey Matt, ditto what Steve said. James is absolutely nuts about craft beer, has a vast amount of knowledge already given how little time he has been here, and is working hard at getting stories in Epicure on craft beer which is awesome for us Vic brewers, he is already an expert on beer & has pretty quickly become totally up to date on the Vic scene. He also has some pretty ambitious plans for a project of his own regarding craft breweries. Go James, cause what he is doing is great for craft beer. You can follow him @thecraftypint on twitter

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:03:56 +0000

Hey BM,

Not only did James’s article get a double page feature, it also scored the entire front page of Epicure.

James is a passionate beer man (who recently arrived in Oz from England) who only two or so months ago got another front cover/double page feature on home brewers in Epicure. I don’t know of any other journalist who is getting that much beer copy in mainstream press these days..

I’m with you though: who cares who writes about beer as long as it’s written about (and especially in the mainstream press with all its eyeballs)!

By: Prof. Pilsner

Prof. Pilsner — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:25:00 +0000

I was having a few quiet ales with James yesterday afternoon. Whilst his business card just says ‘Freelance Journalist’, his gig is definitely beer. This bloke has been banging at the door of The Age for over a year now trying to convince them to have a dedicated beer spot every fortnight or even every month. We all wish him sucess!!

Cheers
Prof. Pilsner

By: Ian Watson

Ian Watson — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:00:19 +0000

… and a hell of a lot of coffee to make beer…

By: twoglasstaste

twoglasstaste — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:56:31 +0000

It has been said it takes a hell of a lot of beer to make wine. Thirsty work…

By: BeerMatt

BeerMatt — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:16:29 +0000

Jim, you are not – and never will be – a wine snob. Your blog says it all…”I can only offer my opinion – not the “truth” and so you are automatically excluded from the pointed finger in this post! If there were more wine ambassadors such as yourself, wine would be more fun and beer would be more widely accepted. If you look at the glossy wine media though, there is a prescriptiveness about it that often leaves lay people scared to venture an opinion on wine lest they be revealed as being “wrong”. I think this study is very illustrative.

As to the 5000 drinking wine, there are those who claim that if you read the ancient aramaic, the bible says Jesus turned water into “strong drink” meaning beer but it was that the Romanesque wine snobbery that transcribed it as wine. I don’t hold with that view, but I do agree with the suggestion that Jesus turned water into wine as his first miracle because turning water into beer was too hard for a beginner.

By: twoglasstaste

twoglasstaste — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:01:41 +0000

Wine is not “owned by an elite cadre” :) any more than beer is. Botique wineries and micro brewers are in the same boat. Sure wine has a snobbish history – but it is a drink for everyone – or at least it should be. Remember the 5000 drank wine with their loves and fishes.

Beer snobs are on the rise now as well so you may be facing down the same bad public image in a few years.