Every year around this time I set a goal for the upcoming year of posting twice a week. Similarly, I reflect on why I haven’t posted more frequently over the past year. The biggest reason is that I’m too excited to help organize and plan various work, volunteer, and educational activities, which invariable lead to innumerable emails and other written documentation, that I don’t give myself time to write “for fun” or towards longer-term goals. Here’s hoping 2025 is the crucible to change those habits.
Having said that, I don’t intend to stop saying “yes, and…” to opportunities as they arise. Below is a list of some of the things that I’ve been up to over the past few months.
I still have much to write about my experience at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy back in September. The brief version is that it was an amazing yet exhausting trip that I will happily take again, next time with my family in tow. Plans are in the works for the first Terra Madre Americas in Sacramento, CA in September 2025, so I’ll make sure to share details as they progress. We are also moving forward with the new Slow Beverage initiative under Slow Foods USA under the leadership of Danny Childs, James Beard award winning author of Slow Drinks. I’m excited to see this umbrella group launch and highlight the Slow Food ethos of Good, Clean, and Fair food and drink for all.
I completed the first of four courses of the UC Davis Applied Sensory and Consumer Science Certificate Program. This is a fantastic online program that I would recommend to anyone interested in going deeper into sensory science and sensory evaluation. In January we are diving into using R and RStudio to create data visualizations using real datasets from sensory programs. The instructors, Rebecca Bleibaum and Dr. Jean Xavier Guinard, are experts in the field with a wealth of knowledge and experience. I’m looking forward to the next nine months and continuing to build connections with my cohort.
I am the Craft Maltsters Guild Education Committee co-chair, and we are putting the final pieces together on a responsible malt production guide that took folks years to pull together. We took over responsibility of the periodic webinars this year, and we are trying to meet guild members’ needs as much as possible for new educational content. We are also organizing the currently ongoing Malt Cup which will have the Best-of-Show judging and awards ceremony at the Malt Con in Denver, Colorado in February 2025 (really, Hannah Uhlmann and her team at the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab is doing all the work for the Malt Cup. Check out their website for a ton of education info). Similarly, I am on the guild’s Conference Committee and helping plan the conference, which is an enlightening experience. It will be a great conference with varied exciting and educational panels. I’ll make sure to announce more about the lineup when it’s finalized and public.
I organized the North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW) annual awards this fall as the newly created awards coordinator. The winners were announced in October. 51 judges evaluated 269 entries from 96 authors, historians, journalists, podcasters, and writers. As a first time coordinator I made some iterative changes to this year’s process and have plans to continually improve and grow the awards program. One goal is to entice creatives from other countries to participate, particularly since entrants do not need to be guild members, only the work needs to touch on beer or other fermented beverages. Once again, I’ll share a lot more info as it is announced.
As a outcome of the NAGBW awards success, I threw my hat in the ring to take over as Director of the guild. It was just announced this morning, so now the real fun begins. The NAGBW is an international organization that supports professional development, networking, and work standard for authors, historians, journalists, podcasters, writers, and other creatives covering the beer industry. My goals for the guild this year, in addition to growing the awards program, are to grow member resources and educational opportunities, grow membership itself, and find new avenues to highlight members’ works. Thanks to the board of directors and to Kate Bernot, the outgoing director, for their vote of confidence and support.
There are many other things that I’ve done this semester (working at a university means code-switching how calendars work, doubly so since I work with joint doctoral programs with both semester system and quarter system institutions). I attended the San Diego Brewers Guild Craft Beer Conference, guest lectured on hops sensory evaluation, judged the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, completed the American Cider Association Certified Cider Guide, and took yet another BJCP® beer tasting exam. In between all of this I am still working on multiple long-form book projects that are starting to get honed into the proposal stage.
2024 has been a very long and busy year with many ups and downs personally and professionally. I’m looking forward to 2025 having a continued focus on educational growth and a renewed appreciation for getting stuff done. More to come!
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