DRINK WITH THE WENCH PRESENTS:

The Beer Blogger Interview Series

Curious what goes on in the minds of your favorite beer bloggers? Well, The Beer Wench is and she has embarked upon a mission to interview as many beer bloggers that she can — from all over the world. Are you a beer blogger? Do you want to share your story? Send me an email!

INTRODUCING: AL EVERETT

AUTHOR OF: HOP TALK

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Albert Everett
Twitter handle: @hoptalk
Name of blog: Hop Talk
Current location: Central Maryland

Background “Snapshot”

1. Where did you grow up?

Bridgewater, New Jersey

2. What sports if any did you play growing up, through college and beyond?

I’m not particularly athletic, but I like tossing a frisbee around. And, of course, no barbecue is complete without horseshoes

3. How old were you when you had your first beer?

I probably snuck a sip or two of my Dad’s beer when I was eight or nine.

4. If you can recall, what is the story of your first beer? Where did you have it? What style and brand was it?

Oh, I’m sure it was Shaeffer. That was my Dad’s beer of choice.

5. Where, if applicable, did you go to college? What did you study? What additional activities, organizations, sports did you partake in during college?

I did about 65 credit hours at Rutgers University before I had to leave to make a living.

Craft Beer Epiphany

Every craft beer enthusiast has at least one pinnacle craft beer experience that completely changes ones perspective on beer. I refer to this mind-blowing moment as a “craft beer epiphany.”

1. What was your first craft beer epiphany? Recall as many details about it as you can:

I was in my late twenties and Jim Koch was doing radio spots for Sam Adams. Being a child of the media I made sure to get some. It was around then that I discovered there were other beers NOT made by Anheuser-Busch, Miller, or Coors, so I started sampling them too. They were good, so I kept with them. I suppose my “epiphany” was when I decided I would rather buy a six-pack of Sam Adams than a 30-pack of Busch cans.

2. Have you have additional craft beer epiphanies since the first? Detail as many of them as you wish:

When a brewpub opened near me, it was if it was made just for me. (Sadly, it shut down in the late 90s. Apparently I didn’t go often enough.)

Beer Blog Background

1. How long have you been writing your beer blog?

Since July, 2006

2. What inspired you to start writing your blog?

I was reading more and more blogs and not finding any just about beer (although I could easily find a whole bunch about homebrewing). After another hours-long conversation about beer I decided I needed an outlet to shout to the world about my passion for the barley. (Of course, since then, I’ve discovered that there actually were a lot of beer blogs out there at the time; I just couldn’t find them.)

3. Why did you chose the name of your blog?

It is my wife’s suggestion. It’s a play on “shop talk”.

4. What are you personal goals for your blog? What do you hope to achieve with it?

My goal is to keep going until I have nothing else to say about beer. That doesn’t look to happen for a very long time. As for what I hope to achieve, I’ve already done it: A non-zero number of people I don’t know are interested in what I have to say about beer.

5. What is one of the coolest things that happened to you as a result of being a beer blogger?

I was given complementary passes to Flying Dog Brewery’s Gonzofest.

6. What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites? I can only choose three?

Okay, well, I never miss a post from Zythophile, Brookston Beer Bulletin, or Appellation Beer, but there are a lot more than that I read on a regular basis.

Beer Talk

1. What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

It depends on the day, really, but most often it’s IPA, pale ale, and stout

2. What are your top 3 favorite breweries?

Well, again, it depends. Right now I’m very keen on my local brewers, so Flying Dog, Dogfish Head, and Troegs come to mind first, but there are many more whose beer I love.

3. If you could work with or for any one brewery, which one would it be and why?

Probably Flying Dog. They’re local, of course, and everyone I’ve ever met that works there has been both passionate about beer (and not just theirs) and friendly as heck.

4. Are you a homebrewer? If yes, what is the most unique and interesting beer recipes you’ve brewed as a homebrewer?

I’ve dabbled a bit, but I don’t know that I’d call myself a homebrewer. I’m most proud of the ESB that I brewed back in 2000 to celebrate the birth of my first daughter.

5. Do you have any beer certifications (BJCP, Cicerone, Siebel, American Brewers Guild)?? If so, what are they?

No, but my local homebrewing club offers BJCP classes. I’ll take them up on it when I have more free time.

6. What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

My wife’s chili and a nice Snakedog IPA

The Personal Side

1. What is your current day job?

I am a web application developer working at the National Institutes of Health

2. If you could change your career at this very moment, without any restrictions on what you could do, what would you want to do and why?

Jump in an RV and travel the country and write about what I see.

3. Are you married? Children?

Yes and yes, two children.

4. Outside of beer and writing, what are some of your other hobbies?

Too many, probably. Tech geek, gaming, movies, reading, RPGs.

Off The Beaten Path

1. If you were a style of beer, what style would be an why?

English stout. I tend to be a bit dark and murky

2. You were caught smuggling beer illegally, which has now been made punishable by death. Right before you are sent to the executioner, you are offered one last beer. What beer would you chose and why?

Gonzo Imperial Porter. I’m sure Hunter S. Thompson would have a suitable rejoinder for my executioner.

3. If I contracted you to brew a beer (or design a beer recipe) called “The Beer Wench” — what style would you chose and what, if any, extra ingredients would you add?

An old-fashioned heather ale

4. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

Time travel. Not so much to change the past, as to see how things REALLY happened

5. What is one of the craziest things you have ever done and lived to tell the story?

I’ll pass on this one. I’m not sure the statute of limitations has expired.

6. What are your thoughts on bacon?

Love it. I would happily be a vegetarian as long as I could eat bacon.

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALBERT FOR AN AWESOME INTERVIEW!

CHEERS!