Jade

I say to Josh, good on you man, for promoting the stereotype of the 2011-2012 forum troll and bashing a well credited and much respected woman of craft beer.

To Ashely, as a blogger on the east coast I can easily debunk any of “Josh’s” bashings toward you. We all have haters and while you, me and beer bloggers alike are promoting community, some people perceive it as selfishness I guess. We don’t have time to stop for haters. Let them be heard, respond once, and let your dedicated readers do the rest.

Cheers and have fun this week!
Brian
Seacoast Beverage Lab

You missed your mark by a mile. If you’re going to pull the trigger, make sure you know what you are shooting at.

Since you choose not to list your credentials, here are mine. I am a beer geek/nerd/enthusiast, home brewer, home brew shop employee and most recently commercial brewer. I refuse to claim that I know everything (although I can spell please and know the difference between to and two), I am always learning, and I listen before I speak.

I have had the extreme pleasure to get to know Ashley personally over the last year or so, and in that time, I have learned a lot from her. She is incredibly passionate about the craft beer community and looks for every opportunity to learn more from any one she can. She is an incredible advocate for the craft beer industry and looks for every chance she can to help the community grow.

She gets to know people in the business, and I don’t just mean by association, or at events. She gets to KNOW people. Who they are, what they are about, what makes them tick, and she pushes that knowledge out to the masses so they can get to know them as well. If she gushes about Pliny, you can be damn sure that she has probably had a lengthy conversation with Vinnie Cilurzo about that beer. Or any other beer and brewer she is fond of.

I have never known her to speak disparagingly about others in the community, even if she doesn’t agree with their opinions. She takes the broader view. She is well respected in the craft beer community for her efforts and passion. I have never once heard anyone speak disparagingly of her. Not once. People seek her out for her opinions and view points. That is pretty rare.

She has the skills to pay the bills. She has worked in way more facets of the craft beer industry (which she elucidated on), and even the wine industry, than I can ever hope to touch. Yet she does not flaunt this experience or brag about herself. If there is something she can not speak to intelligently, you can bet she will be on the phone/e-mail/text message with someone who does in short order to learn what she does not know. If in a conversation, she can share something with you that you may not know, she does so willingly and with a passion to share her experience. It’s never condescending or lecturing, she just wants to share.

In the end, she does not need me to defend her. She is quite a capable lady in this regard. Tougher than many men I know. Regardless, I throw this out there, because like a great many people in the craft beer community, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for her as well as for what she does for this community because she truly loves it.

There is a sci-fi/fantasy book by Joel Rosenberg I read many, many years ago. In it, there is a character, Walter Slovotsky, who has a great many proverbs that he slings about. The one that has stuck with me two decades later goes something like this:

“When you know not where of you speak, your mouth is best used for chewing.”

Good advice in your case I think.

Sincerely,

Duke Geren