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!

Every once in awhile, I get particularly excited about a blogger interview. This is not because I have blogger bias (how can a mother pick a favorite child?). It is usually a result of a personal attachment to the person being interviewed. In this case, my featured beer blogger is my internet sister. Not only does she own the most kick-ass beer store in the world, she is also an amazing person who has given me so much support along my journey (oh, and she is also UNCOMFORTABLY ENERGETIC). Cheers!

INTRODUCING: JULIE RADCLIFFE ATALLAH

AUTHOR OF: BRUISIN’ ALES BEER BLOG

Beer Blogger Interview

Full name: Julie Radcliffe Atallah
Internet nickname: Who gave me a nickname? Do I need one?
Twitter handle: @bruisinales
Name of blog: Bruisin’ Ales Beer Blog
Current location: Asheville, North Carolina

Background “Snapshot”

1.        Where did you grow up?

Topton, PA. Cows and corn, not enough beer.

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

Volleyball. I wasn’t big into sports, but big into theater and dance.

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

13. Don’t tell my mother.

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

It was a warm Miller High Life that a bunch of us in teenage wasteland commandeered at a picnic with our parents looking the other way. It was terrible. I drank it anyway. Then I threw up.

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

Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania ’94. Double major: BA Communications Theory/Theater & Performing Arts Program. Had a full course-load, took a semester abroad for theater in London, where I discovered cask ale at the age of 19. If I wasn’t studying, I was in rehearsal. I also played rehearsal and pit piano for many productions and taught at a children’s theater workshop for five years. I’m still a drama queen.

Oddly, Muhlenberg is the same alma mater of some dude from a little brewery called Dogfish Head. I think his name is Sam something-or-other. Not sure, though. He’s pretty low-profile.

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 22 with my not-yet-husband, Jason, and we were visiting the newly opened Belgian beer bar in the basement of the Bethlehem Breworks in Bethlehem, PA. I had a De Dolle Bos Keun, the passover beer. I had never had a Belgian beer before. It was the best beer I ever had to date. There is not much more to say. I was speechless. My love for beer actually came through Belgium. It’s a journey continuing to this day.

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

Literally, the day after having De Dolle, we hit-up Shangy’s in Emmaus, PA in search of this beer, having no clue the sheer number of Belgian ales available. At the time, Shangy’s was the largest beer distributor in the Northeast. We met the family that first day with infinite, curious questions, and Mr. Shangy became a beer mentor to us. At the time, La Binchoise Noel had just won the World Beer Cup. He mentioned it was his favorite beer, calling it the “best beer in the world.” We bought a case. I never looked back. I was just out of college, broke, but still managed to get friends to pitch-in for the case of expensive Belgian beer.

The nearby beer bars of Philadelphia opened up a whole new world of craft beer from local breweries like Weyerbacher and Victory. I’m forever indebted to my time sipping on Belgians and American craft in that city. I nearly always miss Philadelphia.

Beer Blog Background

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

Almost four years. Almost.

2.       What inspired you to start writing your blog?

Mostly the business, mixed in with a little bit of angst and writers envy.

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

It serves mostly as an information platform for our customers, outlining local, state, and regional beer happenings; updates on our products; and sometimes a little rant about something I read in the press. It doesn’t serve as a review site and as a shop owner, I try especially hard to avoid that, even if I just drank an other-worldly brew. I hope it facilitates conversation for when people come into the store, where I am, of course, happy to give my opinions in person.

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

Prizes! Sometimes I’ll reference a brewery or beer that is not available to us in North Carolina. Many times a beer traveler will show up with that beer because they  read the blog post. I’m forever amazed at the passion of craft beer people. We want to share and get horribly upset when someone else hasn’t had a beer we loved. The spirit of giving is alive. I really, really love that.

5.       What are you top 3 favorite beer blogs/beer websites?

They’ve changed over the years. I used to be a religious reader of Don Russell’s Joe SixPack because of the ties to Philadelphia. I’ve always been a fan of Brookston Beer Blog, as it started around the time we opened Bruisin’ Ales & was familiar with Jay from Celebrator. Beernews.org is now an indispensable source of beery things. Truthfully, I don’t get a lot of time for reading, but series like this are always a good draw. So, thanks Wenchie for shining a light on others doing god’s work. God’s work is always anything to do with beer. Don’t print that.

Beer Talk

1.        What are your top 3 favorite beer styles?

I hate this question and I’ll tell you why: It’s like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. They want to, but can’t if they have any ounce of conscience. I honestly do not have a favorite beer style or styles. I love all of it. I’m serious.

2.       What is your favorite beer and food pairing?

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth except when I’m enjoying beer. (And I probably get enough sugar on my own from the beer.) So, usually it’s something sweet that is either a contrast or complement to my beer. I’m a sucker for artisan truffles from our local French Broad Chocolate Lounge and can easily disperse them from IPA’s to barleywines.

One of my favorite pairings of recent memory was a  beer dinner where we matched Terrapin “The Dark Side” (Belgian-style stout) with Zambra’s (Chef Adam Bannasch) date-stuffed beignets with espresso ganache, honey creme fraiche and rose petals. All the coffee notes of the beer were drawn out by the espresso while the dark fruit and honey added a sweetness to accompany the Belgian yeast. Working with chefs on beer dinners is one my favorite things on the job. What’s better than food and beer?

The Personal Side

1.        What is your current day job?

I own this little beer store called Bruisin’ Ales. It’s more of a day AND night job.

Bruisin’ Ales was the first beer-only retailer in the Southeast. There are many great beers stores, but few of them feature just beer. We both tired of corporate work and wanted to be closer to family, so after visiting Asheville many times over many years and seeing the growth of breweries and their impact on the local culture, we decided to open a beer store here in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina. It’s truly a labor of love. We have 800+ different beers from around the world (and the corner) at any given time.

Early last year we started shipping nationwide. While it’s not a fully integrated online store (because we’re only two people and two much to manage with retail), we ship to most states across the country, where legal. For a lot of our local breweries, we act as a distribution method for Asheville beer to get out of the regional area. I get warm fuzzies from shipping local beer to Oregon, California, Texas and Maine.

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?

I would go back to grad school, if money, time and location allowed. I had actually planned to be a college professor and desperately wanted to go to The Annenberg School at UPenn after undergrad to study Communications Theory. Life had different plans for me. Now I own a beer store and teach people in different ways. Now I’m a beerlanthropist. (Beer•lan•thro•py® is the registered trademark of Bruisin’ Ales, by the way.)

3.       Are you married? Children?

I’m married to Jason Atallah, my partner in life and business. We’ll be married ten years in November 2010 and have known each other for almost twenty. Our beloved, Bear, a 5-yr-old Black Labrador/Chow  mix is our baby.

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

Travel. Get me somewhere different and cool and I can breathe again. Travel picks me up, switches my perspective and gets me excited about something outside my little life. I truly believe that understanding the world makes you a better person. You have to meet people, though, or it didn’t happen.

Cooking. I love to cook. Jason likes to cook. Sadly, many meals are on take-out these days, but luckily we have tons of local options. But when you get me in the kitchen, look out. Before the business, we used to entertain friends at least once a week, because what is food without sharing? I will take on anything except chicken. Not a fan of chicken.

Yoga. I don’t have the energy for hardcore workouts anymore, so yoga and meditation keep me strong and relaxed. Though I’m guilty of not doing it enough, it is a part of me. Before we opened Bruisin’ Ales, I was enrolled in RYT (registered yoga teacher) training, until the instructor said that to truly embrace the training she asked that everyone abstain from anything that poisons the body. Beer was one of those things. I decided I did not want to teach yoga anymore.

Off The Beaten Path

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

I would be a Wild Ale, surely. I’m spontaneous and sometimes uncontrollable), but I thrive under certain conditions. After all, life is a experiment and sometimes things go wrong. If I hit a sour note, I will open up to everything around me and try again. Usually things turn out just fine. I like to micro-manage and work best in small groups. Sometimes I take a long time to make a decision. But even if my style doesn’t match everyone’s taste, I’m unabashed about trying new things and taking risks.

2.       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?

Lemongrass wheat beer— light and refreshing with just enough tartness. I might throw in a little ginger for your spicy, dry humor.

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

I want to fly. Or be invisible. I want to fly invisibly.

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

When in Rome (literally), I had a sick friend who wanted to stay in instead of accompanying our group to the Vatican. We left the hotel early in the morning, carefully locking the door behind us in small family-owned inn. We spent a full day touring all the museums and sites, including a walk back through the city at nighttime and a great meal in Piazza Rotunda. In an age before cell phones, we returned to the hotel after 10 p.m.—being gone over 14 hours—to no innkeeper and a frantic friend who was locked in the room all day. We had only been issued two keys, both of which we took, but the door was keyed inside and out. She had had no water, food, nor use of a bathroom the entire day. I thought she was going to kill me. She thought I was trying to kill her. It still gives me a good laugh, but it was definitely not cool at the time.

5.       What are your thoughts on bacon?

Funny you should ask, because I think about bacon all the time.

Several bloggers and other internet sources have written posts about the “most influential” or “top” people to follow on Twitter — in specific topics of interest (such as food, wine, social media, etc…)

However, everyone seems to be over looking the beer community. Pssshhhaw. How rude. Us beer geeks can be influential and important too, ya know!

So I thought I’d take the liberty to make my own (COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE) list of the “Top 20 Most Compelling Beer Personalities on Twitter”. What exactly is my credential for creating the lists? Well let us start by defining the word compelling:

com⋅pel⋅ling  [kuhm-pel-ing]
–adjective
1. tending to compel; overpowering: compelling reasons.
2. having a powerful and irresistible effect; requiring acute admiration, attention, or respect: (a man of compelling integrity; a compelling drama)

THE BEER WENCH’S CRITERIA FOR THE TOP 20 MOST COMPELLING BEER PERSONALTIES ON TWITTER:

1. COMPELLING ENOUGH TO FOLLOW: I must follow this person. Unfortunately, this rules out the people I do not follow — which means this list has potential to change in the future.
2. COMPELLING CONTENT: Tweets contain information of value in relation to the craft beer industry. (i.e.: news updates, events, announcements, beer reviews, links to beer related information, etc…)
3. COMPELLING PERSONALITY: Twitter personality is interesting and captivating. There is a person behind the twitter handle — they are more than just a “brand” or a “blog”.
4. COMPELLING CONVERSATION: Community engagers — people who are constantly engaging in conversations with the twitter community (whether it be through retweeting or replies). People who constantly have one way conversations, in my opinion, are not compelling. Talk to me. And I will follow you.
5. COMPELLING FOLLOWER RATIO: Good follower to following ratio. This does not mean they necessarily need to have a huge followership — number of followers is NOT criteria for this particular list. But they need to have at least an equal amount of followers as they are following.

At first, I was going to rank the top twenty followers — based on how well they execute the basic 5 criteria listed above. But, the metrics on that is too complicated for me to deal with at this time — and besides, it would be entirely way to subjective and open for debate. Instead, I’m going to list my TOP TWENTY MOST COMPELLING BEER PERSONALITIES ON TWITTER in a random order. There is no method in my madness (although, it be but madness). The numbers have no relevance to rankings. IGNORE THE NUMBERS.

THE BEER WENCH’S TOP TWENTY MOST COMPELLING BEER PERSONALITIES ON TWITTER

1. @dogfishbeer – Dogfish Head has (hands down) the best brewery brand presence on Twitter. Why? 1. She has a personality. AND a name. In fact, the Dogfish Head Twitter account is Mariah Calagione — aka Sam’s wife. She is constantly retweeting her followers and engaging in conversations. If you send her a question or mention her brand, she responds. Mariah kicks ass.
2. @TheArtofBeer — Tay Shaw is one of the biggest craft beer evangelists on Twitter. She has been known to send (coveted) craft beer all around the country to her followers. She is extremely active in the twitter community and also very entertaining.
3. @Cicerone_Org — Ray Daniels is one of the foremost educators on the subject of beer. He is one of the most brilliant men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in real life. If you need to know something about beer — he is the man to talk to.
4. #gents – AKA @kenoftheyear @DrStarkWeather @SlovakBrewer @hopcast @beerad – These dudes are hiliariously entertaining, but also a wealth of information. They get together on a frequent basis to homebrew and taste beers … and then share all of their experiences on Twitter. They also create entertaining video blogs at Hop-Cast.com Following the hashtag #gents can get addicting …
5. @beerbabe — Besides having a super cool name and really hot avatar, Carla defies the common misperception that women hate beer. She is a huge advocate of females in the beer industry and uses both Twitter and her blog as a platform for expressing her passion.
6. @hookedonwinter – PJ is one of my favorite people to banter with back and forth about beer. He is an awesome homebrewer (I know this for a fact) who is aspiring to turn his passion into a career. Through both Twitter and his blog, PJ encourages others to join his adventure in starting a brewery.
7. @bruisinales – This woman must be a robot, because I swear she never sleeps. Julie can be found on Twitter just about every minute of every day. No really. Her tweets are very entertaining and she provides a lot of great content regarding beer releases, beer events and beer news.
8. @beerandnosh — Even though I only just started following Jesse, he has provided me with a wealth of beer knowledge via Twitter. Jesse is by far one of the best beer photographers out there and I love living vicariously through his photos and tasting notes.
9. @TimWeber & @StephWeber – Rockstar homebrewing couple in the process of getting certified through the American Brewers Guild. They have aspirations to start their own brewpub in the next 5 years. They are very engaging and informative on Twitter. And well, ADORABLE.
10. @ChipperDave — I’ve been following Dave’s blog for some time now. He is well-connected in the beer world and extremely knowledgeable about all things beer. I was lucky enough to meet him in person at GABF.
11. @beerinator – This dude is super talented. Jonathan is a key member of the Beer Mapping Project as well as DRAFT magazine’s Web Director. He is located in Chicago — beer hub — and is extremely engaging and fun to follower.
12. @olllllo – Very talented homebrewer (LOVED his Pro-AM beer at GABF). Works for a brewery in Arizona. Like me, he travels in the name of beer. Great beer knowledge resource.
13. @StoneGreg — Another “brand” that utilizes social media very well. Greg is the owner of Stone Brewing Co. (you know … that small unknown craft brewery …) Although he travels a lot, Greg does a great job of responding to tweets as well as retweeting others.
14. @beersage — Currently runs one of THE best beer news sites out there — beernews.org. He is always tweeting out the most cutting edge beer news … whether it be new releases or beer events, this guy is definitely one of the best beer sources on the web!
15. @newbrewthursday — A collaborative team of (4) funny & cute beer geeks. All dudes. They are hilarious, supportive and very engaging on Twitter. Excited to meet them at San Diego Beer Week.
16. @HomeBrewChef — Chef, brewer, writer, photographer. Sean knows his beer. And on top of that, he makes amazing food — with beer as an ingredient. I’ve had his cookies — trust me, he’s good.
17. @SudsyMaggie — Another femme fatale in the beer industry. Beer blogger, homebrewer & huge beer evangelist, Maggie is freaking ADORABLE. Regardless of whether or not you’ve met her (I have), she is too cute not to love.
18. @BlatzLiquor — Joe runs Blatz Liquor, a super awesome liquor store that has a kickass beer selection. Joe constantly tweets about new releases and specials that his store is featuring … unfortunately for me, I do not live near Milwaukee … otherwise I’d be there everyday.
19. @TeeCycleTim — Contributing author to DRAFT magazine (online). Tim is THE Beer Runner. He writes about staying physically fit while living the life of a beer enthusiast. He is also a big environmentalist and entrepreneur.
20. @brewed4thought — EXTREMELY well-connected beer “geek”… always ahead of the trend. Great blogger, beer event planner and resource for all things beer. Also, THE editorof the “soon-to-be-released” online beer publication on RATEBEER.COM site (where I will be a featured publisher)… stay tuned.

Runners Up and the “Up and Coming” Beer Tweeters):

• @BeerinBaltimore – Don’t let his avatar fool you. Brad does not limit himself to just tweeting about beer in Baltimore. However, he is THE best resource in Baltimore for beer events & beer news.
• @odiedog52 — Brian is absolutely ADORABLE! Super beer geek … just getting into the whole swing of things with Twitter. Currently imprisoned by the Army, but soon to be released. Brian is also the beer editor for Mutineer Magazine.
• @tattoodbrew — Jon is a talented graphic designer by trade, which explains why he has one of the coolest avatars on Twitter. He offsets his beer “geek” image with his badass tattoo obsession and passion for all things music.
• @jchristie — Josh definitely puts the geek in “beer geek.” Where as most people are pairing their beers with food, Josh pairs his with books. He is probably the most adorable book nerd-beer geek on Twitter.
• @bisonbrew — Emerging brewery brand on Twitter. Daniel is dedicated to all things organic and sustainble. Produces awesome beer … and has a down to earth personality.
• @misohungry — Jenni bakes with beer. Her treats are F*ing phenomenal … and I would know. She has baked with me. Great recipes for beer geeks who want to bake with beer!
• @ruinationpress – Tattoo obsessed beer geek and fellow beer blogger. Really engaging on Twitter. Good friend. Knows his shit.
• @beertodd — Brewer of some awesome and unique beers at Copper Canyon in Southfield, Michigan. Super beer activist … and recently released a great viral video in support of the Rock Art Brewery movement.
• @Beervangelist — Owner of New Holland Brewing Co. in Michigan. Only just started following Fred, but already … he is providing me with lots of compelling and valuable content. Fred is on my list of “brands to watch.”
• @sarahhuska — Voted (in a secret ballot) as one of THE hottest beer lovers on Twitter. Many of my guy beer geek friends have a crush on her … and for good reason. She is hot. And she knows her shit about beer.

NOW … before all you Twitter beer connoisseurs out there start crying about not making this list — just remember, this is a subjective list. My list is based on the people I follow, how often I interact with them and the value of their tweets. As far as I know … this list can change over night.

The two best tips I can give to beer personalities on Twitter is 1. BE HUMAN (don’t talk AT my … talk WITH me) … and 2. BE COMPELLING.

CHEERS!