The Return - One New and One Old Project

Posted by: Stonecipher

Dec. 2, 2013

Funny, it's been almost exactly a year since the last time I posted.  My life has changed quite a bit since that point, mostly for the better, but one of the drawbacks has been that writing about beer has become very difficult.  In part due to time constraints and to a larger degree because I have felt that my current job may create some conflicts of interest.  In all honesty, I am torn on whether or not it is appropriate to publicly discuss exactly what my role is and who I work for.  On one hand, it is only fair to disclose when I am discussing a product that I represent.  On the other hand, I am still simply a fan of craft beer, and still fully capable of subjectively judging the quality of a beer, regardless of whether or not it is one of mine.  So maybe the best approach is to simply give you a heads up if I represent a certain beer that is being reviewed.  Eventually, those of you who don't already know me will be able to figure it out.

With all that said, my reason for getting back into this is twofold.  One, it is simply time for me to start writing about beer in a meaningful way again.  The last few weeks I have been itching to sit down on a quite night with no one else around except for a glass full of beer and a blank page.  Two, I truly want to finish up The Barleywine Project.  I have knocked out 12 beers already and I have written (but not yet posted) two others.  On top of that, at least one of the Barleywines on the list that had gone away for a while is scheduled to come back within the next couple months.

Of course, as it was before, The Barleywine Project will be slow going as obtaining the necessary beer is not always easy (or cheap).  On top of that, I have an ever-expanding cellar that really needs to be thinned out a bit.  So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, the plan is to begin the fourth project here at 20 Beers in 20 Nights - The Cellar Project.  The goal is to drink and review 20 of those beers and compare them to either a brand new review of a fresh one or to one of my Beer Advocate reviews from when it was initially consumed fresh.  I'll provide more details soon, but the beauty of this project is that anytime I find myself with a couple free hours I can post something.  I won't have to worry about whether or not I have a bottle in my fridge or not.

Anyhow, I can't promise that this is the beginning of me diving right back into regular posts, but I do have a desire to move towards that again.  We shall see what happens.  Thanks, as always, for reading.  I look forward to completing an old project and starting anew with #4.