Things have been pretty quiet here lately, with some traveling, legal work, and more recently, work on the new book project. And I expect it’ll be quiet here, a bit of a summer hiatus perhaps. I’m leaving on Thursday for DC to attend the second annual SAVOR event and the promotion for this year’s event has been much quieter than last year. I had some concerns last year over a perceived snobbery attached to the event. This year we haven’t seen any admonitions to “dress to impress” or the like. The Brewers Association has settled on a target market for the event: the national media. All told, it’s a pretty expensive proposition, trying to entice and cajole positive media coverage about craft beer by throwing a pricey, money losing event. SAVOR also has the side effect of propelling beers’ place in the thoughts of our nation’s leaders. In a time when beer is threatened with ever increasing taxes, securing beer as a positive beverage may be worth twice SAVOR’s price tag. In any event, I look forward to the event and to seeing whether DC’s beer scene (and pricing) has improved.
On an entirely unrelated note, the Wall Street Journal has an interesting blog post up right now (thanks to Maureen Ogle for pointing it out to me) about the ethics of wine writing as it relates to Robert Parker, known for his Wine Advocate. In light of some of the discussions we’ve had here, it’s worth a read.
UPDATE: It appears I was a little quick on the axing of the Dress to Impress line for SAVOR. We’ll let the event speak for itself this year.
3 thoughts on “SAVOR, Beer Writing and Ethics, Totally Unrelated Topics In This Post…”
Andy, why are you going to SAVOR if this event obviously irritates you so much?
Incidentally, the DC beer scene’s not bad. Try Rustico. Try Magnolias at the Mill. Try Tap & Vine.
Oh, that would involve leaving the District, wouldn’t it?
Sheesh.
Andy:
So, was it too ritzy for you? Looked like a bunch of guys in khakis and button-downs, and a bunch of women in sundresses to me . . . just a good relaxed time with excellent beer. The food rocked, too — oyster bar? Cheese bar? YES.
OK, so the guy working the Allagash booth in the scarlet suit was a little formal.
My winner: Foothills Brewery out of Winston-Salem — the Hoppyums (sp?) IPA and the Sexual Chocolate stout.
My crew of 10 thought it was a GREAT event, and we’ll be back next year . . . if you took a snobby vibe from this event, you’ve got a weird definition of snobby.
Hey M-
Not sure where you’re divining all the negativity in that last post, especially when I haven’t had a chance to even way in on this year’s event. This year’s event was a strong (and improved) showing. It was a smart event, very focused and not trying to overachieve in any respect. I’ll have some thoughts on the event and Metro DC’s beer scene (as a bit of a FYI – I’ve been to Rustico several times, including Sunday, and have written pretty extensively about Old Dominion and other locations outside the District, my criticisms in the past have related to the District itself) in a few days as I’ve just returned home. And while the Sexual Chocolate was solid, you’re off-base on the Hoppyum…
Best,
Andy