Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The '08 Beerdrinker of the Year Award goes to...

Sorry, we won't know the winner until Saturday, February 23rd, which is only a few days away. Oh how the anticipation builds...

However, the Wynkoop Brewing Company's judging panel has picked its three finalists for this prestigous award (which I talked about in a previous post back in October). They are:

Richard Pedretti-Allen, from McKinney, Texas. Richard is a recording producer and three-time BDotY finalist, an avid homebrewer and certified beer judge. So far he's visited 100+ brewpubs in North America, has won sevearl homebrewing awards, and owns over 7000 beer coasters. Dat's a lotta coasters! Oh ya, he's also a member of the Aleuminati.

J Mark Angelus hails from Nehalem, Oregon, and is a semi-retired prosecutor. Aside from being a beer geek and a 2007 BDotY semifinalist, J Mark has sampled 916 beers, visited 68 breweries and attended nine beer festivals. NICE!

Lastly we have Matt Venzke from Yorktown, Virginia. When not mangaing aircraft maintenance maintainers (that profession sounds ripe for a Bud Light Real Men of Genius ad!), Matt travels the globe in search of damn fine beer. He's pounded pints in 454 different breweries in 16 countries and 39 states. Last year alone he logged over 3,000 "brewery visit" miles! Matt is also a member of the Aleuminati.

In less than two weeks these three worthy finalists will be grilled by a judging panel made up of previous BDotY winners and national beer experts. The judges -- as always -- will be dressed in traditional jurist wigs and robes, and will cross-examine each finalist like they were hostile witnesses. Their answers will help determine the 2008 Beerdrinker of the Year.

And Fran and I will be there to record the historic event live and in person!

We have plans to meet up with fellow Aleuminati members Matt and Richard. Special guests (well, special to me anywho) Chris and Meredith Nelson, aka The Traveleing Beer Geek(s) - and fellow Aleuminati members - will also be in attendence! Stevie Chips might also be there chugging whatever stout-a-rrific brews they have on hand... who knows who else might show up!

Will you be going? Let me know!