Farewell, KC Beer Blog!
When I started writing on the blog, no brewery had opened in KC in the previous five years and more breweries had closed in the previous 17 years than had opened. We had just emerged from the worst recession in almost 100 years in the US. And the week before I started writing on the blog, Boulevard got bought out by Duvel Moortgat.
Even though that was a dark time in KC, I never lost hope about brewing here. And looking back over the past 5 years, I was right to stay positive. Since I started writing on the blog, 34 breweries have opened, quadrupling the number in the metro. And speaking of Boulevard--yes, there were some growing pains after the buyout, but I think they're a better brewery today than they ever have been.
Even though we've had some bad news lately with a couple of high profile brewery closings, the future of brewing in KC is bright. There are 12 new breweries planned for opening in 2019 (including Transport Brewing that just opened last weekend!). And as a further sign of the times, the KC Bier Meisters competition maxed out it's number of entries again this year at 600 homebrews entered.
The KC Beer Blog has also gone through a lot in the past 5 years. In that time, we grew to having more than 6,500 followers on social media, hosted over 20 different contributors, and are on our 3rd website. Since I started on the blog, I've written about 100,000 words on this site. A book is officially considered a novel if it has more than 40,000 words.
For the 2 1/2 novels I've written for the blog, I've never been paid a single dime (ok, so I did get a few free beer festival tickets but let's be honest--the beer festivals around here are pretty cheap). But it was never about making money--this was all for the love of beer. All I wanted was to help keep the community connected, educate people about KC beer, and push for higher quality and more varied beer in the city.
One thing I am very proud of in my time here is the change of the tone of the blog. I'm specifically referring to an inclusive tone where all drinkers are welcome--especially female drinkers. Dig too deep in the early days of the blog and you might find some rather distasteful things. This was true in the entire craft brewing community, so the blog was just a sign of the times. But I've been very intentional over the years to write in a way that everyone feels comfortable being part of the community.
As rewarding as it has been writing for you all over the years, it's time for me to hang up the spurs. With a growing family, more work responsibility, and a greater desire to brew more beer rather than write about it, I've found that I no longer have the time to devote to the blog that I used to.
So now there's a new sheriff in town. Mr. Brett A. Myces will be taking over editorial duties on the blog, with a few familiar contributors staying on to help him out. Mr. Myces has been doing an excellent job with his posts, and I'm sure will continue to entertain and inform us all. Try not to give him too much shit.
But it's not like I'm dying--if you want to look me up, I finally created my own Twitter account (so I don't keep using the KCBB twitter account as my own personal account...) @EpicureanJay
Tweets by EpicureanJay
Even though that was a dark time in KC, I never lost hope about brewing here. And looking back over the past 5 years, I was right to stay positive. Since I started writing on the blog, 34 breweries have opened, quadrupling the number in the metro. And speaking of Boulevard--yes, there were some growing pains after the buyout, but I think they're a better brewery today than they ever have been.
Even though we've had some bad news lately with a couple of high profile brewery closings, the future of brewing in KC is bright. There are 12 new breweries planned for opening in 2019 (including Transport Brewing that just opened last weekend!). And as a further sign of the times, the KC Bier Meisters competition maxed out it's number of entries again this year at 600 homebrews entered.
The KC Beer Blog has also gone through a lot in the past 5 years. In that time, we grew to having more than 6,500 followers on social media, hosted over 20 different contributors, and are on our 3rd website. Since I started on the blog, I've written about 100,000 words on this site. A book is officially considered a novel if it has more than 40,000 words.
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| Evolution of a beer blog logo. |
For the 2 1/2 novels I've written for the blog, I've never been paid a single dime (ok, so I did get a few free beer festival tickets but let's be honest--the beer festivals around here are pretty cheap). But it was never about making money--this was all for the love of beer. All I wanted was to help keep the community connected, educate people about KC beer, and push for higher quality and more varied beer in the city.
One thing I am very proud of in my time here is the change of the tone of the blog. I'm specifically referring to an inclusive tone where all drinkers are welcome--especially female drinkers. Dig too deep in the early days of the blog and you might find some rather distasteful things. This was true in the entire craft brewing community, so the blog was just a sign of the times. But I've been very intentional over the years to write in a way that everyone feels comfortable being part of the community.
As rewarding as it has been writing for you all over the years, it's time for me to hang up the spurs. With a growing family, more work responsibility, and a greater desire to brew more beer rather than write about it, I've found that I no longer have the time to devote to the blog that I used to.
So now there's a new sheriff in town. Mr. Brett A. Myces will be taking over editorial duties on the blog, with a few familiar contributors staying on to help him out. Mr. Myces has been doing an excellent job with his posts, and I'm sure will continue to entertain and inform us all. Try not to give him too much shit.
But it's not like I'm dying--if you want to look me up, I finally created my own Twitter account (so I don't keep using the KCBB twitter account as my own personal account...) @EpicureanJay
Tweets by EpicureanJay
