Steve Koenemann

2009 in a Nutshell

As 2009 winds down in a big holiday rush, I thought that I would take a look back at a few of the things that were important to me during my 54^th year. Perhaps this last year could best be described using the Charles Dickens’ saying, “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times”, for it was a very eventful year.

The Good

So far in 2009, I have added 189 new beers to my RateBeer collection (currently at 920), which is a bit ahead of my pace over the last 6 years. From a rating perspective these beers ranged from a high of 4.4 (Stone 12^th Anniversary Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout ) to a low of 1.2 (Bobcat Cafe Wee Heavy Scotch Ale). If you look beyond the ratings, however, these 189 new beers on my list really (and more importantly) represent a collection of experiences; some of which were shared with close friends or family and many of which were done solo, but enjoyed none the less because of that. I can honestly say that I enjoyed tasting all of these beers, even the ones that I did not rate very highly. The Wee Heavy at the Bobcat Cafe, for example, was shared at the brewpub in beautiful downtown Bristol, Vermont along with an excellent dinner with my wife and two grown children during one of our early holiday shopping forays this fall. While that one bad beer gives my son and I something to joke about now and then (other brews at this pub were excellent, BTW), it will always be remembered in the context of the really good time that all of us had that day.

My real journey into the craft beer world began with my eyes being opened by my first taste of Ommegang Abbey Ale while staying near Cooperstown (NY); that event started me down the path of discovering many new beer styles and beer flavors which I hadn’t known existed before that point in time. My subsequent discovery of the RateBeer Web site in early 2004, where I found great pleasure in keeping track of the various new beers I was trying, in sharing my own opinions about what I liked (or not) about each new beer and in reading what other people liked (or not) about the beer that I had just tried. Thanks Joe T, for giving me a place to record both my beer memories and some really excellent personal experiences!

The Bad

Craft brewing lost one its beloved pioneers in October this year. Greg Noonan, author and inspiration to both home and professional brewers alike, passed away peacefully at his home after a brief battle with cancer. Greg was the author of many books; most notable of which was probably his iconic “Brewing Lager Beer” ,originally written in 1986 and then updated in 2003. This book became the de facto “handbook” for startup brewpubs in the 80′s/90′s and, no doubt, still carries some weight for those looking to get into that business today. I personally benefited from his book “Seven Barrel Brewery Brewers’ Handbook” when I was first beginning to brew my own beer years ago. As a transplanted Vermonter (from Massachusetts), Greg started Vermont’s very first brewpub, The Vermont Pub & Brewery, in Burlington in 1988. The story of this goes much deeper, however, than Greg simply opening this business. Before he could even open this downtown Burlington landmark, he spent 3 years lobbying the Vermont Legislature to legalize brewpubs in this state. Greg’s friendly manner and willingness to share his considerable knowledge of beer and of life inspired many many people in the beer industry. I have written before of my favorite brewpub,The Alchemist, in nearby Waterbury, VT. John Kimmich, owner/brewer at this award winning establishment, learned his brewing art and served as head brewer at Noonan’s Vermont Pub & Brewery for a number of years.

People like Greg do not come along everyday and, while the person known as Greg Noonan has finally left the brewpub for the last time, through his books and the people that he shared his life with, Greg’s legacy will last much, much longer…

The Really Ugly

For many people the continuing economic problems were their only real focus of the last year. Unemployment in the US has hovered around the 10% mark for much of the year and as of the end of November approximately 15.4 million people here in the US, nearly 5% of our current total population, were without work. The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), a measure of people’s degree of optimism or outlook in the US economy, while up from the 30′s earlier in the year, has hovered around 50 for much of the end of this year. This in stark contrast to a CCI above 100 before the current recession began in late 2007. By many accounts, lots of people have lost a third or more of the equity built up in their retirement funds and housing during this recession.

According to a recent USDA study, 49 million Americans (17 million children) are “food insecure”; meaning that they were at risk of hunger. Perhaps more alarming than this very large number is the fact that only a year ago a similar study indicated that “only” about 36 million people fell into this same category… this is an increase of over 36% in one year! Foodbanks, community kitchens and food shelves are being stretched to their limit by this huge increase in the demand for their services. It is a sad commentary that, in this great country of bounty and excess, we could allow so many people to be without enough to eat every day.

The light of hope, however, shines here too. America has never been known as a nation of “quitters” and a rally is already underway to provide aid to all of these hungry people. Organizations big and small; from the Feeding America association of food banks to churches, civil organizations and the “average” person, the call is out to provide whatever aid or assistance they can to meet this massive challenge. ALL of us can help in this effort by supporting these national and local efforts to feed the hungry. Give the gift of a full stomach this holiday season and become personally active in the ongoing effort to “Make Having Enough Food a Right, Not a Privilege”.

Hope for the Future

If you look at the last year and some of what I have written above, it would be easy to imagine that all is gloom and doom and be depressed about the future of the next year. Being the “half full” guy that I am, I see much to look forward to in the coming year. The economy is improving, albeit slowly, and along with that the employment picture, the outlook on the economy and people’s personal financial situation will all begin their long climb back to more normal levels. Here in Vermont we only have 4 or 5 more months of winter weather left (sigh) until the sun and the warmer weather comes back for a (short) few months. There is always the question of beer, of course… the top rater on RateBeer has recorded over 15,000 ratings to date, compared to my 920. While I don’t think that it would be a good idea for me to reach for such a lofty number in the coming year, I will definitely be looking forward to adding to my “life experiences” though the wonder of beer tasting… a 1,000 should be easy… do I foresee a 1,200 in my future? Hard to tell, but I do expect this next year to be full of events for me to enjoy along the way and share with all of you at this time next year.

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.

Username (required) :
Email (required) :
Web Site :
Comment :

CAPTCHA Code *