Manland is a site that has really supported us, especially for knowing us such a brief time. We have a banner on their site and the picture you see is one of the blog owners sporting the best shirt that ever existed (it’s our shirt). So many people are helping us to become a better and more popular blog.
There are too many to thank, but I’ll mention one more specifically: Briang. That’s all I know about this person. I search for our site on Google once in a while to see where we stand. When I noticed we were on slickdeals.com in a discussion thread, I just had to look. How humbling, how shocking, and gratifying to see something that I wrote what seems like a long time ago as someone’s quote on the thread. I tried to comment on the thread to thank this person but found that I had restricted access…why register at all? Anyway, I want to tell you, Briang, that I am thrilled and gratified that you considered something I said as quote worthy. The quote itself had to do with the nature of beer being more than an inebriate and with beer drinkers waking up to the experience of drinking good beer.
I am continually humbled when I see that our site is spread around by people who love it. It’s crazy where you see your site on the internet. I think Nate will agree. Thank all of you so much for all that you do…you make our site. I can’t say enough how great it is to have good and faithful readership. (I can’t believe someone quoted me. Wow!)
briang here… you’re comment was posted and i replied. i think they do that to just cut back on spammers. but anyway, it was a great quote that i feel captures why we love beer. it stuck out to me and figured it was worthy to repeat. heck, i think it belongs on a t-shirt or somethin’!
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Keep writing the good content and people will find you! Personally, I’ve learned a lot by reading what you and Nate write, and I’m not afraid to admit that. I’m sure there’s many, many more as well who just don’t comment or whatever, but just keep doing what you’re doing!
Going to have to check out this Mansite now before the boss gets in!
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Brian,
Maybe we could put that on a thankheavenforbeer t-shirt. You might want to check the thank heaven for beer store for it occasionally. I really appreciate you chiming in and spread our message by the quote.
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Thanks for saying so Scott. You’ve been a real part of spreading the word about us and helping us to be more successful. We are truly blessed with some serious support.
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Hey Mike/Nate:
Wow … thanks for posting the picture of me at the Sierra Brewfest! Your shirt was very popular.
Honestly, we at Manland have been supportive of this site because both you and Nate are down to earth, real guys who love beer. I honestly can’t connect with most beer sites that describe beers that are described as chlorophenolic, acetaldehyde, solvent-like, astringent, etc … Both you and Nate have a way of letting us know exactly what a beer tastes like in real-world lingo.
Your postings on Manland have encouraged me through my own beer tastings/reviews to expand my beer boundaries. I have gone from a beer zombie who always bought the same ol’ beer on the weekends, to someone who strolls through the beer aisle in every store “just to take a peek.” Oatmeal Stouts, Porters, IPAs, WitBiers, and even Belgian-style brews are in my beer fridge now. So I hoist one to both of you for helping to educate while not being too judgmental of the macro crowd!
And to think that I am also considering home brewing!
Here’s to continued success to you both!
Scott (aka Manland North!)
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No problem homie! It’s the very least I can do for all the support that you give us. I’m excited that you enjoy our site so much.
Here’s the thing. I could say a beer has Diacetyl or whatever technical terms that I could use to describe the various features of a beer. But I could also say that it has butterscotch tones. Which one is more functional in the real world? Here is the deal: We care about the average and un-average beer drinker. Who gives two shits about descriptive terms. Those terms are only meaningful to those who know and understand them. In that case, what are you actually telling people that they don’t already know? This isn’t a frat with specialized language…this is the real world of beer drinkers. That doesn’t mean that I don’t pepper the site with those terms. But, we do try to define those terms when we use. If someone learns them, great!
I learned long ago that using big words aren’t as important as using meaningful words. My theological education taught me to speak to people and not to assume what they know or don’t know. Terms that I learned through 6 years of study were unaccessible to most people. The only trade off is to use more words to say the same thing…but people understand what you are saying. Maybe they don’t say, “that guy is so smart”. What they do say is, “I get it”. That’s what we want. I’m so happy for you that you are drinking new stuff…more than I am for us.
We do say some stuff about the macro beers but try to avoid making it personal against those people. What we do try to do is push and encourage them from where they are at. I’m exceedingly glad that we have challenged your perception of beer (thanks for the reference to our “don’t be a beer Zombie” article.
Do yourself a favor and brew. You have to try it. We need to hook up before too long. You can try some home brew. I want to point out a couple more posts if you haven’t already read them. By the way, we hoist ‘em up for you guys, too. These posts are about the work that it take to get people to taste new stuff.
http://thankheavenforbeer.com/2009/03/02/beer-vangelism-101-methods-for-converting-the-heathen-beer-drinker/
http://thankheavenforbeer.com/2009/03/07/beer-phemisms-a-guide-to-the-highly-euphemistic-and-codified-language-of-beer-reviews/
http://thankheavenforbeer.com/2009/06/26/putting-my-money-where-my-mouth-is-reflections-on-my-first-beer-tasting-party/
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