A Wench and A Beer Guy Sit At A Bar
Today it is my extreme pleasure to greet DAVE BARDALLIS, beer blogger, columnist, fellow author and KING of the fiction blurb (without him Good Faith's blurb would be something like "bllluuurrrrgggaaaahhhh….just the read the damn thing already").
Without further ado….over to Dave:
Welcome to my beer bar, David! What can I pour for you to start?
How about that marvelous Czech Pilsner, which if I had my way you’d have on tap all the time? Make it a big one.
Naturally. Oh look at that. You drained the last keg. How appropriate! (shoots evil eye to grumbling down the rail by others who wanted some too, turns to Dave, bats eyelashes and leans on elbow to continue)
Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to be a craft beer expert?
First I have to say that I shy away from the word “expert.” I’m so not. Just because I drink a lot of beer (and have this finely chiseled body to show for it), it doesn’t make me some sort of guru. Of course, I do have my opinions, which anyone unfortunate enough to sit on the barstool next to me after I’ve had a few can attest to. But “expert”? I know too many truly brilliant beer minds – like our mutual Wolverine head brewer friend Oliver Roberts – to put myself in their ranks.
My life as “The Beer Guy” came about fairly accidentally. In 2009 I got laid off from the cube farm and spent a few months wondering what was next. As luck would have it, the local newspaper was re-inventing itself as an Internet site with a twice-weekly print paper and was looking for writers to take on local subjects of interest. I said, “Hey, why don’t you have someone write about our great beer scene?” They said, “Why don’t YOU write about this great beer scene?” And just like that, I became a newspaper columnist, which served as the basis for other writing gigs and, finally, the book that is taking Ann Arbor by storm. Storm, I say!
Beer as a subject came naturally to me since I had been avidly drinking it since before the government would have approved. My eldest brother, a homebrewer turned professional brewer with plans to open his own place, had a lot to do with my beer development. So I blame him for making me fat. Thanks a lot, Mike.
(editorial aside: Mike and his amazing wife-who-is-sorta-my-hero Annette May, Cicerone: I want you next! We’ll talk…)
We go way back. Eons. Well, OK, three or four years now.
Have to believe we are magic.
Well, I’m certain I am….
What did you think when you first heard about the Wolverine State Brewing Company and/or this “Beer Wench” person who was running her mouth about it?
Back in those dark days before this here beer bar existed, all I – and anyone else – knew of Wolverine beer was the bottled product in local stores that was contract brewed by a nameless and now-defunct brewery. The brutal truth is that I thought it sucked, and so did everyone else in my beer-drinking circle. So when this mysterious Beer Wench began making noises about a taproom, I was skeptical. Then I met her and the kickass brewer she hired, tasted said kickass brewer’s first efforts (a Baltic porter, as I recall), and immediately became a convert. From that point on, I made sure to tell other skeptics and anyone who would listen that they would most definitely want to check the place out when it opened. I believe history has vindicated my excellent judgment.
Key point: “met her” (first). How could you doubt me after that?
Oh dang, empty glass. That will never do. What would you like to have next?
I know football season is over, but I’d like a Big House Brown Ale. Sure, it hasn’t been on tap for months, but you said I could order whatever virtual beer I wanted.
Oh shit Dave and you were doing so well….tsk tsk tsk. I’m afraid that I shall now have to spank you. It’s a “lager.” “Lah-gurrr” Recalling of course that it what we “do” around here….so yeah, here drink yer Big House Brown LAGER (lager). Now, moving on.
You have recently released a book that, while it does not focus 100% on me and MY brewery, is a pretty cool history lesson and current state-of-affairs reflection on the craft beer scene in Ann Arbor. Tell us about it.
You mean Ann Arbor Beer: A Hoppy History of Tree Town Brewing, available on Amazon and in reputable local establishments, including this very beer bar? It’s the most carefully researched and best written book on the beer and brewing history of our fair city. And don’t let the little detail that it’s the only book on the subject obscure that fact.
Wench Liz and 2 of her fav beer dudes. You know that other guy, right? No? Well, he's an author too! Fred Bueltmann, marketing director/partner at New Holland Brewing and author of the Beervangelist's Guid to the Galaxy and soon to be victim…guest….here at the bar conversation series!
Ann Arbor, like many other older American cities, has a long and fascinating history with the amber liquid, especially thanks to the heavy historical German immigration to our area. Everyone knows that where there’s Germans, there’s beer. But the book also weaves more recent pop culture into the narrative, including beer-related stories featuring two of Ann Arbor’s favorite sons, Bob Seger and Iggy Pop. And, of course, it covers the current resurgence of local brewing, of which Wolverine is a large part.
Was it fun writing it? I remember you sitting at this very bar bitching and moaning about the research then shuffling off to do some. What part of the process did you enjoy the most? The least?
For me, writing isn’t fun, it’s work, and often hard work at that. I tend to agree with Dorothy Parker or whoever the hell it was who said, “I don’t like to write; I like to have written.” There’s an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from putting together a published work, whether it’s a blog post or a whole book, but the process of getting there is, as you well know, far from automatic.
When a lot of people think of “writing,” they think only of sitting down and typing words into a computer (or, more prosaically, on a typewriter). That’s only part of it. As you mention, there’s the research, which may range from spending hours in front of the dreaded microfilm machine to calling, emailing, and/or visiting total strangers to ask them impertinent questions. There’s the organization and compilation of all that information; deciding what it is you need and jettisoning what’s unusable; translating all of it into readable prose; editing, polishing, and proofreading said prose; acquiring illustrations (and permissions to use them) if necessary; and completely ignoring your friends and family to do all the foregoing according to a crazy deadline. I’m tired just remembering it all. Obviously the process for fiction is a bit different than for nonfiction, but if anyone thinks there’s no research involved in fiction, they’ve never tried to write a novel.
All that said, I’d much rather write about beer than get a real job.
Oh…sorry, fell asleep there for a skosh…..but what is this “typewriter” you speak of? Oh, wait, I know what I was pondering while listening to your answer. A quote that makes me think of your book:“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston Churchill
One of my fondest memories of you (and I have a fair few including our pouring gigs at the MGoPatio) is the Sunday I was working the bar so that my staff could attend our annual Tigers game outing. You sat right about where you are now, watching me curse and pull out my hair over a blurb I was trying to write for my recently released novel Good Faith. I finally said, “Here, see if this interests you at all." Between us we molded that sucker into a sweet set of words for that novel. You up for that writing collaboration yet, Beer Guy?
Seems to me like you’ve already got the beer and sex book thing nailed down. What could I possibly contribute?
Gah! I do NOT write “Sex books”….ok, more spankings. And yeah, some of my books have beer and sex in them. But with a plot, so if you don’t require that, I guess you should stick to the internet sites.
Gonna write any more beer books? Tell us all about what's in your secret WIP file.
Well, there’s that 50,000 words of an unfinished novel I wrote 10 years ago. Come to think of it, it does feature a fair amount of beer and sex. Write what you know, they say.
Did you feel that? No, seriously. **clutches Dave’s arm and closes eyes**And like that ladies and gents, a writing partnership is born…maybe…well, let’s say I’m gonna take a gander at Uncle Dave’s book that includes a fair amount of beer and sex. If I like his unfinished novel….which I’m guessing I will…stay tuned. I’m fairly sure the Liz and Dave show (collaboration) will be something you won’t wanna miss….and will include topics near and dear to your heart (plus beer and sex)
random potentially inspiring photo….
And for your nightcap?
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby.
You are redeemed (and I am pretty sure it was the spanking).Thanks for hanging out with me Dave. As I say (a lot): you rock. Thanks for all your amazing support on all fronts for yours truly plus that “go us” moment just now. We’ll make ‘em sit up and take notice, won’t we?
be sure and pick up Dave’s book (especially after you read MY review below): Click here to buy it on Amazon OR better yet, stop by the Wolverine State Brewing Co Tap Room and pick up your copy!
Back cover copy:“The Best Beer You Can Drink”– from an 1899 ad for the Ann Arbor Brewing Company
Ann Arbor has always been a beer-loving town. From the establishment of the first commercial brewery in 1838 through a century of German immigration down to today’s local craft brew boom, the amber liquid looms large in Tree Town’s quirky past and present. Find out how beer helped a former University of Michigan professor win a Nobel Prize. Discover the Ann Arbor doctor whose nationally bestselling home remedy book featured ale recipes. Learn which Michigan football legend pounded brewskis as part of his training regimen. Covering the exploits of famous poets, performers, and prohibitionists, local author David Bardallis pops the cap off the big beer history of this little college town and leads readers to “the best beer you can drink” in Ann Arbor today.
Official bio:David Bardallis writes regular beer columns for MLive.com and Great Lakes Brewing News and is a frequent contributor to Michigan Beer Guide. A lifelong Michigander, longtime craft beer drinker and occasional homebrewer, he lives in Ann Arbor, where he works as a freelance writer and editor when not visiting the local bars and breweries. More of his beer writing can be found at his blog, annarborbeer.com, and on mittenbrew.com. Follow him on Facebook at "All the Brews Fit to Pint" or Twitter at @allthebrews.
Liz's Review:
It's not a huge secret that I read mostly fiction but have been known to wander over into the realm of non-fiction at times. I read a fair number of beer-centric books and have enjoyed Brewing up a Business, Beer Blast, the aforementioned Beervangelist's Guide to the Galaxy, Beer in America, the Early Years and many others. I'm a big fan of books that show the development of the culture of beer as a woman's work as part of hearth and home through the industrialization of the product and back around to today with more and more women becoming home brewers AND head brewers at various crafters. (and still seek a definitive tome on that subject…makes a note for a future project). It's a lovely full circle.
But I prefer my nonfiction books to be not like trying to chew my way through a loaf of dry toast. Which, unfortunately, many of them are. When it's a necessary chore, it provokes nightmares of "textbooks" and "Aristotle" and "the poetry section of Senior English Lit Required for Matriculation."
One of the first books I found that combined my love of a subject (in that case: football) and writing skill that made it feel as if I were reading a novel (despite the fact that I lived through the main sections of it here, in Ann Arbor, watching it unfold like the proverbial train wreck) was " Three and Out:
Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football" by Ann Arbor's own John U. Bacon. He visited with us back in March and he has a new book out. I hope to have him across the beer bar if I can convince him I am not as bitchy as he thinks I am! I touted this book to the high heavens for anyone even moderately interested in college football in general or the juggernaut that is Michigan football specifically. (and I still want to collab with him on the Rick Pitino story….but again, gotta lure him back to my lair, which may prove difficult!).
(egregiously sucking up and saying "come back John!" Wench loves you…." and a look at the line up for the March Madness Party in the Tap Room last year)
When I started reading Dave's book "Ann Arbor Beer: A Hoppy History of Tree Town Brewing" I had a similar experience. Dave's style of writing is completely addictive, and while I do admit a fondness for his subject, I felt that even if I only possessed a passing interest in anything relative to Ann Arbor's history or the history of craft beer in a mid western town, I would be drawn in.
I read the book in 2 sittings, smiling a lot, laughing out loud at parts (helps that I know some of these "characters" but still….) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable reading experience about the "hot topic" of "craft beer" but also to learn more about its place in the history of a Major College Town.
It moves smoothly from the pre-prohibition through the redemption of America thanks to the 21st Amendment and into the craft beer revolution in hippie town (yeah, I can say that) and into the current state of affairs in Tree Town for we brewery owners and our "up yours" to the industrial macros.
Yes, it is non-fiction but thanks to the talent of the author, forget the dry toast, and enjoy this book like the fine, rich, hand crafted brew that it is.
Well done David! An official 5-Lager Review!
And lest you Liz fans think I lack for inspiration in my beer world, you should check out my new "sous chef" whose official nickname now is "Sir" for reasons you will discover once I post His "story" (bio, you know.)mmm hmm….
Without further ado….over to Dave:
Welcome to my beer bar, David! What can I pour for you to start?
How about that marvelous Czech Pilsner, which if I had my way you’d have on tap all the time? Make it a big one.
Naturally. Oh look at that. You drained the last keg. How appropriate! (shoots evil eye to grumbling down the rail by others who wanted some too, turns to Dave, bats eyelashes and leans on elbow to continue)
Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to be a craft beer expert?
First I have to say that I shy away from the word “expert.” I’m so not. Just because I drink a lot of beer (and have this finely chiseled body to show for it), it doesn’t make me some sort of guru. Of course, I do have my opinions, which anyone unfortunate enough to sit on the barstool next to me after I’ve had a few can attest to. But “expert”? I know too many truly brilliant beer minds – like our mutual Wolverine head brewer friend Oliver Roberts – to put myself in their ranks.
My life as “The Beer Guy” came about fairly accidentally. In 2009 I got laid off from the cube farm and spent a few months wondering what was next. As luck would have it, the local newspaper was re-inventing itself as an Internet site with a twice-weekly print paper and was looking for writers to take on local subjects of interest. I said, “Hey, why don’t you have someone write about our great beer scene?” They said, “Why don’t YOU write about this great beer scene?” And just like that, I became a newspaper columnist, which served as the basis for other writing gigs and, finally, the book that is taking Ann Arbor by storm. Storm, I say!
Beer as a subject came naturally to me since I had been avidly drinking it since before the government would have approved. My eldest brother, a homebrewer turned professional brewer with plans to open his own place, had a lot to do with my beer development. So I blame him for making me fat. Thanks a lot, Mike.
(editorial aside: Mike and his amazing wife-who-is-sorta-my-hero Annette May, Cicerone: I want you next! We’ll talk…)
We go way back. Eons. Well, OK, three or four years now.
Have to believe we are magic.
Well, I’m certain I am….
What did you think when you first heard about the Wolverine State Brewing Company and/or this “Beer Wench” person who was running her mouth about it?
Back in those dark days before this here beer bar existed, all I – and anyone else – knew of Wolverine beer was the bottled product in local stores that was contract brewed by a nameless and now-defunct brewery. The brutal truth is that I thought it sucked, and so did everyone else in my beer-drinking circle. So when this mysterious Beer Wench began making noises about a taproom, I was skeptical. Then I met her and the kickass brewer she hired, tasted said kickass brewer’s first efforts (a Baltic porter, as I recall), and immediately became a convert. From that point on, I made sure to tell other skeptics and anyone who would listen that they would most definitely want to check the place out when it opened. I believe history has vindicated my excellent judgment.
Key point: “met her” (first). How could you doubt me after that?
Oh dang, empty glass. That will never do. What would you like to have next?
I know football season is over, but I’d like a Big House Brown Ale. Sure, it hasn’t been on tap for months, but you said I could order whatever virtual beer I wanted.
Oh shit Dave and you were doing so well….tsk tsk tsk. I’m afraid that I shall now have to spank you. It’s a “lager.” “Lah-gurrr” Recalling of course that it what we “do” around here….so yeah, here drink yer Big House Brown LAGER (lager). Now, moving on.
You have recently released a book that, while it does not focus 100% on me and MY brewery, is a pretty cool history lesson and current state-of-affairs reflection on the craft beer scene in Ann Arbor. Tell us about it.
You mean Ann Arbor Beer: A Hoppy History of Tree Town Brewing, available on Amazon and in reputable local establishments, including this very beer bar? It’s the most carefully researched and best written book on the beer and brewing history of our fair city. And don’t let the little detail that it’s the only book on the subject obscure that fact.
Wench Liz and 2 of her fav beer dudes. You know that other guy, right? No? Well, he's an author too! Fred Bueltmann, marketing director/partner at New Holland Brewing and author of the Beervangelist's Guid to the Galaxy and soon to be victim…guest….here at the bar conversation series!Ann Arbor, like many other older American cities, has a long and fascinating history with the amber liquid, especially thanks to the heavy historical German immigration to our area. Everyone knows that where there’s Germans, there’s beer. But the book also weaves more recent pop culture into the narrative, including beer-related stories featuring two of Ann Arbor’s favorite sons, Bob Seger and Iggy Pop. And, of course, it covers the current resurgence of local brewing, of which Wolverine is a large part.
Was it fun writing it? I remember you sitting at this very bar bitching and moaning about the research then shuffling off to do some. What part of the process did you enjoy the most? The least?
For me, writing isn’t fun, it’s work, and often hard work at that. I tend to agree with Dorothy Parker or whoever the hell it was who said, “I don’t like to write; I like to have written.” There’s an enormous sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from putting together a published work, whether it’s a blog post or a whole book, but the process of getting there is, as you well know, far from automatic.
When a lot of people think of “writing,” they think only of sitting down and typing words into a computer (or, more prosaically, on a typewriter). That’s only part of it. As you mention, there’s the research, which may range from spending hours in front of the dreaded microfilm machine to calling, emailing, and/or visiting total strangers to ask them impertinent questions. There’s the organization and compilation of all that information; deciding what it is you need and jettisoning what’s unusable; translating all of it into readable prose; editing, polishing, and proofreading said prose; acquiring illustrations (and permissions to use them) if necessary; and completely ignoring your friends and family to do all the foregoing according to a crazy deadline. I’m tired just remembering it all. Obviously the process for fiction is a bit different than for nonfiction, but if anyone thinks there’s no research involved in fiction, they’ve never tried to write a novel.
All that said, I’d much rather write about beer than get a real job.
Oh…sorry, fell asleep there for a skosh…..but what is this “typewriter” you speak of? Oh, wait, I know what I was pondering while listening to your answer. A quote that makes me think of your book:“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston Churchill
One of my fondest memories of you (and I have a fair few including our pouring gigs at the MGoPatio) is the Sunday I was working the bar so that my staff could attend our annual Tigers game outing. You sat right about where you are now, watching me curse and pull out my hair over a blurb I was trying to write for my recently released novel Good Faith. I finally said, “Here, see if this interests you at all." Between us we molded that sucker into a sweet set of words for that novel. You up for that writing collaboration yet, Beer Guy?
Seems to me like you’ve already got the beer and sex book thing nailed down. What could I possibly contribute?
Gah! I do NOT write “Sex books”….ok, more spankings. And yeah, some of my books have beer and sex in them. But with a plot, so if you don’t require that, I guess you should stick to the internet sites.
Gonna write any more beer books? Tell us all about what's in your secret WIP file.
Well, there’s that 50,000 words of an unfinished novel I wrote 10 years ago. Come to think of it, it does feature a fair amount of beer and sex. Write what you know, they say.
Did you feel that? No, seriously. **clutches Dave’s arm and closes eyes**And like that ladies and gents, a writing partnership is born…maybe…well, let’s say I’m gonna take a gander at Uncle Dave’s book that includes a fair amount of beer and sex. If I like his unfinished novel….which I’m guessing I will…stay tuned. I’m fairly sure the Liz and Dave show (collaboration) will be something you won’t wanna miss….and will include topics near and dear to your heart (plus beer and sex)
random potentially inspiring photo….And for your nightcap?
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby.
You are redeemed (and I am pretty sure it was the spanking).Thanks for hanging out with me Dave. As I say (a lot): you rock. Thanks for all your amazing support on all fronts for yours truly plus that “go us” moment just now. We’ll make ‘em sit up and take notice, won’t we?
be sure and pick up Dave’s book (especially after you read MY review below): Click here to buy it on Amazon OR better yet, stop by the Wolverine State Brewing Co Tap Room and pick up your copy!
Back cover copy:“The Best Beer You Can Drink”– from an 1899 ad for the Ann Arbor Brewing Company
Ann Arbor has always been a beer-loving town. From the establishment of the first commercial brewery in 1838 through a century of German immigration down to today’s local craft brew boom, the amber liquid looms large in Tree Town’s quirky past and present. Find out how beer helped a former University of Michigan professor win a Nobel Prize. Discover the Ann Arbor doctor whose nationally bestselling home remedy book featured ale recipes. Learn which Michigan football legend pounded brewskis as part of his training regimen. Covering the exploits of famous poets, performers, and prohibitionists, local author David Bardallis pops the cap off the big beer history of this little college town and leads readers to “the best beer you can drink” in Ann Arbor today.
Official bio:David Bardallis writes regular beer columns for MLive.com and Great Lakes Brewing News and is a frequent contributor to Michigan Beer Guide. A lifelong Michigander, longtime craft beer drinker and occasional homebrewer, he lives in Ann Arbor, where he works as a freelance writer and editor when not visiting the local bars and breweries. More of his beer writing can be found at his blog, annarborbeer.com, and on mittenbrew.com. Follow him on Facebook at "All the Brews Fit to Pint" or Twitter at @allthebrews.
Liz's Review:
It's not a huge secret that I read mostly fiction but have been known to wander over into the realm of non-fiction at times. I read a fair number of beer-centric books and have enjoyed Brewing up a Business, Beer Blast, the aforementioned Beervangelist's Guide to the Galaxy, Beer in America, the Early Years and many others. I'm a big fan of books that show the development of the culture of beer as a woman's work as part of hearth and home through the industrialization of the product and back around to today with more and more women becoming home brewers AND head brewers at various crafters. (and still seek a definitive tome on that subject…makes a note for a future project). It's a lovely full circle.
But I prefer my nonfiction books to be not like trying to chew my way through a loaf of dry toast. Which, unfortunately, many of them are. When it's a necessary chore, it provokes nightmares of "textbooks" and "Aristotle" and "the poetry section of Senior English Lit Required for Matriculation."
One of the first books I found that combined my love of a subject (in that case: football) and writing skill that made it feel as if I were reading a novel (despite the fact that I lived through the main sections of it here, in Ann Arbor, watching it unfold like the proverbial train wreck) was " Three and Out:
Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football" by Ann Arbor's own John U. Bacon. He visited with us back in March and he has a new book out. I hope to have him across the beer bar if I can convince him I am not as bitchy as he thinks I am! I touted this book to the high heavens for anyone even moderately interested in college football in general or the juggernaut that is Michigan football specifically. (and I still want to collab with him on the Rick Pitino story….but again, gotta lure him back to my lair, which may prove difficult!).
(egregiously sucking up and saying "come back John!" Wench loves you…." and a look at the line up for the March Madness Party in the Tap Room last year)
When I started reading Dave's book "Ann Arbor Beer: A Hoppy History of Tree Town Brewing" I had a similar experience. Dave's style of writing is completely addictive, and while I do admit a fondness for his subject, I felt that even if I only possessed a passing interest in anything relative to Ann Arbor's history or the history of craft beer in a mid western town, I would be drawn in.
I read the book in 2 sittings, smiling a lot, laughing out loud at parts (helps that I know some of these "characters" but still….) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable reading experience about the "hot topic" of "craft beer" but also to learn more about its place in the history of a Major College Town.
It moves smoothly from the pre-prohibition through the redemption of America thanks to the 21st Amendment and into the craft beer revolution in hippie town (yeah, I can say that) and into the current state of affairs in Tree Town for we brewery owners and our "up yours" to the industrial macros.
Yes, it is non-fiction but thanks to the talent of the author, forget the dry toast, and enjoy this book like the fine, rich, hand crafted brew that it is.
Well done David! An official 5-Lager Review!
And lest you Liz fans think I lack for inspiration in my beer world, you should check out my new "sous chef" whose official nickname now is "Sir" for reasons you will discover once I post His "story" (bio, you know.)mmm hmm….
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