Beer Diary | Change

But I'm losing my edge

to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent

and they're actually really, really nice.
-- LCD Soundsystem

What exactly is Hoosier Beer Geek? With Mike's departure, I've been asking myself that question a lot lately. Unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to think about the answers.

But I think the question is an important one, especially because I consider Mike to have been an enormous part of Hoosier Beer Geek's soul. That's not to discount the contributions the rest of us have made. Indeed, we are all Hoosier Beer Geek's heart and part of its soul too. We've all worked hard for the Brewers of Indiana Guild. We've done our best to showcase Indiana's brewers and beer bars. And we have tried to inject our unique perspective into what we write here. We've never wanted to be just another beer review blog.

Yet Mike's off-kilter sense of humor, his stream of excellent ideas, his devotion to the world of craft beer--all of these attributes of his were integral to setting the tone of this blog. (I can see Mike reading this now and probably wanting to hide. But I can't fault him for that. In fact, his humility is another one of his positive attributes). Numerous times, Mike said, "Hey, let's do X" and the rest of us said, "Yes, great idea!"

But change has come. Change. Mike's departure is a big change, but much change has occurred in Indiana's craft beer scene as well over the last six years. Things have grown so quickly that it's difficult to keep up with all the craft beer happenings in Indianapolis and around the state. New breweries and beer bars are opening at a rapid rate. More beers from out-of-state craft breweries are now being distributed in Indiana. And there's the challenge of seeing more craft beer available than there is time to try all of it.

Change. The Knights of the Beer Roundtable are changing. We have less time to devote to writing here. We have our own kids who need our guidance, and we have other family members who need us as well. We have increasing demands on our time from our jobs. And we have to fight the "been there, done that" syndrome that tends to set in when one has been doing something for a long time.

Change is frightening. Change can cause paralysis. But change is also exciting. Change brings new opportunities. So what is Hoosier Beer Geek now? Here's what it is:

We still love great beer and are still drinking it. We're still making new friends in Indiana's community of brewers and beer people. We're still marveling at the growth of the craft beer industry in this state. We aren't, however, writing as much, but we're still writing. We aren't staging as many of our own events, but we'll certainly have some in the future. In short, we hope that these changes don't make us any less valuable as contributors.

Change.