Welcome to “Tap Notes,” my first newsletter-blog-thing.
Nearly four years ago, I began writing a column in Worcester Magazine called the Next Draft. WoMag and its mothership, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, had the space for a craft beer column after the legendary beer writer Norman Miller, a dogged reporter whom I considered a mentor, stepped back from his long-running Beer Nut column. I jumped at the opportunity, knowing I’d never come close to replacing Norm or replicating his influence and reach in Massachusetts craft beer. My wife and part-time photog thought up the name, and I was off.
Now, as WoMag and the T&G face another impactful wave of budget cuts, my column’s in the wind, on hiatus until after the new year — or beyond. So, like former WoMag reporter and columnist Bill Shaner, another journalist I look up to, I’ve come here to keep writing.
Tap Notes will continue what I’ve done every week in the Next Draft: bring you longer-form stories about craft breweries, their beers, the factors influencing their rise and fall, and the people who push them forward.
