Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma (til 15), then Evergreen & Fort Collins, Colorado (til 26) and Portland, Oregon (til I die)
Favorite Beer: My next one. There's something about anticipation …
Favorite Beer Haunt: While I love all the wonderful places we can source great beer here in Portland and
beyond, my vote goes to The Kitchen Pub. That's what we lovingly call our kitchen, because we have two
taps there -- always rotating -- and a well-stocked bottle fridge.
What was the first craft brew you ever tried? Redhook ESB. Just thinking about it brings back such
amazing memories. My hubby, Mark, who wasn't my hubby then, and I were on our first real vacation
together in Seattle. It was a wonderfully crappy, rainy day and we were supposed to be heading back
home to Fort Collins. We tucked into The Athenian restaurant near Pike Street Market for lunch. Not
wanting to face reality, we lingered over several pints of Redhook, watching the ferries and ships
crossing the sound in the mist, and we talked and dreamed about living in the Pacific Northwest. Our
lives were completely shaped around that beer and that amazing day. It was one of the most magical
moments of my life.
What did you think? I loved it. Immediately. We were both pretty big into good beer at the time, but had
been limited to only imports because "micros" weren't really very big back then (yep, we're old). I loved
it that the beer was made not far from where we were, and that it had character. When we did finally
get a chance to act on that fateful day's dreams and move out here (to Portland), we quickly began
seeking locally made beer everywhere we went. Never looked back.
Do you homebrew? If yes, favorite homebrew to date: I do -- have been for 15-16 years (gulp), but it's
been a while. We keep talking about firing up that kettle again! My favorite homebrew was a Vanilla
Porter I came up with about 9 years ago. I had never heard of a vanilla porter at the time, but thought it
would be a great combination. I used a vanilla bean and added some vanilla paste I had found in a cool
gourmet store I went to while visiting my granny in Houston.
How’d you hear about the pdxbeergeeks? Running into you and talking with you at beer events!
What does being a beer geek mean to you? It means being a Craft Beer Crusader and an Ale Evangelist
(aka "Alevangelist"). It means vigilantly educating people to the ever-expanding, exciting, eclectic and
creative world of well-made beer. There's nothing I love hearing more than when someone tells me "I
don't like beer." That just means I have a chance to show them some beers they don't know they will
love yet. I love turning people on to their soul-mate beer -- one glass at a time.
If you could change one thing about beer culture in the US, what would it be? Never again hearing
those words I just said I so love to hear, "I don't like beer," because everyone would know that there
is a beer (or a hundred beers, or a thousand beers) out there that is just perfect for them. While the
pendulum is finally moving in that direction, we still have a long way to go! It's like steering a cruise ship
with a paddle. But we're getting there.
What do you love about Portland’s Craft Beer scene? It's the big, happy, semi-dysfunctional family this
only child dreamed of being a part of while growing up!
Where can we find you on the web?
Blog: http://www.beergoddess.com
Beer O'Clock Radio:http://kxl.com (and beergoddess.com and iTunes)
Book: (Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest): http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781604690897-0
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeerGoddess
