Joe's beer-tapping celebration

One of the highlights of our recent trip to America was Joe's beer-tapping celebration in Columbus.

Joe is a librarian by day and a master home-brewer by night, and last year he won a competition with Barley's brewpub in Columbus (www.barleysbrewing.com). The prize was a chance to brew his beer in their brewery, which Barley's would then supply on draft for a month. The winning brew was a barleywine, which Joe called 'Meister Eckhart's Spark of the Divine Barleywine' and the beer-tapping was the first official airing of Joe's barleywine to the public.



It turned out to be a very impressive event, a real coming together of enthusiasists and connoisseurs, all of whom obviously took beer-making seriously. Joe was a judge of this year's competition and I was amazed by the precision with which the entrants were graded. The complexities of the taste of each beer were minutely teased over.

We also had a nice gathering of people to cheer Joe on. Sally and Ben came up from Huntington. Our friends Jami and Jason were there also, as well as many of Joe's friends. The heads of all the main breweries in town were also there. All in all, it was a big do and it was great to see Joe getting recognition for his talent. Cheers Joe.