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I hope by now that you’ve noticed the new look & feel of blogaboutbeer.com (if you only read through a RSS reader every day, definitely click through and check out the changes!) - it’s my attempt to make everything a little more attractive and user-friendly. I’d love to hear some feedback on the new look, including the new logo.

Also, if you look to your right, you’ll see a new iFrame widget with 5 of the newest beer-themed how-to videos from wonderhowto.com - blog about beer’s newest sponsor (to find out how you can sponsor blogaboutbeer.com, click here). Please check out the videos and show your support.

As always, thanks for reading and keep checking back for future improvements.

Cheers,
Luke

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Just a quick side-note to beg for your nomination for best Portland Blog in the The Portland Phoenix’s Best of Portland competition. Nominations are open now through February 14th (when the actual voting begins). Just visit: http://thephoenix.com/theBest/portland/ and click on the “City Life” section. Thanks for your support!

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Just a quick thank you to Adare and the folks over at the beer news magazine Celebrator for including BlogAboutBeer.com as one of the first to be listed on the industry blogs page of their newly revised (and snazzy-looking) website. They even called me an enthusiast!

It’s the little things like this that make blogging so much fun. Cheers.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Just a few things to note as they come across the wire at lunch time:

• For my loyal Maine readers: October 3 - Gritty’s L/A Brew Pub is turning two years old! Celebrate the L/A Brew Pub’s second “beerthday”! The festivities kick-off from 4-6pm with a special happy hour: plenty of free munchies, lots of beer and friendly faces. But the party is just getting started because “The Grumps” go on live to perform later that evening. Throw in some “Kick-Ass Anniversary Ale” at the low price of $2.50 per pint and Gritty’s L/A Brewpub will be rock’n the house!
• AskMen.com today wrote a very fun Top 10: Legendary Drinkers piece that, while not entirely about beer, is definitely worth the read. Click here to check it out. Men who made the list include legendary beer drinker (and the man who lends his mug to the 100 dollar bill) Ben Franklin, and (needless to say) Ernest Hemingway, and even actress Judy Garland received an Honorable Mention. Check it out.
• The Chicago Sun-Times features a piece today on the unlikely (but delicious) pairing of beer and chocolate. Find it here.
• And last but not least: Among the men serving up the beer at Munich’s Oktoberfest this week is a Catholic priest, Munich’s Sueddeutsche newspaper reported on Tuesday. Father Rainer Maria Schiessler’s customers in the beer tents are unaware of his true identity, as he wears no priestly vestments, and refer to him simply as Rainer, the name shown on his badge. This is Rainer’s second Oktoberfest; last year, however, he was summoned to offices of the archbishop to be told that, “priests should not go around playing waiter.” Father Rainer has shrugged off the reprimand however, stating that, ”If this job is below the dignity of a priest, are the others serving beer here worth less than I am?” Father Rainer, whose parish falls in the trendy Glockenbach quarter, where gay bars proliferate, is convinced he is gathering valuable life experience here. “I would send any priest out here for a practical,” he says. Oktoberfest, which began on Sunday, is expected to draw 6 million visitors by the time the last one-litre measure of beer is drawn on October 7.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The bad news is that the interview I had scheduled for Friday with Heather Conlin, the Special Projects Manager at the Alaskan Brewing Co., didn’t happen. It will, though, as it has been postponed until later this week. So look for it in the next few days (My apollogies to anyone who was expecting it today).

 The good news, however, is that I’ve also been granted an exclusive interview with Jon Cadoux, the founder of Peak Organic Brewing Co., later this week. So look for that on blogaboutbeer.com in the comming days, as well.

Cheers.  

Popularity: 5% [?]