Today marks six months since the first posts were published on Beer of Tomorrow, and it has been quite the ride!

I launched the site six months ago in a period of restlessness and bordem. I was in-between gigs, and needed a project to focus my time and energy on. I spent a while brainstorming ideas and writing some proposals and business plans when it became obvious that starting a website dedicated to craft beer in Los Angeles was the natural confluence of my love of writing, my love of beer, and my love of Los Angeles. After a couple of weeks of design and development I launched the site and gave myself six months to devote to building it.

Here we are six months later, and I’m looking back and evaluating Beer of Tomorrow and how far it’s come. I haven’t hit all my goals for traffic, page-views, community engagement, but the whole experience has been extremely satisfying and exciting. I’ve met a ton of awesome people, including some of my beer-heroes, and my appreciation and adoration of craft beer in Los Angeles is so much greater now than it was six months ago.

I got asked the other day, “Why beer?” and I reflexively slipped into business-mode and talked about the nascent scene in Los Angeles and the explosive growth that we are seeing and niche markets and blah blah blah… A good honest answer, but far from the whole story. Beer is magic, and I’ve been enthralled by it for nearly 20 years. It is such a fascinating blend of art and science and I want to share my love and excitement about beer. I often ask beer industry veterans what a craft beer fan can do to “further the cause” of craft beer over the macro-brewed stuff, and “spread the word” is nearly always the answer I get. The Beer of Tomorrow brand is how I’ve chosen to spread the word. My weapon in the fight against he hegemony of bland and passionless beer.

In the last six months I have learned a frightening amount about beer and the beer industry. I’ve made some new friends, and I’ve drunk some really fantastic beers. And I hope that I’ve helped a least a few people discover beer or at least helped them think about beer a little differently. We run no ads on the site, we don’t run sponsored content, and we haven’t asked for reader support. The best way for fans of Beer of Tomorrow to support the site and our mission is just to read and enjoy the content. Tell your friends about us, share our content on social networks, like us on Facebook/Twitter/G+, and share your own opinions in the comments!

I want to thank all my readers and supporters from the last six months. I never would have gotten this off the ground if not for the words of encouragement and the positive responses I’ve heard, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I also want to thank my co-founder, partner, and wife Julie for her tireless and unending support and encouragement. There would certainly be no Beer of Tomorrow without her!

We are working on some exciting plans, features, and surprises for the next six months, and I hope you will join us! Craft beer in Los Angeles is just getting started, and with your help we are going to make to it to the next level!

Cheers!

-John Verive