We here at The Squeaky Curd like to have some fun, and sometimes that manifests itself in silly articles about sexy Milwaukee-themed Halloween costumes or locally-inspired Hanson songs. But we’re also quickly becoming residents’ legitimate go-to source for creative tour ideas, historic insights, and topical city journalism.
And, in case you didn’t know by our weekly Wisconsin travels, we love beer. So when we heard last summer that the venerable Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference was coming to the Milwaukee motherland in 2017, we hopped on-board. A year later and today I stand at the beer-soaked precipice, ready to dive head-first into the expert knowledge, engaging conversations, and glorious beer samples this coming weekend, presenting myself as a legitimate Milwaukee beer blogger (which I am, but feels odd typing).
While you can fully expect to be bombarded with social media posts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, no shame) and the occasional full post throughout these few days, I thought I’d first pull back the Curd-tain to give you a preview look at what goes on behind the scenes at The Squeaky Curd to help us write the articles you (all of you, all the time) read here.
Cover photo from BBC. All other photos by Joe Powell for The Squeaky Curd.
The Setting
While we’ll be venturing around the city all weekend, home-base will be the Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery. We’ve already recommended you go to this beautifully-restored building while on a Beer Tour of Milwaukee or to see drunk-Shakespeare. I’ll be cozying up in their grand hall for some great presentations.
This spot gives us a great jumping-off point to hit nearby breweries: recently-returned Pabst Brewery, Miller, the brand-new Milwaukee Brewing Company location (under construction), Lakefront Brewing Company, Good City Brewing Company, and Brenner Brewing. While I’ve already written about most of these, I’ll be seeing them with loads of professional beer drinkers who’ve never been. It’ll be a new brew view.
The Crew
Good thing I just got a load of new business cards, because I’m going to be tossing them out like Sixlets to the attending crowd of who’s-whos from the international and local beer industries.
Folks will be coming from nearly every state, and as far away as Belgium. From humble beer bloggers like myself, to renowned head-brewers and brewery owners, to industry-equipment innovators; the knowledge base is going to be solid, and the possibilities for new ideas endless.
The Sessions
Check the Agenda yourself right here. It’s going to be a weekend of drinking lots of beer only to stop for cramming lots of knowledge.
Personal takeaway goals include:
- Improve my descriptive skills for when I visit breweries / try beers
- Pick up tips on how to make my humble little blog even more professional in appearance and execution
- Learn about the next big things in the brewing industry
- Meet a ton of new, interesting peers
- Meet a ton of new, interesting beers
The Beer
Oh, there’ll probably be a bit of beer, too. One of my fellow bloggers wrote an article as a seasoned veteran of the BBC, and my favorite tip was “It is okay not to finish a sample.” I fully-intend to try my fair share of great classic and new brews at each of the 6(+) breweries we’ll be visiting, and you can bet my dear readers will be getting a scoop on more than a few.
And that’s really what this weekend’s Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference is all about for me: learning more about beer and blogging, so that I can make The Squeaky Curd that much better for you fine folks. Stay tuned for more to come, and follow #BBC17 for updates across the Interwebz.