I'm Todd Alström, Founder of BeerAdvocate, Ask Me Anything.

If I'm going to reboot this forum, I might as well kick it off.

For those who don't know me, I founded BeerAdvocate (BA) with my brother Jason back in 1996. It was called BrewGuide back then, less than one percent of the world was online, and it was just the two of us in East Boston publishing our beer reviews using a shell script on my Linux box that pushed content over a dial-up modem. Soon after we added a forum where some of the first beer trades occurred, and then in 2000 we changed the name to BeerAdvocate and opened up reviewing to everyone.

Today, BA is the go-to resource for millions of users each month, the benchmark for beer reviews, the oldest, largest, and most active beer forum, and host of over 70 world-class beer fests. We've also scribed about beer for numerous publications, published our own print magazine for over a decade, and once had an app.

And, ICYMI, BeerAdvocate recently joined the Next Glass family. Despite our struggles before this and everything going on now, I remain optimistic for the future. Not only for BeerAdvocate, but the beer industry as a whole. We'll get through this pandemic together and come out the other side stronger.

In the meantime, ask me anything...

 

I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for our users, so thank you.

 

Yep. Our first batch was in the mid-80s. It was a skull splitting 14% Brown Ale that we dumped a ton of sugar into. Years later I'd pick it up again when I lived in England using kits from Boots, then I brewed countless all-grain batches when I moved to East Boston. Jason was living next door, so we often brewed together, and the notes we took inspired the creation of BA.

I've also brewed quite a few production batches over the years and graduated from the American Brewers Guild in 2005.

 

Honestly, we haven't even begun to explore the opportunities due to the pandemic. Like everyone else in the industry, our focus has been on getting through these challenging times and finding ways that we can help the industry that we all love.

That said, we recently migrated the site under the same hosting infrastructure as Untappd. This will ultimately make collaborating and sharing resources easier.

There's also some beer matching going on. The idea here is that the two platforms would share a common beer and brewery database vs. trying to maintain two separate ones.

 

The future was showing, so in the late 90s I started to cut my one hair with clippers on a regular basis. Eventually I just start shaving my head with a razor.

Moisturize, use sunscreen, and never let anyone rub your dome unless it's wanted.

 

I don't have any specifics to share at this time, but ways that we can help the beer industry recover is something that I'm personally exploring with the team and other organizations.

 

As mentioned, we haven't even begun to explore features like this. That said, we basically supported this with the beta app, so there's definitely a good chance.

 

I've had some incredible examples of the style, but most are mediocre at best. I could say this about any style though. As for my thoughts changing over the years, read: Turbid Times (2014) and then It's Official: New England India Pale Ale Is a Style (2017).

That was Jason, not me.

I'm not concerned if someone gets upset about my views about a beer style, and getting upset about something so unimportant is silly AF.

 

It's more of a DNEIPA, but I agree. Heady Topper has been around long before the modern NEIPA was established as a style, but if the style was around when the beer was added in 2004...the beer probably would've been tagged as an NEIPA then, too.

 

Favorite: We have more options than ever before and we're spoiled with access. I can walk to The Propagator (Firestone Walker) here in Marina del Rey and order some world-class beers or have beers delivered in under an hour if I'm feeling lazy. It's ridiculously awesome.

Least Favorite: Because we have more options than ever before, we also have more mediocrity than ever before. Across the board, quality is still a major issue within the industry.

 

Thanks for the support! Looking forward to the day that we can host fests again. In the meantime, I'll raise my next beer in your general direction.

 

Citra and I look forward to my next pint of El Segundo Citra Pale Ale at Hinano Cafe.

 

I won't be discussing the details.

 

Berkshire Brewing Company's Steel Rail Pale Ale, and here's the review: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33/93/?ba=Todd#review

I haven't had it in years, but it was definitely a favorite at the time.

 

Thanks. Feedback like this means a lot to me.

No. We're just looking at a common beer and brewery database or ways to keep them synced. This has nothing to do with beer reviews and ratings.

 

Rarely. Sometimes after a beer fest, but even then I'll grab a lager to reset the palate.

I enjoy most alcoholic beverages, but I enjoy wine, bourbon, gin, and tequila.

If I'm in the mood for a beer, I'll always order a beer.

 

I've been working from home since 2003, and I've greatly decreased my drinking over the last 4-5 years, so I don't see any patterns of increased drinking while under quarantine.

I do have a beer fridge. Just moved so it's not as full as usual, but it typically contains whatever my go-to beer is at the moment and samples from breweries. And I do have some beers that I've been hanging on to, but overall I'm not a fan of cellaring beers. My experience over the decades is that very few hold up and even fewer improve with age.

 

Yes. We're working on getting the store back online soon with a few items to kick things off. We'll be looking for community input on future items.

We've done a bunch of collaborations in the past, but I agree. Having our own lineup of beers would be awesome! I need to make this happen.

 

I'm originally from Western Massachusetts. I was stationed in Texas, Delaware, Maine, and England during my Air Force years, got out and then I moved here and there in Western Mass, then back to England, and then back to Western Mass, followed by East Boston, and then Cambridge for over 15 years. But wait, there's more. I then moved to Denver for a few years, and I've been in Marina del Rey for just over three years now. Love SoCal.