I've been writing this dang blog for the best part of four years now, if you count its pre-spinoff days as part of my general blog of foolishness. As you know, we have guest bloggers and the test to become one is pretty tough. Basically, you have to write me an email and make sure it is a fairly pleasant one. This week I heard from John Morrissey of Denver, Colorado who has an interest in beer and has his own beer blog called The Beer Hermit. We'll hear from him from time to time but first here is his take on an autobiography.

John Morrissey grew up in western North Carolina and back in the 60’s, those Blue Ridge Mountains were more famous for moonshine than good beer. Back then, a good beer just had to be cold. Taste did not count for much, because it all tasted pretty much the same. John moved to New Hampshire in the mid 80s, just about the same time Sam Adams (the beer, not the patriot) was born. His turned his back on the macro brewed light lagers of his youth and "Gimmie a Sammie, will ya?" became his barroom battle cry.

Now, it would make a legendary western tale to tell you that John hitchhiked his way 2,000 miles across the country to Colorado, just because he heard they were brewing good beer. But, the truth is not that sexy. John came out to the Rockies for a job, chugging past amber waves of grain in his overstuffed 10 year old Ford Ranger. Once he got settled in Denver, he realized that divine craft brew providence had landed him right in the middle of an American beer revolution. So, for the last 17 years, he has watched Colorado’s brew scene expand and he has seen his beer tastes grow, too. John has become a man of many beers, but his winter favorite is a rich, dark stout and an easy chair by a roaring fire. During the summer, he loves the grassy sweetness of an American Style IPA on a wooden deck, shaded by tall aspens and pines.

Today, John has decided to make it his job to search out Colorado’s great craft brews. When he discovers a good one, he whips out his laptop and two fingers a blog story about it. He also freelances his articles for magazines about the brews in his state. A lesser man would just "google-fish" for the info he needed, but John believes beer tastes best when you are standing on the cold, grey concrete of a brew house floor. Hops taste awfully weak through an internet connection in a high rise office. So, he is out there on the trail, chasing great Colorado beer and paying 3-bucks for a gallon of gas.

When he is not drinking beer and writing about it, John loves to cook, hunt and fish. He devours detective novels by Robert B. Parker and Bill Bryson's travel books. He is a painful "homer" when it comes to sports, bleeding Rockies purple in the summer and the orange and blue of the Broncos in the fall. During the warmer months, he can be seen tooling around town, top down, in his fully restored 1964 Ford Falcon convertible. Gas costs close to 3-bucks a gallon for it, too.

Good to have you aboard and we look forward to tales of those ninety-odd brewers of Colorado.