I have a confession. The Xmas photo contest got a wee bit out of hand last year. Over 500 hundred photos to sort through. I think it is a great thing to do and am happy to help those who need more beer gifts get them. But it got a wee bit out of hand. I have 4 kids in the house, for heaven's sake, and they need Santa, too. So here is what we are going to do:

• No more sending me 17 or 45 photos per entrant. I am limiting it to five per person. Make your own mind up. You know what sucks. If I receive more than five, the first five are entered.
• No photos of dishes of food with a beer next to it. They never win and they kinda make other people feel queasy. Your food is no better looking than your dog. Sorry to break the news.
• More photos of beer and snow. Photos of beer and snow look great. Beer in nature generally looks good. But beer and snow is a winner. Snow in Italy? Even better.
• Pictures of beer and your pals all liquored up? More like the plate of food than snow. Not usually good. But you never know.

That is it. I will announce the beginning of the contest entry period. Probably mid-November to early December. Meantime, I will hit up brewers and beer book publishers and beer magazine vendors to pony up gifts to send to you. Let me know what you want for prizes and I will see what I can do. You never know. You might just get free beer.