Questions that have plagued mankind for eons, and will for as long as we are around. But they aren’t questions that you would think would apply to a lowly beer blogging gnome. This weekend,though, they seem to be sitting right on the top of my mind. After a long discussion with Tom from Queen City Drinks, I was left wondering about myself as “The Gnarly Gnome”. Wondering about my role in this community, and to beer in general.

Who am I? I’m a drinker… more so, I am a fan of the drink and the community that it has created in a city that has struggled on so many fronts for years. We have started to find our place in an outside community of beer, that we once sat on top of. Who doesn’t love an underdog, coming back from near extinction to thrive with what I see as greatness?

But to the questions at hand… who am I? I’m The Gnarly Gnome… I’m the everyday drinker who might not be the most polished writer. I might not always smell like roses, but I have a role in this community that is important regardless.

I will always be The Gnarly Gnome because I write about beer. It’s important that we as drinkers, brewers, and beer writers not take ourselves as seriously as we might want to sometimes. Sometimes, we need to be a little gnarly.

As for why I am here… I am here because I love beer. I love Cincinnati. We are in the midst of a beer renaissance in the city that is hard to navigate for the average drinker. My blog is just a place to write about the stuff that I am talking about with friends…family and strangers out at the bar on a Friday night. I’m no journalist. Sometimes I will make typos. Sometimes I will have an opinion that makes it onto these pages. Sometimes…hell, I might even rave about a local brewery a bit too much because I’m a fan of what they do.

It what we do as drinkers.

So…after thinking about it for a couple of days, I figured out the answer to the questions. Who am I? The Gnarly Gnome… a drinker. Why am I here…to drink and to share it with you!

So be Gnarly, Drink Local my friends!