I think it’s important to take a moment at the end of every year and review what you have accomplished, and to look forward to what you hope to accomplish in the upcoming year.  I’m not talking about New Years resolutions… I’m talking about big picture, who am I, and who am I going to be kind of stuff.  I do this in my personal life, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t do it here on the blog.

This year has been awesome.  I decided to start this blog back in May as a way to publish the conversations I was already having with my friends sitting at the bar over a pint.  I wanted a place that people could go to learn about craft beer here in Cincinnati, while getting some of the news and happenings that are going on in that scene, all the while without taking it all to seriously.

My goals for the first year of the blog were accomplished with flying colors, and for the most part, reception has been wonderful.  But what does 2015 have in store for The Gnarly Gnome?  Sure… I will write about beer.  I will certainly be writing about new breweries.  I will try to write reviews of more local beers that you can find in your closest bottle shop.  But there are big things on the horizon too…some really exciting stuff that you will hear about as the year progresses, and I can’t begin to explain how happy it makes me to know that there are people who are along for the ride with me.

Let’s turn our attention to the city’s beer scene for a minute.  The last few years have been exciting for beer fans with the opening of some of the most exciting breweries that this city has seen since prohibition.  But the next year will be extremely important in the formation of a true beer scene.  Our breweries will need to start making room for each other, and embracing their differences and finding their place in this community.  The only way for us to truly become one of the great beer cities is for us to build a strong foundation that encourages growth and change.

So again… Thanks for 2014, and hang on for 2015!

Cheers!