Josh Christie

“Who the hell is Josh Christie?”

I don’t blame you for asking, fellow RateBeerian. The short answer, which you’ve surely figured out by now, is that I’m one of the baker’s dozen of featured writers here on RateBeer’s revamped Hop Press. If you’re in a hurry, that’s all you really need to know for now – I’ll have a proper, beer-related post up this (and every following) Wednesday.

If you’d like to read a little bit more about me, my beer bona fides and what I will and won’t be writing about here at RateBeer, click on and read up!

Still with me? Good! In terms of my day job, I’m a bookseller and staffer at a nonprofit in the beautiful city of Portland, Maine. In my free time, I’m a homebrewer, beer-lover, bibliophile and blogger about my dual passions of beer and books. I’m an alum of the University of Maine system, and a lifelong Mainer – although my love of beer has found me traveling to the Pacific Northwest, Germany, Alaska, and up and down the east coast. There’s also a spot for me on the roster of the Maine Beer Writers’ Guild, and I’ve worked at beer festivals as an expert and hosted educational beer tastings. I’m also probably one of the youngest members of the Hop Press gang, with only a handful of drinking-age years under my belt.

As you can probably guess from my day job as a bookseller, a lot of my posts will tend towards the literary side of the craft beer world. I’ve had a lot of fun writing beer book reviews, beer/book pairings and other bookish and beery posts in the past, and these’ll likely be the bulk of my weekly column here on RateBeer. However, I am excited about the opportunity to explore some beer-related topics beyond the scope of my own site here at the Hop Press. So, on top of the expected look at beer books and book bars, you’ll see plenty of posts about the beer news, events and culture of New England. The homebrewing blood in me has also started boiling with a passion lately, so you’ll be seeing the successes, failures, and flat-out wierdness of someone trying to make yeast do what he wants it to.

Now, what shouldn’t you expect? Well, for one, I’m not a beer Cicerone (luckily, we do have one on staff). I love beer, I’ve done some serious homework, and I’ve written about beer for over a year, but I’m still writing as a self-styled layman expert rather than a certified expert. As a writer, I’ve got all the skill of a creative blogger with a liberal arts education. Still, I lack the pedigree of someone who has studied creative writing (but hey, we have one of them on staff too!), so I apologize if my writing isn’t super-polished. I’m a homebrewer of the extract-and-steeped-grains variety, so if you’re looking for homebrewing advice on an expert level I’d point you towards Brian and Steph.

Oh, and there won’t be any posts slamming beers or breweries. Nuh-uh, none of that. There are plenty of places to see people knock down the brewers they don’t like and the beers that didn’t meet their approval. If I like something, you’ll see it here. If you love it, you’ll see even more. If I hate it, I won’t waste your time with it.

Finally, I’d like to offer a toast to all of the other new featured Hop Press writers, and to our readers. This is a massive opportunity – a dozen fantastic beer writers talking to one of the largest communities of beer lovers in the world. I hope that my writing offers insight, education or entertainment for lovers of craft beer, and I’m sure that none of the other writers will disappoint. So take some time, check out the introductory posts from the rest of the gang, and take a look at Carla and Michael’s featured posts today.

Cheers! Feel free to hit me with any questions on Twitter, by e-mail or in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

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