I started The Thirsty Wench for a number of reasons. The first was to create a kind of journal of what I was learning in the world of beer while at the same time showing my friends, who at that point were sending me e-mails at 3am with a pdf of the menu of a bar they were at asking me what drink they should order, what I was learning so they could make their own decisions and take in the same knowledge I was taking in. The more I learned about some of the more practical aspects of choosing and drinking a beer, the more I would write, boiling it all down in a way that even the most casual of readers could take in. I wanted my writing style to be the same as if I was talking directly to the reader in a pub. No bombarding of too many details, just some decent facts, practical examples of how to use them, and a few jokes because hey, this stuff is fun. It’s a kind of philosophy that I still try and write by.

If you had told me three years ago that this site would be at the level it is now, I would have laughed. Hell, if you had told me three years ago that I would have paid money for the domain name, I would have laughed. This was always a casual and fun thing and any level of fame the site got has always been a surprise to me. Being a regular guest on Rogers Daytime Toronto, being featured in NOW Magazine’s Beer Guide, getting interviewed for radio, being asked to speak on several panels…it’s great, it’s wonderful, and I’m honoured to have been showcased in these ways, but I can’t help but laugh in disbelief. I guess I’m still waiting for Rod Serling to pop out of some bushes and tell me it was all a dream.

Disbelief aside, beer has been good to me. It constantly surprises me and reveals new things about it every day that keeps me smiling. Through it I’ve also met an incredible community of people who are welcoming, supportive, and engaging, with our common love bringing us closer together and making the world feel a little smaller (Really, beer is a subject that, for me, has made complete strangers longtime friends). Beer is a wonderful thing on its own, but what makes it so amazing and special to me are the experiences and people around it. For those that are a part of that, thank you.

This site has been good to me as well, connecting me with more and more readers every week, all with their own stories, opinions, and suggestions. If it wasn’t for readers like you, I would have stopped this long ago. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

tl;dr, You’re all amazing superstars and I’m very grateful. Thank you.

Happy Birthday, Thirsty Wench.

Myron, take it away.