When I first heard about the Beerdrinker of the Year (BDOY) contest, naturally I was intrigued. What self-respecting homebrewer, meadmaker and beerlover wouldn’t be tantalized by the idea of entering — and perhaps even winning — a title like Beerdrinker of the Year? When a friend familiar with the contest described the competition, I immediately blurted out that I’d like to enter, but my ambition was promptly squashed.

“Oh, these people who win are very accomplished beer drinkers” said my friend. In other words, I’d have as much chance of winning this contest as three-days-flat Bud entered in the AHA Nationals’ imperial stout category. What happens to a dream deferred? With apologies to Langston Hughes, does it dry up like barley baked in the sun? Or fester like an infected wort — and then run? Does it stink like cheesy old hops? Or crust and sugar over — like a syrupy sweet kriek. Maybe it just fizzles like a foamy keg. Or does it explode?

I was not ready to have my dream fizzle or explode. The next year I decided to enter. By then I had a few more accomplishments under my beer belt, such as passing the BJCP test to become a recognized beer judge, trips to visit breweries in the United States and Belgium, and ongoing service to my homebrewing club, the Hampton Roads (Virginia) Brewing and Tasting Society (www.hrbts.org).

Entering the Beerdrinker of the Year Contest simply involves writing a “beer résumé” describing one’s beer appreciation, philosophy, and passion and sending it to the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado’s oldest brewpub.

Just writing a beer résumé is actually a fun process. It provides an impetus to actually think about one’s philosophy of beerdrinking and put into words your feelings about beer. It gives you a place to detail whatever you have done in your life that relates to beer. My résumé talked about brewery, brewpub and beer bar visits, beer-related travels, homebrewing, beer judging and also included poems I wrote about beer for a beer haiku contest held by Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society.

Three lucky finalists are chosen from the résumé entries and flown to Denver, all expenses paid, for the national finals. I made the top ten on my first try in 2005, but not the top three. In 2006, I entered the contest again, and made it to the national finals . . . lots of fun, but I didn’t win. In 2007, I again made the national finals and am happy to say I won against two extremely worthy competitors, Logan Perkins of Denver, Colorado and Phil Farrell of Cumming, Georgia.

The finals are sort of like a combination Jeopardy/Academic Bowl/American Idol for beer conducted in front of an audience of white-wigged, black-robed judges and an audience of beerdrinking fans. Questions range from the technical (“what is the major fermentable sugar in beer?”) to the obscure (“who was Pliny the Elder?”) to the humorous (“if George Bush was to fall off the wagon, what beer would you serve him?”) We were asked to sing beer jingles, tell a fairy tale about beer and demonstrate a field sobriety test. While a bit nerve wracking, the event is conducted with a sense of humor to keep anyone from taking things too seriously.

An unusual aspect of the national finals is the Beer Whispering segment, where each finalist is asked to have a friendly conversation with a beer of their choosing. My beer whispering involved matchmaking a love connection between the Duchesse de Bourgogne and Oskar Blues’ Old Chub, culminating in the creation of a tasty blend I call The Chubesse (two parts Duchesse to one part Chub).

How has my life changed as a result of Beerdrinker of the Year? Well, the official prizes of free beer for life at the Wynkoop, my name on a cool plaque, $250 toward a beer party at my local beer bar (the Bier Garden in Portsmouth, Virginia) and not one but TWO Beerdrinker of the Year Winner 2007 T-shirts are pretty nice prizes. Also, I get to work with Wynkoop’s Head Brewer Thomas Larsen to design a recipe to be brewed and available at next year’s BDOY contest. Cool, huh?

The unofficial rewards are also sweet. Wearing my winner’s T-shirt to the Zythos beer festival in Belgium a week after winning garnered so much positive attention that I felt like a rock star. At Cantillon Open Brew Day, owner-brewer Jean Van Roy congratulated me and said that in addition to drinking free for life at the Wynkoop, I could also drink free at Cantillon. (Note to self: MOVE TO BRUSSELS!) The opportunity to talk about beer on podcasts Beer Radio (beerradio.com) and Big Foamy Head (bigfoamyhead.com) was great fun. But what I most appreciate is the opportunity to be an ambassador for beer and change people’s perceptions of beerdrinkers. We come from all walks of life. We appreciate this tasty, barley-based elixir that was originally believed to be a gift from benevolent gods. And we love to share our beer, as well as our love of beer, with others.