For River Guide and Go-To Guy for the Great American Beer Fest, It's All About Chemistry
NewWest.Net All Headlines
September 03, 2010 4:36 AM
The Beer Guy has a very big job. The Great American Beer Festival is the premiere beer judging event in the country. Swersey is responsible for the integrity of the competition, as well as the mind-boggling pairing of hundreds of professional judges with hundreds of styles of beer. And by all accounts, he pulls the task off seamlessly, year after year.
Teri Fahrendorf, a longtime judge at the event, said the world would be a better place if international peace talks were organized as well as the GABF competition.
The politicians should be watching us for lessons in diplomacy, Fahrendorf contends. When a judging table has five beers and no one can agree which is the best, Chris is terrific at breaking the impasse and getting people to talk to one another.
Gregg Smith is a beer writer, a professional in the brewing world and a longtime GABF judge. He says people think being a judge at the event sounds glorious, but it's more grueling than it sounds. As hard as the judges work, I know that Chris works 10 times as much as we do.
Think of managing 3,000 6-packs of beer and making sure the right beer goes to the right table. Chris does an amazing job in my opinion, Smith said. Since he became the competition manager, the GABF has gotten better every year. It's easier to enter beer and it's easier to be a judge.
Fantasy job seekers the world over are currently wondering how one applies to be a whitewater guide-beer god-Swiss Army knife-like person. The road to the top, as it turns out, is littered with empty beer cans (and lots of pint glasses), ballparks, diplomas and inflatable rafts--and it has as many bends as the Salmon River itself.
