What a crazy couple of months it has been. I don’t know how you felt about it, but Philly Beer Week was pretty intense and really wiped me out. But, with Philly Beer Week over, it’s time to get back to normal beer life. Well, it’s probably also time to start planning for PBW ‘11, but I’ll hold off on that for a few more weeks. We are however, getting to work on our next two big adventures: our first trip to the Great American Beer Festival and Brews For Boobies 3, taking place on October 2nd. Last year’s breast cancer awareness pub crawl brought out over 200 people who split into two unique crawls through Old City and Center City. This year, we’re expecting to double in size and are adding two additional crawls to choose from: Northern Liberties/Fishtown and South Philly. Hopefully, we’ll see you out supporting this year!

I am very happy to be the founder writing this letter which is the first issue of our second year. It seems like yesterday Scott and I were sitting in Earth Bread drinking a beer and eating a few flat breads discussing the feasibility of a beer magazine dedicated to Philadelphia. I think it’s fair to say that neither of us would have expected this magazine to grow as much as it has and to be so widely accepted throughout the craft beer community.

It’s crazy for me to sit here and write this.  Every time I try and attempt it, all I can think about is how it’s been a whole year already and I can’t believe it.  So much has happened over the past 12 months, I don’t even know what to say.  The first and most important thing though is, I want to say thank you.  To all of our readers and supporters, I really can’t thank you guys enough. You have made this an incredible and crazy year that wouldn’t be possible without your support.

So being the procrastinator that I am, I am writing this on the day we go to print, January 22nd, 2010. Today is also my birthday, and I am overwhelmed with the Twitter and Facebook birthday wishes from my friends, but even more so, my beer loving acquaintances. That’s awesome.

Wow, what an issue we have here! I really hope that reading our magazine is as exciting as it is writing it. Half a year in and still plugging, we are really thrilled by the support that we have been getting on every issue and we owe it all to you, our readers in Philadelphia and beyond. It hasn't been the easiest issue but maybe that makes it all the more satisfying to see the end result.

Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love, home to Love Park. A city as passionate about its sports as it is about craft brewed beer. This city we love has its own heartbeat, and it beats to a different drum.