Meet Volunteer Beer Steward Carolyn Edgecomb

Carolyn Edgecomb, Volunteer Beer Steward

Please tell us briefly about who you are and why you decided to become a Volunteer Beer Steward at Jimmy's No. 43. 

I am just a small-town girl loving life in the big city. I volunteered to be a Beer Steward at Jimmy's to help repay him for all the generosity he has shown to the craft beer and homebrew community over the years. That, and I get free beer and food.

What is your relationship to beer and why is good beer important to you?

Craft beer (and homebrew) is part of my larger passion for all things small-batch, hand-crafted, old-school, high-quality and the like. It is a community full of wonderful, interesting, and knowledgeable folk. Many of my closest friendships were forged over a pint and a cheese plate.

What's the most memorable beer tasting you can remember?

I can only pick one tasting?! Alright. Let's go back to June 14, 2008. I had just moved to the city a week before, and literally the only two people I knew (besides the coworkers I just met) invited me to a beer event at Spuyten Duyvil. Mind you I was 21, fresh out of college, and although I had enjoyed craft beer it hadn't yet become a burning passion. That day I had sour beer for the first time—that was the spark. After that I started hanging out with that same group of people, Beer Advocates all, and I guess the rest is history.

You walk into a bar (with or without the priest and rabbi) and don't recognize the names of any of the craft beers on the menu. Describe to the bartender, in beer terminology, what you want to drink.

An excellent question. I would request something refreshing, effervescent, and slightly tart (or very tart if they had it) in the family of Berliner Weisse, Belgian pale ale, and Saison.

Any favorite beer literature you could recommend for our book club?

I am thoroughly enjoying Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher that my little brother gave me.

What times/days do you plan to be available at Jimmy's as a Volunteer Beer Steward and what kinds of services do you hope to provide?

We are still working out the schedule but it looks like I will be there every third Tuesday. I will probably be there more often than that as a patron. As for the services I hope to provide: How about a cheerful, friendly face that will happily answer, or look up, any questions the patrons might have.

Final thoughts…

Thanks to Jimmy and Mike for putting on these tastings! I am very much looking forward to drinking with you all! Cheers!