Craig Hartinger of Merchant du Vin referred me to your “beer man” commentary. Haefer just continues to stick his foot in his mouth. Several Wisconsin brewers would like to see him drawn and quartered after he trashed their beers (Kirby Nelson of Capital, and the Klisch brothers of Lakefront, for trashing their gluten-free beer (which just won a gold at the GABF for specialty beer). I hear from local readers all the time about how mnuch they dislike Haefer. Haefer and I used to work together at a small daily newspaper in the early 90s. I moved on to a larger newspaper (the Appleton Post-Crescent), where I originated the Gannett Beer Man column (I did not name it — the editors did while I was on vacation when my first column ran). I developed a faithful following during the fours years I served, but I left Gannett in July 2005 over idiotic management policies. They told me they owned the Beer Man name, so I became “the Real Beer Man” (taking the name just to rub it in) for a local alternative newspaper. I ran into Haefer at a beer fest and told him I thought he was a scab for taking a job I quit in protest. Anyway, just thought you might find this of slight interest….

Jim Lundstrom
editor, The Scene (http://www.valleyscene.com)
832 Jefferson St.
Menasha, WI 54952