New Associate Editor/Assistant Manager

How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice! I know, it's a corny way to introduce myself, but it ties to one of my favorite tap handles - so I figured it was fitting! My name is Shawn and I'm the new Associate Editor and Assistant Manager for the Tap Handle Museum. 

My first tap handle was collected about 11 years ago from the restaurant I bartended, which closed down unexpectedly. It was a Labatt Blue handle made with an actual hockey puck in the center and an acrylic upper section with a hockey goalie printed. It was nothing special, but little did I know it was the start of my collection.  

Fast forward a few years and the Alaskan Winter Ale tap handle, tap #87, was used as a handle at a local bar in Lakewood, Ohio for a brew called White Storm. It was before the big craft beer boom in Ohio, so the majority of the tap handles at bars were your run of the mill handles, so this was the first time I remember ordering a beer because of the "polar bear handle." I added the Alaskan Winter tap to my collection when a coworker brought one back from an Alaskan cruise.  

My collection really started gaining steam when I began looking for a Leinenkugel canoe handle to display for the beer being poured at my wedding. This also corresponded to the discovery of the Tap Handle Museum! Being amazed at all of the handles in The Museum, I quickly realized some of my favorite beers had amazing handles that I'd personally love to display. I immediately added the Redhook Out Of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter, tap #375 and the rest is history. I now have over 400 handles in my collection, with concentrations in pumpkin beer handles and Ohio Brewery handles. I've visited over 125 breweries here in Ohio and have been lucky enough to collect a handle from the majority of them. 

My posts will concentrate on industry-related news, breweries that I've visited with their tap handles on display, and the marketing behind craft beer. Really excited to be part of The Tap Handle Museum - hope you enjoy!