Hoperatives Offers Inside Scoop on Beer

Tom Streeter and Carla Gesell-Streeter, founders of Hoperatives.

A blog is such a simple concept of sharing personal experiences and advice to readers. In this case, husband and wife Tom Streeter and Carla Gesell-Streeter offer their best advice and experiences when it comes to beer through their blog, Hoperatives.

“We started Hoperatives on Jan. 1, 2009. We had a friend who did a wine blog in town and listed the wine events once a week,” says Carla. “We looked for the beer equivalent and when we did not find it. So, we started Hoperatives.”

Today, the blog is now part of the Cincinnati.com Blog Network, and focuses on the places that make the beer, the places that sell the beer, and the places that serve the beer. “We focus on the people, places, and events that make it great. We also look at happenings in the region, which we are defining as anything within a five-hour driving range,” says Tom. With a radius like that, the blog everywhere from the shores of Lake Erie to the Tennessee River, to the middle of Illinois and mountains of West Virginia.

“Community is a lot of what a blog is about,” explains Tom. “It’s doubly true of a beer blog. There is a reason a good beer bar is noisy. It is because people are talking. That is what this place is about. It is a place for believers in better beer to congregate and have a conversation. We cannot always drink beer, but we can always talk about it.”

While the blog has been up and running for nearly five years, and now features hundreds of entries, they do still have a favorite post. “One of our favorite posts recently was a photo tour of the Samuel Adams Brewery in Cincinnati,” says Carla.

Since the couple likes to take their love of beer on the road, they venture beyond regional and national borders and report back on what they find. “Our favorite thing about being a blogger is the great people we get to meet,” says Carla, “especially folks in the beer industry.”

For more information, visit Hoperatives.com.