Winners of Qualifying Preliminary Rounds from Philadelphia Metro and Suburban area Philly Beer Geek Sponsors will compete on Finals night for a Grand Prize of more than $1,000 in gift certificates, cash, and prizes at the Philly Beer Geek Finals Competition 2008.

A panel of celebrity judges - Philly Beer Media, Brewmasters, and Beer Personalities - will select the Philly Beer Geek 2008 based on knowledge, creativity, believability, and a demonstration of enthusiasm for Philly Beer.

Carol Stoudt of Stoudts Brewing, Adamstown

Carol Stoudt of Stoudts Brewing Company in Adamstown, Pennsylvania is unsurpassed among the pride of brewers. In 1987, she became the first woman to found her own microbrewery and has cut an admirable path as an adventurous entrepreneur in this business genre. Adhering to the highest standards of creating award-winning beer, she has developed a tantalizing array of brews - from Scarlett Lady ESB to Fat Dog Stout - while emerging as one of the most active members in the brewing community. She received the 2005 Brewers Association Recognition Award during the Brewers Association Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia. Located in the beautiful Stoudtsburg Village in Adamstown, Stoudts Brewing Company is a gem with an air of sophistication in the artisanal world of beer.

Tom Dalldorf of Celebrator Beer News, Berkeley, California

This is Tom Dalldorf, a legend within the craft-beer industry. He is the supreme reflection of West Coast living: laid-back, progressive, energetic, high-spirited, unconventional, cosmopolitan, and fun-loving - all rolled up into one. You may call him the epitome of the beer-taster with a discerning palate, an icon in the beer industry… yet light-hearted enough to revel in an impromptu jam session as he belts out his classic Goin' to Philly City with the Rolling Boil Blues Band.
http://www.celebrator.com/rb3

The San Francisco Chronicle calls him "quick-witted and impassioned," one who has gathered a following of loyalists over twenty years as publisher, editor and columnist of Celebrator Beer News, the oldest running publication of its kind in the United States.

Suzanne Woods of Phillys In Pursuit of Ale Womens Beer Club

Suzanne Woods is the founder of Philadelphia's women's beer club, In Pursuit of Ale (IPA Club), established to educate women about beer and to expand the beer palates of women in the best beer bars in Philly. She schedules speakers to present informative sessions to her membership, and has organized homebrew sessions with Home Sweet Homebrew of Center City.

She fits well in media events, attracting beer journalists with her enthusiasm and pride in her growing sisterhood. She has been the subject of articles in Philadelphia Weekly, BeerAdvocate.com and the Don Russell's Daily News column, "Joe Sixpack." She has also appeared on Sirius Satellite Beer Radio and Ed Hitzel's radio show from Somers Point, NJ.

Larry Horwitz of Iron Hill Brewery, North Wales

If you were to research the term "professional brewer," you would find Larry Horwitz, Brewmaster at Iron Hill Brewery in North Wales, Pennsylvania, as the definition. Not only is he a walking, talking encyclopedia of brewing information, but he also understands the magic involved in the creation of great beer. He is well-versed in areas of water chemistry, ions in brewing, malt and adjuncts, mash biochemistry, and the alpha acids and essential oils found in humulus lupus, or hops. In addition to his duties brewing great beer at Iron Hill, he also teaches Beer Judge Certification Classes and breaks a difficult subject down into digestible morsels.

Dave Alexander of the Brickskeller, Washington, D.C.

Dave Alexander, owner of the Brickskeller and RFD in Washington, DC is a legend in his own right, the first American beer bar owner to be inducted into the Knighthood of the Brewers Mastshaff in Belgium. The Brickskeller is the ne plus ultra in the world of beer bars, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for "the most varieties of beer commercially available…[having] added 1,072 to the list since 1983." Within walking distance of Dupont Circle and Embassy Row, it is filled with a medley of variably-styled patrons - college professors and students from Georgetown, ambassador types, tourists, authors and neighborhood beer geeks. Such a reputation has attracted beer aficionados since opening in 1957.

Jack Curtin, Philly Beer Journalist

Seasoned Philadelphia beer journalist Jack Curtin, asserts that Philadelphia has developed a reputation for being the best beer city in the country, and perhaps the world. In the business for longer than William Penn has been standing on City Hall (okay, I may be exaggerating a bit), Jack has proven himself in the business of journalistic excellence. He promotes breaking news at The Beeryard website, Wayne, PA, is the “Eastern Pennsylvania” columnist for Mid-Atlantic Brewing News, and serves as the "Atlantic Ale Trail" columnist for Celebrator Beer News of Berkeley, California. In addition to keeping his blog current, daily, at Liquid Diet – The Blog, he contributes regularly to American Brewer.

Tom Kehoe of Yard's, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Yards was founded in 1994 in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia by Tom Kehoe and a buddy from his college days. Originally, Yards focused on brewing British-style Cask Conditioned Ales, but expanded its repertoire as demand grew. Tom Kehoe recently moved his brewing operation to 901 N. Delaware Ave, where he continues to brew beer that makes Philadelphia legendary in the world of the brewers' craft. The late Michael Jackson, legendary Beer Hunter and worldwide authority on beer, proclaimed Yard's ESA as a beer he "couldn't get enough of." In partnership with Philadelphia's historic colonial restaurant, The City Tavern, Yards has proudly reproduced three historically correct Ales using the authentic recipes brewed by founding fathers Ben Franklin, General Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Bruce Williams, Williams Brothers Brewing Company, Scotland

In 1986 Bruce Williams, a brewer and "homebrew" shop owner in Scotland, began making batches of Heather Ale using an old recipe. Into the boiling bree of malted barley, sweet gale and flowering heather are added, then after cooling slightly the hot ale is poured into a vat of freash heather flowers where it infuses for an hour before being fermented in copper turns. Once the formula was perfected, Bruce began selling Fraoch throughout Scotland and England and it is now available internationally.