Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

"Are you David Wilcox?" he asked.

I said "yes," then braced myself. Having written for Ë®¹ûÅÉAV for 12 years, I've been ambushed by it all, from praise and tips to complaints and threats. So what would this stranger have to say?

"Do you do anything except drink beer and write about it?" he asked.

(Obviously, the answer is .)

The man's question was surprising — and yet it wasn't. Criticism on the street is sudden by nature, sure, but I'm no stranger to the content of that criticism. Other beer writers and I get it often.

That's because there's something about craft beer that some people just don't like. I don't know what it is. It could be some puritanical reaction to any positive attention paid to beer, some refusal to see it as anything but a vice. Or it could be something specific to craft beer: It could be resentment that the industry, both and across the country, is . It could be disaffection because craft beer has a whole thriving culture that they're not a part of. Or it could be confusion because they don't quite understand what craft beer is.

Again, I don't know what the problem is. But I do know why I write about local craft beer.

I write about it for the same reasons I just listed: It's successful, it's cultural and it's unique.

Just look at Prison City Pub & Brewery's recent of 16-ounce cans of its sought-after India pale ale, . More than 200 people lined up outside the Auburn brewpub as early as midnight, almost 12 hours away from the time of the release, to claim their cans. And while they waited, they made friends, traded beers and shared an experience they'll remember for awhile.

That's news. That's a wildly successful local business. That's a massive crowd braving the March cold in downtown Auburn. And that's all because of beer.

Some people like reading about it. My coverage of the Mass Riot release was Ë®¹ûÅÉAV's fourth most-read story of the month. Since the fall of 2014, when opened downtown, all my coverage of the success of Cayuga County's craft breweries — , , Prison City and Good Shepherds — has been reliably well-read.

But some people still don't like reading about it. And I know that because my coverage of the Mass Riot release was the subject of some more drive-by feedback.

Left in Ë®¹ûÅÉAV's mailbox this week was a clip of the article covered in scrawlings: "This is why I do not subscribe!" "You are a joke of a newspaper." "Is this really news?"

Yes, it is. And I'm going to continue writing about it. I don't expect this column to make the man on the street, the person with the angry handwriting or anyone else like craft beer. They'll read the headline, and probably only the headline, and roll their eyes. Some of them might prepare another way to tell me I suck at my job, as the clip did.

And that's OK. You don't have to like craft beer. But I don't see how you can continue to deny the news that it's making in Cayuga County.

What's on tap

Aurora Ale & Lager

The expansion of the tasting room at Joe Shelton and Mark Grimaldi's King Ferry farm brewery is underway, and their new brewing system will arrive at the end of May. A small kitchen is being installed, and drainage and plumbing are being updated. As the weather warms up, the brewery will be open more days of the week, and later. Meanwhile, Shelton and Grimaldi will release their first can to local markets soon, their K.R.E.A.M. kölsch. And they're carbonating a New England black IPA, which Shelton said is "not really a style but we have decided to try it." It should have a smooth feel and a subtle roast, he added. Last, the farm brewery has new glassware for sale, including tekus.

Prison City Pub & Brewery

On deck in April at the Auburn brewpub are its Riot in '29 IPA, Riot in Santa Rosa double IPA, Highly Suspicious IPA with pineapple (a collaboration with Community Beer Works in Buffalo), a bourbon barrel-aged version of its Big Baboon imperial brown ale, and a few more hoppy selections. Also, Prison City will release 100 bottles of a version of its Run Like an Apricot sour that's been aged for seven months in wine barrels, which will be on tap as well. It's the first of many new barrel-aged beers to come from the brewpub's . Meanwhile, Prison City will attend the TAP New York Craft Beer and Food Festival in Hunter, and the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville.

Thirsty Pug Craft Beer Market

Mike Sigona has installed a new bar with more leg room at his Genesee Center bottle shop, and is working with  on East Hill to choose an opening lineup for a new curated selection of wines that will be carried at Thirsty Pug.