All Beer All the Time in Dyster-World

Mayor Paul Dyster at his office with a half dozen beers.

In the personal and political world of Paul Dyster all roads lead to beer.

The mayor has managed to connect his elected position to the production, consumption and judging of beer in a way that is nothing short of amazing, if not troubling.

The mayor operates a home beer brewing supply store in the Town of Tonawanda  called Niagara Tradition. He moved the store out of Niagara Falls years ago.

The mayor became a "Certified Beer Judge" in 1998 through the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), the leading (and perhaps the only) organization in the U. S. that certifies members to judge beer.  After judging many more brews and taking a written and monitored beer tasting test, he climbed to the rank of National Beer Judge in 2002 with the BJCP.

Still ahead is the elusive but attainable rank of Grand Master, the supreme court of beer judges.

Dyster is one of only 4,591 certified beer judges, and one of only 694 national judges.

To become a judge, a person pays a fee and takes an exam proctored by a certified judge who gets 30 percent of the take on fees.

Taxpayer-funded Hard Rock concerts had two notable features: Profitable beer sales - sold exclusively by Hard Rock, and the Mayor introducing the acts, before and after making yeoman efforts to support Hard Rock’s sales.

The exam includes true-false, multiple choice questions, and essays about the technical aspects of brewing and beer styles. During the taste part of the test, candidates drink four beers, and describe them as they would in a real beer judging competition.

Points are taken off, if you slur your words.

The mayor took office in 2008 and immediately helped the Niagara Arts and Cultural Center create the “Art of Beer,” an annual alcohol-sodden, one evening celebration of the art of consuming beer.

The mayor has given taxpayer cash to the “Art of Beer” so it could introduce our residents to the finer points of slamming brews.

The mayor’s beer business has been one of the “exhibitors” at the “Art of Beer,” thereby linking his elected office, the NACC, the “Art of Beer” and his beer business seamlessly, if not shamelessly.

The mayor’s latest political fundraiser is set for July 15 at Hyde Park. It is titled, “The Mayor’s Blues and Brews Celebration” as it links his re-election effort to alcohol consumption.

With all of this in mind, the Niagara Falls Reporter has poked a little fun at the mayor’s beer fixation, hobby, vocation, addiction or whatever it is. But, please remember that alcohol remains the number one abused drug in our nation. It ruins health, kills on the highway, destroys families and contributes to child and spousal abuse in great numbers.

Alcohol consumption is considered a potentially lethal addiction to most people, but it’s an art form and way of life for Mayor Paul Dyster.

Vote responsibly.

In heaven there is no beer, offering justification for Mayor Dyster drinking it here.