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54announced that Owens Publishing would release BEER, the magazine [sic]. According to Dodsworth%u2019s editorial, %u201c[t]o beer drinkers and beers lovers the world over, BEER promises to be the answer you have been looking for; a one source, Brew Bible and guide book to what %u2018ales%u2019 you.%u201d161 A sister publication to American Brewer, BEER was an extra-large, full-colored tabloidmagazine with the goal of converting the non-craft beer drinking public to %u201cquality beers and ales produced by American brewers and imported from countries around the world.%u201d162 Where American Brewer was sold through subscriptions, homebrew shops, and at breweries, BEER: The Magazine was also sold in bookstores, reaching a broader audience. Owens was influenced by Wine Spectator, his own photographic and artistic sensibilities, and his love of travel developed from Halliburton%u2019s books.163 BEER: The Magazine featured stories, poetry, artwork and comic strips, recipes, travel reports, and Beerspective, a column by Michael Jackson. Many of its editorial staff and writers came over from American Brewer or worked at both publications. The second issue was slightly smaller, though still larger than standard magazines, and the title changed to BeeR, the magazine [sic], where it remained. Although he no longer owned Alimony Ale (or maybe in spite of it), Bill Owens created the Alpha King Challenge as an unofficial event during the Great America Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Colorado in 1999, to crown the bitterest beer in America. American Brewer partnered with Nick Floyd of the eponymous Three Floyds Brewery, who brew Alpha King Pale Ale, and Ralph Olson of Hopunion, the largest vendor of fresh hops in the US (now called YCH Hops).164Ten beers were submitted for testing to Hopunion before the event to ensure they were at least 60 IBUs. Owens, Floyd, and Olson joined three other judges from across the beer industry in a conference room at a Holiday Inn. The judges did a blind tasting with unmarked glasses so they could not be tainted by bias. The winning beer was selected for being the best tasting, not