By Lenn Thompson, Executive Editor

Today Mark Tichenor joins our masthead as a Beer Correspondent covering the beer scene in Rochester and beyond.

I've been a reader of Mark both on Twitter and on his site, Beercraft, for a few years now and I've always been impressed with the depth of his knowledge and his willingness to share his opinions in an honest, but constructive way.

Mark has been writing about beer, in print and online, for eight years and will cover the Rochester beer scene for NYCR and also offer commentary and insight into the greater New York beer industry.

Together with our Julia Burke, our beer editor, he'll help build upon and expand our beer coverage — one of our goals for 2011.

We are still looking for someone to cover the downstate beer scene, but in the meantime, please join me in welcoming Mark to the NYCR.