If you're doing IT already, it's not a challenge to get Wordpress up and running.

So that's your start. Blog about beer. If there are some existing forums, drop in on them and mention your site in a sig, or maybe ask for comments.

Don't expect floods of traffic - but really, with a site about beer, I doubt you'll lack interest.

Setting up a Joomla-based CMS will take longer, but it's not desperately difficult to get the basics running. I've seen people do it in a day or two. It takes longer to do something really slick, but it's beer, so you may not need slick.

Likewise with forums, which are available packaged and ready to drop into your hosting space. As a test, I parked a forum on a server and found an interesting skin for it in a couple of hours. It's that easy.

What you don't need to do is buy Dreamweaver, and build everything from scratch.

CMS has been one of the success stories of open source software. There's a good selection of tools you can splice together for no money down and not much effort, which will produce a workable and working site for you, with interactivity.

Would beef be your reactions or would it be about cowflesh?

Either way, I think would be better name than Bob's Your Uncle.

Once you have a good selection of content up and the beginnings of a userbase, you could facilitate user generated content by which users could document and review their favourite pubs.  Some sort of link-up with Google maps would allow the creation of pub crawl maps linking pubs with specified beverages, musical/entertainment types, ambience/community/cultural identifications etc. - that even a blind drunk could follow.  (Of course there could also be related safety, traffic hazard, and health services info!)

A database of videos of pubs would add life to wordy descriptions and snap shots.

When you reach critical mass you could charge pubs for "featured" entry and breweries for ad space for their products.  Your site could link up with hostelling, couch surfing, music, gigging, public transport, and other related infotainment sites.

The ambience would be informal - lots of scope for virtual pub chats, soap box orations, and the blathering of blithering idiots.  However there could also be more serious fora for chats on sport, politics sex and food - what normally goes on in pubs but what you could do online on the nights you can't go out.

users would be able to choose their own favourite site/pub décor - modern lounge, cocktail bar, Irish pub, traditional ale house.  You would try to build communities of like minded connoisseurs - the Caol Ila Brethren spring to mind.

A  complaints section could deal with dirty lines, filthy toilets, rowdy customers, and poor service.  A bar tender of the Month feature would interview favoured proprietors.

Above all you would guard your independence jealously.  Most drinking sites are run by marketing agencies, drinks companies, and hospitality chains.  You would seek to become the Wikipedia of Pubs - I see someone out there already has a proposal for a Wikipubs.com.

But your site wouldn't just be a pub guide.  It would be about the drinking experience and the conversations and experiences which flow from that.

You would need an IT partner and ideally a graphic designer to get the whole thing looking good ultimately - but many people could bring bits of expertise to the community.  

But its your personality that would ultimately sell the whole thing - its about real people having fun and not necessarily just about the venues and the products and services they offer.

notes from no w here

And if you branch out into guest columns, I have material for a couple of good, offbeat things that never got written for a corporate site just dismantled. :-)

Example:

I like Bass, Pacifico, Sam Adams, Newcastle, and Coors Light. Ales in the winter, lagers in the summer. Predict me a beer for Oktoberfest.

If you want ideas about how to write that part of the site (ie, the non-pub parts), here are two sites that are quite successful with a different drink:

http://www.whisky-distilleries.info/index_EN.shtml (note this one was actually French to start with -hint that having two languages might help)

http://www.maltmaniacs.org/ (in fact you'll find 3 sites there, three times as much inspiration!)

I'd definitely read your site, and recommend it to scores of people. You have plenty of things to say about beer that would interest people.

And, now that Michael Jackson's dead (no, not that one, though he's dead also), the main competitor to your knowledge is no longer available.

"Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"

You have two strong propositions, but I think mixing them in a single site will make the experience unsatisfactory for the respective readerships.

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine - Patti Smith