Friday 16 April 2010

Good news

There are loads of things this blog doesn't do. (Amuse, excite, entertain.) For a variety of reasons. Mostly because I'm an intensely lazy person.

But it isn't just that.

Beer news. I don't do that. With my head so firmly stuck up the arse of the past, news would be out of place.  But that isn't the only reason. Everyone and his estate agent posts beer news. Quite often in the form of a regurgitated press release. Occasionally there's some form of commentary. But by no means always. And, unless it's about one of the big boys, the commentary is rarely very critical.

Beer reviews. I don't do them either. (Unless you count phrases like "full of beery goodness" a review. I don't.) Partly because they're so flipping difficult to write without lapsing into repetition or pretension. Or both. Also the fact I rarely drink new beers at home (I prefer to trap beers in the wild and barbecue them in situ). Achingly dull for the readers after a while, too. I want a bit more from a blog than some geek's description of what he drank yesterday evening. Why write something I wouldn't read myself?

There's one reason that far outweighs those I've already mentioned. The risk of manipulation. Relying on press releases and freebie beers for material is a dangerous path to follow. You run the risk of becoming an unpaid publicist of brewers who understand how to exploit bloggers.

That's the good news. There is no news. At least here at Shut up about Barclay Perkins.

8 comments:

Korev said...

Fiercely independent and proud of it - all power to you - a key differentiator and why we persist with supporting your ramblings - beer is beer is beer drink on!

Arctic Alchemy said...

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder I suppose, I am mostly amused, excited and entertained by your blog , the new video ads are somewhat disturbing, but I like them too !

Knut Albert said...

It's safer to be an unpaid publicist to breweries long dead and gone, I presume!

Rob Sterowski said...

Since no breweries bother to send me any free beer, I am also fearlessly independent!

Martyn Cornell said...

I was sent some free icebeer once - jeez, it was awful. I poured some through a teastrainer full of dried hops I'd brought back from a brewery trip and it became almost palateable, but I gave most of it away to the guys in the shop below where I was living in West Ealing.

Kevin LaVoy said...

Noted and appreciated. So many of these reviewers seem to know everything about beer except how to enjoy it.

I recently gave one of my home brews to a fellow brewer. I could actually note physical symptoms of boredom when he used the word "fusels" while telling me what was wrong with it.

Anonymous said...

"Why write something I wouldn't read myself?"

This is exactly my mantra. And while I wasn't reading beer blogs for many moons, I wasn't writing either. I'll never catch up and must start anew. (I particularly liked your flea market post!)

I never get free beers though press releases find their way to me like litter in the hedge.

Ron Pattinson said...

impymalting, glad you're back.