We did it!

Last night, shortly before the stroke of midnight, BeerSweden’s FaceBook page recruited its 1,000^th follower!

This is a massive milestone for me. When I sat down at the end of last year and sketched out my ideas for a beer blog one of my biggest goals was to connect it to Facebook. At that time I couldn’t find one Swedish beer blog on FB and I wondered why, as FB offers a more ‘instant’ way of interacting with people that blogs alone can’t do.

So I became (I think) the first Swedish beer blog to set up shop and regularly post on the world’s biggest online social network. Over the past few months we’ve had a lot of fun there too – with spontaneous ‘live sessions” and the country’s first simultaneous tasting with other beer fanatics from all over Sweden.

To reach 1,000 followers is all the proof I need that the decision to start BeerSweden was the right one. It means a great deal to me we got there so quickly and I want to thank every single one of you who has taken the time to show your support. Thanks!!

I’m giving myself and the rest of you the day off today to celebrate, but remember I want you all back at work here tomorrow as we raise the bar to 1,500!

This milestone coincides nicely with a question somebody asked me earlier this week, which was “Why do you write BeerSweden?” It was a perfectly sensible and straightforward question so it’s rather strange I’ve had so much difficulty answering it.

I spend a lot of time (and I’m talking a World of Warcraft* amount of time here) scanning beer blogs and news sites in an attempt to keep up to date with beery goings-on, be inspired, learn stuff or simply fish around to steal good post ideas.

But I could do all that without having to get up in the early hours when all I really want to do is bury my head under the pillow for another hour to write a post about brewing technicalities, a beer review or the latest goofy PR-stunt from BrewDog.

I could do all that and not feel a constant sense of anxiety that I haven’t posted enough and that in this modern era of instant gratification my readers will suddenly collectively say “that’s it, we’re fed up waiting” and all bugger off to another beer blog that is better written/funnier/better looking than mine.

I could do all that and not be addicted to checking Google f%€king Analytics 20 times a day (even though I tried to convince myself that statistics aren’t important and promised myself, hell even swore on one of my relative’s eyes I wouldn’t peek more than once a week).

And I could certainly do all that without experiencing the dull ache of apprehension I always get after posting a review about a beer that I didn’t like, even though I was only calling it as I saw it, yet knowing that there are good people behind that beer that care about it and work with it every day that will probably read my post and be disappointed in me.

So why do I write BeerSweden?

Ego? Well I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me a bit of a buzz. Writing one of the most visited blogs in any country is a real rush. It’s not only the stats and number of FaceBook followers that feeds my self-esteem but the newspaper, magazine and radio interviews that come with it. Every writer has a certain reason to be read – to be heard. Ask 50 writers what that reason is and you’ll probably get 50 different answers. For me I find a deep-rooted satisfaction in writing a well-crafted article. The sensation of writing when your fingers dance over the keyboard and the words flow effortlessly is a high I constantly crave.

Money? Again I’d be lying if I said at the beginning I had ambitions to turn BeerSweden into a self-financing blog. I had hoped advertising revenue might cover the hundreds of hours I spend on writing it but it quickly became clear it never would.  Blogs, I have discovered, are often about as financially rewarding as selling VHS video players.

Beery status? Well yes, quite a bit. This is where BeerSweden has been so incredibly successful for me. Before it I knew quite a lot about beer in this country but I didn’t know the people that actually brewed it. The blog has been my ‘in’, my invitation to the beer party in this country.

But above all this there’s one remarkable thing this blog has done for me. In it’s short virtual life BeerSweden has brought me closer to the drink I love and the people that love it than in all the previous 16 years I’ve worked in the beer business put together.

I always thought I was the most passionate person I knew when it came to beer. This blog has shown me I’m not even close. I expected the industry people to be crazy about the stuff but what I didn’t see coming was the seemingly limitless enthusiasm and endless curiosity of the hundreds of followers of BeerSweden who simply like great beer and want to learn more about it.

And so, in a very round-a-bout way I think you’ve managed to answer that question for me. I write BeerSweden because I love great beer and want to learn more about it.

The fact that so many of you feel the same way is the reason why I’m sitting at my keyboard right now writing this with a contented smile on my face, and while I’ll be back here tomorrow morning while everyone else in the house is still tucked up in bed fast asleep.

*I have never played World of Warcraft but used to have a friend that does. I say used to because I haven’t seen him in around 4 years as he’s too busy slaying Ragnarok, The Ice Elemental or gathering embalming Ichor to come outdoors these days. If any subset of society really needs a beer, and I mean REALLY needs one it’s people that play World of Warcraft).

**I’m unusually nervous about posting this article. My intention was to give an honest balls-and-all account of why I write this blog but reading it back now I see that parts of it could come across as being self-congratulatory and pompous at the same time as making me sound like a bit of a whinger. This is not my intention at all. I love writing this blog and am amazingly proud of it..

***There’s one other person that deserves a mention and that’s BeerSweden Trev for his brutally honest opinions about beers (smells like piss) that keep me from getting too carried away and for his energy and enthusiasm in editing BSTV. Trev – you’re a diamond geezer!

**** The next post will be about beer. I promise!

This is the first time I’ve done this; perform the blogging equivalent of a ‘smash and grab’ by directing you to a post on another beer blog.

However when I read this article earlier today by Mark Fletcher (also known as FletchtheMonkey) on the UK beer blog Real Ale Reviews I was so taken by it that I simply had to pass it on to you BeerSweden readers.

I’m a regular follower of the UK beer blogs which in my opinion are often incredibly well researched and written and have obtained a far higher status than here in Sweden, where beer bloggers are still generally regarded as over-zealous ‘öl-nerds’ writing about obscurely named beers in their bedrooms and who could all really benefit from getting out a little more.

I wrote about this issue on the Swedish Beer Consumers Association’s website a while back.

Mr Monkey’s article is a great example of beer writing – a post as far removed from the standard ”it’s brown and smells of caramel” post as the earth is from the sun (see Mark, you’ve got me started now).

In a few sentences it makes you feel all tiny and insignificant and then fills you with hope and optimism, cleverly managing to weave a beery message into the elegant prose too.

This isn’t just good beer writing, it’s great writing full stop.

Enjoy!

OK, Ok, perhaps I’m getting a little carried away, but unlike most tabloid headlines there’s an element of truth in it.

As of today I’m going to be simultaneously uploading BeerSweden to Expressen’s blog portal in an attempt to introduce even more people to the wonderful world of great beer.

It might not have the ‘eye candy’ factor of this site, but it’s a start. If you want to check it out (after reading it first here of course) drop by http://blogg.expressen.se/beersweden/

These are exciting times in the Swedish beer scene right now!

A flood of great new beers have just landed in the Systembolaget, the Swedish micros are increasingly making an international name for themselves by producing some inspirational beers and on top of that the way beer is being written about here in Sweden is getting a radical facelift.

Rather than the occasional column inch in a Sunday supplement written by a wine writer on a bad news day beer writing in Sweden has taken to the internet with a new wave of bloggers experimenting online with fresh ways to spread the word about great beer.

A couple of beer evangelists from Schnille och Schmak have just started having fun with some wacky video beer reviews and several other Swedish bloggers are regularly live-blogging and tweeting their way onto people’s PCs.

This is just not only great news it’s absolutely necessary because as beer is busy re-inventing itself so must the way it is reported and presented to the public change too.

So what’s BeerSweden doing to keep up?

Well later this week I’ll be launching a new column in response to some people saying us bloggers are, how can I put this nicely, a bit too geeky about our beers. Can’t say much more now except that a new member will be joining the BeerSweden crew in the next week and he’s promised he’ll be shooting from the hip.

A ‘back to basics’ guide to beer styles is also under construction in response to emails from readers who want to be able to tell their IPAs from their APAs and their porters from their stouts.

On Friday I’ll be packing my bags and flying down south to the Örebro Beer Festival where I’ll be hoping to track down and interview some of the main players in the Swedish beer scene. Oh, and I’ll probably be sampling a beer or two along the way…..

So sit tight and remember that wine is just sooooooo passé these days. Beer is where it’s at!

It’s been just over a week since BeerSweden stuck its stake into the Swedish blogasphere and set up home and what a week it’s been!

From just one visitor on day one (thanks mum) word has quickly spread and now visitors are dropping by in their hundreds every day.

A big high five to all the established Swedish beer bloggers out there for giving me such as warm welcome and linking me up. As I always say beer is interesting and interesting people drink and (blog) interesting beer.

And the fun’s only just begun! Right now I’m calling in a few favours among my contacts in the Swedish beer industry (and openly bribing and blackmailing others) in order to launch a top-secret project starting right here next week.  Can’t say much more now other than it involves beer and free stuff.

Remember that I write BeerSweden.se because a) if I didn’t do something my enthusiasm for great beer would probably explode and kill me, and b) because I hope you lot find it interesting to see some of the stuff going on with beer in Sweden right now. If you’ve got any suggestions on how this blog could be better or what sort of articles you want to see uploaded here please drop me a line at darren@beersweden.se.

Have a great beer week!

Darren