It’s been quite a ride.
My WordPress blogging interface tells me this is blog post no 1000. One thousand. Add to that the hundreds of posts at my old blog now disappeared into the graveyard of cyberspace, it is quite a figure. But does it matter?
Looking back, the first couple of years were spent trying to find a voice. A fair number of reviews of bottled beers, not particularly entertaining or informative. I feel that I have gradually evolved, both when it comes to travel writing and more general essays.
I have been lucky to be able to visit most countries in Western and Central Europe over these seven years, some times documenting a beer scene very few have written about in English. It is fun to seek new brewpubs and bars and find enthusiasts at both sides of the counter.
I’ve met brewers, landlords, writers and tickers. And I’ve seen the European craft beer scene develop from its first hesitant steps to the lively, inventive and robust market of today.
I have seen breweries pop up across Norway and across Europe. I have seen the Italian micro breweries take off from humble beginnings.
I thought the closing down of The Ram Brewery in London was the beginning of the end of brewing in my favourite city, but I was seriously mistaken. There are now micro breweries and brewpubs by the dozen and beer bars far beyond what anyone could dream about.
And the revolution is global. Disposable kegs means breweries and bars set up networks that ensure an endless supply of new beers. I can get Cantillon beers on tap in Oslo, who’d imagine that?
The number of beer bloggers has also exploded. There is even a market for international beer blogger’s conferences. I must say, though, that I am bored with most of them – a bottle opener and a smartphone camera do not make good stories on their own.
I doubt I will return to a schedule of daily blog posts. But I have a fair number of readers and I really appreciate the interaction with the rest of the beer community, bloggers , brewers and the rest of you.
But I don’t aspire to writing of the same quality as Alan. Or Lars Marius.
Listing my favorite bloggers from the British Isles is for another day.
Congratulations on making 1000. Your old blog was, until recently, still cropping up in Google searches for all sorts of things.
On a side note, we’re always pleased to see new beer blogs, even if many of them never get beyond a few tasting notes before running out of steam. That’s more-or-less where all of us start out and, with time and experience, interesting stuff eventually emerges…
Thanks.
I know my old blog was alive until recently. It had some stuff from countries like Slovakia and Cyprus I should have taken care of. But it’s a blog, not an encyclopedia!
I’ve been enjoying Your blog for quite some years now and also hade the opportunity to meet the man himself by a few occasions. Hope too met you again soon, keep on with the good work. Cheers mate!
Mr. Millennium! I am sure you mean you don’t aspire to the quantity of my posts. Not sure I do either. But congratulations!!!
Congratulations on post number 1000! Keep up the good work!
Congrats on 1000 posts! You might not think it’s an encyclopedia, but when someone asks me where to get beer in Berlin, or Milan, or Paris, your categories are the first place I point them.
Well, I feel I have covered Berlin quite well….
Congratulations! 1000 blog posts is an impressive achievement indeed. And thank you for the praise; I’m not sure it’s deserved, but it’s pleasing all the same.
Congratulations, Knut Albert! Looking forward to future posts!
If you’re interested — and have the patience — archive.org might have some of the old posts you’re interested in. Here’s an entry point:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060508014659/http://beerblog.motime.com/tag/slovakia
Thanks for keeping me in touch with the European beer scene for the last few years!