Move over, beer blogger. Here comes the beer writer.

I had a lunchtime meeting with my publisher today. I like that. My publisher.

So, I have a signed contract in my hands. For a book. Estimate: 500 pages. Working title: Guide to Norwegian breweries and beers.

First printing: 3000 copies.

Deadline: Mid-July.

 

Wish me luck!

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The beer blogger on stage

I did a public beer tasting last night here in an Oslo bar. The plan was initially to have a brewer come and present his beers, while I was asking questions to keep the words flowing. Well, the brewer couldn’t make it, so I had to run the show on my own, with a little assistance from Kenneth, the host of the event.

I was allowed to pick the beers, all from Little Brother Brewery, probably the smallest brewery in town to have a licence to sell their beers. They have a fine range of  beers, not being confined to the standard range of styles. Most of the audience had not tried any of their beers before, and I doubt if any had tried them all.

There was an audience of 40-50, the crowd was well-behaved – and I felt things went very well. Quite a few in the audience with more brewing knowledge than I have, but I was able to share some of the knowledge I have about the large number of new Norwegian breweries.

The beers were good, and my reflections were well received.

I do some talks for various audiences at work, but this is the first time I do this type of event. The feedback was very positive, so I could easily be convinced to do similar things in the future.

And the experience will also come in handy for a project I’ll tell you more about in the near future.

I was fairly busy, so I didn’t take any photos.

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Beer travel? Consider Vilnius

When friend and fellow beer writer Lars Marius suggested an oval weekend in Vilnius, I did not need much encouragement to go along. In the end there were four of us traveling, a convenient crowd.

 

I have been to Vilnius before, but that was ages ago. I did a stint in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Mid Nineties and attended a meeting in Lithuania in 1997. I saw a country trying to get to it feet after many decades of oppression, and I did not envisage it as a tourist destination for a long time.

 

Fast forward to 2015. Two hours flight from Oslo to the capital of a NATO and European Union country. They even adopted the Euro on 1 January.

 

But we were not there for the politics, but for the beer. Lithuania has an unbroken tradition of farmhouse and other small-scale brewing. These beers used to be really hard to find, but now there is a fair number of dedicated beer bars across the city where you find a staggering number of beers.

 

And these beer bars come in a number of shapes and sizes. Some are industrial chic, some are really converted garages tucked inside courtyards. Some are just off the gleaming high street. Some serve rustic food, some serve seriously rustic snacks.

 

The most amazing bar must be Snekutis Uzupio. 20 minutes walk from the old town, this looks like a wooden shack somewhere in the countryside. Wooden interior with lots of dusty memorabilia, a dozen or so beers on tap and a fridge full of mysterious brews.

 

It is extremely convenient to travel with Lars Marius, who has even written a book on Lithuanian beer. He tells us what to order. We drink it.

 

The beer is far away from industrial lager, and it’s not a close relation to, say, Czech lagers, either. The beers tend to be full-bodied, with lots of grain and straw in the flavour. Some of them have notes of honey in the aroma, whether they are brewed with honey or not. We’re talking local yeast varieties here, which you won’t find anywhere on the planet.

I don’t take any serious notes, just enjoy the half liter jugs of beer and the good conversation.

 

 

To be continued….

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Opportunity knocks – or a blogger’s moral dilemma

I got an email a few weeks ago from a guy I know, offering me a position as a beer blogger for one of the major Norwegian online news providers. The wording was flattering, and there was even money involved, meaning a certain amount per click.

An opportunity to write in Norwegian for a broad audience on a subject that (still) fascinates me!

But I had to decline. In addition to the featured bloggers, which are given exposure within the editorial environment, they also offer a general blogging platform, where everyone may publish everything. There is a code of conduct that you have to agree with, and they have staff in charge of this service.

As you might know, I have a day job in the health sector. In this capacity I learned, quite a while ago,  that someone had created a blog dedicated to a smear campaign against an employee of the company where I work. He was accused  of malpractice and the page  made similarities between him and war criminals.

I tried to have these writings removed, quoting the code of conduct. This was declined, both while the blogger was anonymous and when I, without much effort, told them her identity.

My reputation is not worth very much. But I am in a position to decline a co-operation with a company that has an elastic relationship with their stated ethical standards.

So, no thanks.

But there are other windows of opportunity – more about that soon.

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Facebook beats twitter

The blog posts have been quite irregular here lately. As the focus has changed towards Norwegian breweries, I have also established a spin off on Facebook, which covers news updates from other sources, mostly in Norwegian. This has been very successful, much more so than my activity on twitter. So, if you’re not following my Facebook page, give it a try.

But I have had a few offers to migrate my beer writing to other platforms, too. More about that soon.

 

 

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