Ron Pattinson has hit the beer blogging world like a...like a...like a very Ron-like thing. Recently Lew wrote this about Ron:
Pattinson, meanwhile, has been tearing apart the lazily accepted history of porter, stout, and mild...using great drifts of data he's collected from brewer's logs. He's a self-admitted obsessive about this stuff, but the results he's getting make me very glad he's taking the time.It seems to me that Ron's work exemplifies that beer blogging has taken a step into that much heralded next level of blogging - that promise of Web 2.0 that the intermediary of the expert will be unseated by the evolution of direct knowledge. Of course that is usually all bunk fed by internet consultants (this is my favorite Web 2.0 commentary) but in this case it may actually true...if you accept that Ron, a man without a book (yet), is not an established expert. Generally, I do not accept that thems-with-books are necessarily of a different class than thems-without. Many factors take part in that. Plus the job of getting a book out carries its own perils and pressures as (fellow and rightfully awarded Lew-seal-of-approval winner) Martyn Cornell noted to me back in 2003 after I asked where all the footnotes were in his book Beer: The Story of the Pint:
Mmmmm - trouble is, the general feeling in the publishing world is that footnotes equal elitist-looking equals lost sales, except if they're jokey asides as per Pete Brown's book. This may be wrong, but it's what publishers think. The aim of Beer: TSOTP was to try to appeal both to people, like yourself, who already knew a lot about beer and brewing, and also to people looking for a Christmas present for Uncle Ernie (since by getting them to buy the book, I and the publisher make more money ...), hence no footnotes so as not to put off the Uncle Ernie crowd. However, to make up for this a little, I tried to make the bibliography as complete as possible, and also chapter-specific, to help people track references down.I like how that observation sums up some of the issues related to traditional paper publishing but I think it is fair to say now, four years on, that we may be in a new period of flux and transformation in terms of both new access to media and a rapidly growing interest in information about beer and beer history as well as the desire to hear as many voices about beer. I think we can safely call this "The Neato Age Of Beer."
That being the case, two things have come together recently that I think you need to be aware of to make the neato-ness of your experience most neato. With these two things, you too may delve into the world of primary data about beer and find out a few things that beer historians less complete than Martyn might have left you wondering about. First, Google somewhat recently added news archives to the searching you for any topic you wish. If you search Google News for "beer", you will see to the lower left a number of time spans listed so that you can now search for stories about beer in, for example, just the 1920s. This was great but once you looked there you found most of the news items were pay per view. But no longer since The New York Times recently released its archives back to around 1850 to the public for free. As a result, while there are still many subscription only archives for other papers, you can now find stories like this one about beer gardens in the City in 1873, a New York phenomena that still continues. You get a .pdf of the original story as well and, as shown above, in the original font - neato yet still very clear. This is the sort of resource Martyn is discussing using at his excellent blog but it is more The Times of London he uses and access is not so fully available over the internet.
So get at it. If you have read a history of beer - or anything for that matter - and left thinking that the author has compromised, has been compromised by the publishers or they just didn't get the point...go find out for yourself. As Ron and Martyn point out day after day, it is mainly about the quality of the data you rely upon.
Comments
Sarah C. - October 18, 2007 10:04 PM
So, I have been lurking for, wow, more than a couple months now. Its shameful, I know.
I am always interested to read what you have to say and one of these days I will actually use the information you have provided in a meaningful way. I am currently a grad student and do not have $8 to spend on a six pack, let alone a single beer, but I will be gainfully employed at some point!
Do you have a synopsis of your favorite beers listed by type? Perhaps that is too much to ask?
Thanks for the wonderful posts!
Alan - October 18, 2007 10:15 PM
You know, I really can't say as so much depends on the day, the company, the food. And I am pretty sure that I have no yet had my favorite beer in most styles. I do know that I am a little obsessed by anything made by Fantome and that I prefer soft water beers over hard ones. In an effort to cut a cold, I had three dopplebocks last night that all were different but I liked them all: Wagner Valley Sled Dog, Victory St. Victorious and New Holland Blue Goat.
Knut Albert - October 19, 2007 4:57 AM
It's not only history, it is also journalism. It is a fact tat local newspapers will print any press release as long as there is a weak local connection to the product. They never delve deeper into what is happening behind the scene, as <i>who</i> is launching this beer or pub or whatever.
Through the web we now have national and international networks that help to uncover the stories, and the resources are almost endless. At ratebeer, for excample, there are beer drinkers from around the globe, and they can, for example, translate labels in Russian or Japanese and through their combined knowledge help to get through the spin and to the facts.
Ron Pattinson - October 19, 2007 12:57 PM
Investigate for yourselves. It's great fun.
There's nothing more satisfying than proving people have been talking out of their arses.
(I'm sure this will come back and bite me in the bum.)
Stan Hieronymus - October 19, 2007 4:39 PM
Alan,
One point quick point of order as a mull this over. Not all the NY Times archive is free.
<b>Which parts of the Archive are free and which are premium?</b>
* All articles back to 1987 are free.
* All articles from 1851-1922 are free.
* Articles from the period 1923-1986 remain in our paid Archive and are available for purchase as single articles or as article packs.
* If you are a Home Delivery subscriber you may continue to access up to 100 articles per month from the complete Archive. If you haven't already done so, please register your Home Delivery subscription to gain access to our Premium Archive by clicking here.
* Former paying TimesSelect subscribers will continue to have access to 100 articles per month from the paid Archive through Dec. 31, 2007.
Alan - October 19, 2007 5:18 PM
Dastards!!! At least there are all the neato brewery explosion articles from teh 19th century. That and fights at lager halls seem to have been all the news that fit.
Stonch - October 20, 2007 7:59 AM
"I'm sure this will come back and bite me in the bum"
Aha, Ron, but it won't - because so far you haven't been presenting your theories as cast-iron fact. You've been presenting data and pointing out how it contradicts the myths and legends that have passed for beer history to date. You also make a point of highlighting when your own previously expressed theories are debunked by your research. Keep doing that and you won't go far wrong.
When you write a book you will lay yourself open to criticism, of course. At that point myself and Alan will gleefully fall in with your critics and destroy you, leaving you with only jenever and beer schnapps for comfort.
Alan - October 20, 2007 8:15 AM
Yes, good point. This is all a fantastically elaborate setup of Ron.
Ron Pattinson - October 20, 2007 5:25 PM
Jenever . . . mmm . . Just back from the jenever festival in Hasselt. Where did I leave my brain? I know it's around here somewhere.