Freebies – the ten-finger discount
Beer bloggers are fairly low in the grand scheme of things, by and large (until you gain elevation to the higher echelons of the bloggerati, of course). The vast majority of us have day jobs that don’t involve booze – unless you count staring wistfully out of the window at the building opposite and idly thinking of imperial stouts.* Largely self-funded, we spendinvest a small fortune in beer, and in travelling to festivals, drinking trips or to meet brewers. We’re about as far removed from problem drinkers as you can get – I’m guessing I fork out way more than 45p a unit for my habit.
One easy way to reduce some of the costs is to get things on the free – by requesting samples. The thinking goes that breweries, as businesses, need publicity to increase sales – so won’t mind dishing out a few bottles to keyboard superheroes up and down the land. This has come up in recent weeks due to a chap on Twitter firing off messages to all and sundry asking for samples of ‘real ale’ to help him write a book on the subject (although some digging revealed he doesn’t, as yet, have a publishing deal – and CAMRA have distanced themselves from him).
Fair play to the guy for trying, you would suppose – but I’ve always found requesting samples a bit seedy – as do some of the breweries, judging by their four-letter responses to him on Twitter (although despite that, he has got a pretty large haul of beer for his ‘book’ already). If I can sit on my sanctimonious high horse for a moment – I buy beer instead of asking for it (direct from the brewer if possible), as this way it helps them as well as me. Of course, what ‘help’ my vague, rambling bleatings about grassy hops and chocolately malt do them is anyone’s guess.
Of course, if you get a PR email from someone asking you to feature a product – that’s a whole other ballgame – and one that is up to each individual blogger. Pete Brown wrote an interesting piece on the subject last October** – and I would say that at the BeerCast we follow the broad consensus – i.e. if you push something onto us, we’ll take it – but will review it as we see fit. This is now known as the ‘Oxford Companion to Beer Paradox’.
In short, I would feel vaguely embarrassed writing begging emails/tweets to brewers – I write enough of them to my girlfriend, for one thing. I remember when we first started, we got sent a case of a brand new beer from a large English regional. Having reviewed it, objectively, as being pretty average I then received another email from the MD thanking me for our ‘refreshing honesty’, and assuring us that we’d be considered for more new releases to review when they came out. That was in 2008…
*I certainly hope the people in the building opposite know that I’m thinking of imperial stouts, anyway.
**On an unrelated note, I am also available for tours of the Czech Republic as Mark Dredge’s wingman…
5 Comments
tandleman
February 21, 2012I rarely get beer or much else for that matter despite my lofty bloggjng rankinLg and consistency of being right up there for years. I suspect many bloggers do surreptitious ask PR companies and brewers but have no proof of that at all. There are other murky ways too I believe. Well not murky but being in the right (London based) company.
Mark Dredge
February 21, 2012I always need a wingman!
I agree with you – I think asking for samples is uncool. If you want to try it enough to send an email asking for it then go out and find it and buy it. I’d never ask for samples unless it was for an actual book (as opposed to the ‘possible’ book you’re talking about!). I would also feel embarrassed about asking.
Being given free stuff is always nice though I don’t write about most of it – if it’s good then maybe I will. Notice that the better breweries don’t need to give stuff away to get people talking about them.
And there are bloggers who do ask for beer. If anyone asks for beer at Camden Town then I won’t send it out but if they take the time to come down and visit then they can drink the tanks dry (and I’ll help them to try and achieve it)! There will always be time to show someone around the brewery.
Adam
February 21, 2012Then there’s breweries or other companies sending out their product without being asked to eminent bloggers. I think it’s good to have interaction with breweries as long as you stay objective. Even great breweries might produce a bad beer once in a while.
Richard
February 21, 2012I suppose in the end, as you all have hinted at, it comes down to who you know and how many people know you. Although tandleman’s blog soars at the heights of the Wikio thermals, if you have a network of contacts or fire out the emails, you can get free stuff even if you’re ranked near the leaf litter.
We also do ask for book samples, as that a) seems more fair to me, and b) makes me think I’m intelligent for reviewing. But as Adam says, you’ve got to be objective – there’s no point communicating with every British brewer if all that happens is most of them think you’re a freeloader.
Oh, and Mark, be careful what you wish for – there’s a BeerCast wedding taking place in Camden in July… 🙂
Martini
February 24, 2012I agree. I would feel very embarrassed asking for a free sample, particularly of something that is heavily taxed to subsidse healthcare. There’s something wrong with that arrangement. Like a kickback – “Sure we’ll give you a free beer, if you write us a great review!” On the other hand, I’d happily accept a free sample if they offered it to me uncoerced.