10 Years of Beer Blogging
Yes you read that right, this thing known as Land of Sky Beer Waters is now ten years old!
For this special occasion, I sat down with a long time beer geek from Minneapolis who I’ve known for quite a while from collector shows and bottle share parties and other beer related things. Unfortunately he doesn’t want to “be on the stupid internet” so he is going by the clever name of… Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X ..haha.
I figured I’d do something different this time to mark the occasion since most people have been here for past anniversaries and might get bored, so I decided an interview was something new. Sit back and enjoy the ramblings.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So hey hows it going?
Dave - Not too bad
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Congrats on 10 years of talking about beer things
Dave - Thanks
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So what are your plans for the future of the blog?
Dave - The future? Is there going to be one?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Probably not
Dave - I think I might buy a 30 pack of Mountain Crest
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Dont get too crazy
Dave - I know right?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So when you started this blog did you expect to have this many people following along?
Dave - Actually no, I didnt even think there were people into old beer stuff back then
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - How did you find out about the existing beer people?
Dave - Well they just started following along and told me about all the collector shows that were coming up and I went to some and ended up meeting people like yourself
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Yeah my life is completely different now because I met you.... just kidding
Dave - Haha
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So what are you drinking these days?
Dave - Ive actually gone backwards in terms of beer, and Im trying to find the best lager out there..well that's available in Minnesota at least
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - And what have you found?
Dave - Not much.....well to be honest, I discovered I like Leinekugel's Northwoods lager more than I should
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Really, I haven't had it in a while
Dave - Well you should get on that...and actually I cant find it anymore, is it seasonal or what?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Im not sure, did you try contacting Leinekugel's?
Dave - No I just wished they would send me info via ESPN
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I see what you did there...by the way Lindsey Lohan was rather good looking in Mean Girls
Dave - She was so fetch
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So I take it you are not into chasing the latest milkshake cherry coconut IPA triple hopped with hot sauce then?
Dave - Haha no, that is such a fade and it's sad that breweries have to cater to the ridiculous demands of people chasing made up styles of beer....there I said
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - People say that this new beer wave is like the Bartles and Jaymes fad of the late 80’s
Dave - People? I say that haha… I actually I heard they were coming back in sorts
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Please No
Dave - Ahh you are probably right...but I will say at least this new seltzer trend is totally that late 80's stuff all over again
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So are you getting free samples of stuff from breweries now?
Dave - Sort of, yes and no... I mean its been slow since this corona thing started...the virus not the beer...and actually I've drank more corona beer variations lately than I have in my entire life haha
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Do you wear a mask when you are drinking it?
Dave - I did in that one instagram video
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I didnt see it since Im not on the social media things
Dave - Ok well Ill text it to you...you have a smart phone right?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I believe it to be smart, Im not sure. So what do you think of all the collector shows being cancelled this year?
Dave - Its kind of a downer but at least I dont have to buy anything I dont need for a while haha
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - True, but most people will still trade things and buy off ebay
Dave - Yes that is still going on but you wont be able to see anything up close to make sure it’s not one of those stupid fake rust signs…god I hate those things.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So I’ve heard. So back to the blog, how many articles have you written?
Dave - Ahhh lots...I mean its been like 10 years so I’m not sure anymore
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Ok how many articles have you written about new breweries opening in Minnesota?
Dave - Quite a few actually most that are still open today and actually some that have closed already...man its amazing to be around longer than some breweries have
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - How many soft openings have you been to?
Dave - Soft openings? Like preview nights? ....actually none
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - What? Seriously?
Dave - Yeah really, I’ve wrote about many breweries opening up before most people even heard about it and tagged the places with my articles, giving them promotion and they never invite to the openings
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - WOW that's...really weird
Dave - Yeah its rather odd how everyone claims they know about the website and etc but never reach out and invite me to anything. And just recently I’ve seen a bunch of beer instagram people that I never knew were around, posting pictures from a place I wrote about and I was like wait whats going on tonight? How did they find out? Sure wish I was there, but whatever now I almost want to maintain the record of never being invited to keep going on forever haha
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Well I guess thats one way to look at it...or do ...or?
Dave - Anyways in the long run, I guess it doesn't really matter, I write articles cuz thats what I do here and Im not looking for handouts...I mean I have asked for samples from places and if they want to send stuff my way that's sweet. I'll review it and post about it, but I’m not in it just for free stuff and more just doing this site cuz I’ve always done it
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So who are these other beer people? Like the snapchatterbookgram people?
Dave - Haha yeah...you mean people that get all the good stuff? They are like the new breed of beekgeek, think us back when we were skinny and not much facial hair….better looking people than myself…but not too much better looking…ZING
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Are they like those half naked instagram beer girls?
Dave - I thought you said you weren't on the social medias?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Im not but I read about things
Dave - ......Sure. Speaking of which I find it funny that everyone complains that women are disrespected in the beer world and then you have these borderline nude beer accounts and they have like a millions followers, its very contradictory
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I dont get it either. Why dont these dudes who follow those accounts just admit they like good looking beer women?
Dave - Because then they will look like a bunch of Bros or something.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So along with the beer website you also do other websites about history stuff right
Dave - Yes well not websites but facebook profiles…right now I’m just doing the beer thing which is on facebook, youtube and instagram and then I’m doing Saint Paul Revisited on facebook. I was actually partially running the Old Minneapolis page for 3 years which most people didn’t know about but Jesse who started the page back in the day decided to come back after a hiatus to run the page again.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Oh so you are all over the place then
Dave - You can say that, I’m actually one of City Pages interesting people of 2020!
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Congrats on that by the way and that was mainly for your history research?
Dave - Yes. If I were to describe my entire “thing” I’m not the typical beer blogger because I have always praised beers of the past and that’s my basis for my existence on the internet so maybe that’s why craft beer people might think I’m kind of lame because I dont post about hazy IPA’S 24/7
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So how did you start the beer website in the beginning ?
Dave - I started taking pictures of beer signs on the side of buildings that were either abandoned or of beer that nobody drank anymore, like Hamm's and Schmidt and stuff
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Really and then people started liking those pictures?
Dave - Yes. I mean I would post those and then random Hamm's stuff I would find around at antique shops and etc
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Are you still taking pictures like those original ones?
Dave -Sadly no. Mainly cuz I think I’ve spotted all that is to be spotted in the metro area at least. I still keep my eye open when going down dark alleys at random times of the night while fighting crime and stuff but nothing seems to jump out anymore......except those evil kryptonite infected criminals
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I’ll agree, I think most of these signs got taken down and then thrown out because nobody thinks they are worth anything
Dave - Yeah super dumb
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So is Hamm's paying you royalties for making their beer popular again? Because lets be honest, nobody even cared about Hamm's beer until recently.
Dave - Haha ...I wish I could get royalties.....hell I would take some free 12 packs here and there even. I do actually periodically get promo things sent to me from Hamm's ad agency which is cool.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Yeah that is pretty cool.
Dave - I would still like my stock dividends though....
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Dont we all. So are you ever going to work at a brewery again?
Dave - Ummm probably not
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Why?
Dave - Well I guess I'll start by saying its super cool to work at one, it's just not financially what I would want to do for the rest of my life.....unless I was like part owner or something
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - They say most brewery workers have to love what they do and stuff like that
Dave - Yes I mean when I worked for brewery #1, I was only part time but had a full time job too....actually I was part time at brewery #2 also and that's all I was doing at the time so I wasn’t making the big bucks....or any bucks really, but even if I did move up to a position which wasn't even open, I wouldn't have made as much I used to in my old or current job
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - You arent going to name the breweries?
Dave - Nah, well I’'ll say one started with an S and the other started with an I.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - That narrows it down
Dave - Haha there are a couple here in the state that start with those letters so people can take guesses. Minnesotans take so much offense if you talk crap about them, the funny thing is they can dish it out but cant take it in return. I will say this though, one brewery did very well in the brewhouse and the other did terrible. Then the other brewery did very well in the taproom and the other did not. So it was interesting to see the contrasts there.
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - So you left to get a full time job?
Dave - Yes ...I actually quit both brewery jobs haha mainly because I saw no future in it and frankly was not happy with the possibility of advancement in the industry to be very honest
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Yeah but all that free beer though
Dave - True...almost too much free beer
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - I’ll agree with you that most people have to work there for years to even be considered for any higher position with better pay...if the vacancies even come up…and now that I said that, most breweries workers are not driving Ferraris
Dave - Haha yes that’s very accurate....but they love what they do
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Yes and God bless them for making the products they do.
Dave - Agreed. So should we wrap this up or did you get all that you were gonna ask?
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - You never answered what your plans for the future will be
Dave Oh yeah well in reality I should really add more stuff to the Youtube page because I have a bunch of old commercials and stuff in a couple folders and I should get the facebook page back to exciting like it used to be and take some nude photos of me holding a beer bottle in a strategic location for the instagram account because that’s what the people want. Oh and I also have more old articles from the previous version of the website to dig up and post...if I can find them that is
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - What does that mean?
Dave - I might have deleted some stuff by accident....
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - That's not good
Dave - Well alot of it is super outdated by now and my writing was most likely terrible back then
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X- It still is
Dave - You son of a bitch !
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - Haha ... ok Lets go eat
Dave - Taco Bell !
Old Man Get off My Lawn Beer Veteran X - You speak my language!
