Big beer news greeted by crickets

The Hops and Sips blog broke some pretty big news last week concerning the former Olympia Brewery site.

Then the story sat. And sat. And sat. I tweeted it out a few times and the Everett Herald twitter retweeted it. Finally The Olympian picked it up and it got some play. Then others piled on.

On Tuesday I also posted a story about how Edmonds’ American Brewing is in talks with the investment group buying the property to become the contract brewery on location. That’s some pretty big news too. It has yet to get any real traction.

Oh well. I understand this blog is in its infancy so it’s no real surprise. It reminded me of a scene in the British show “The Thick of It.” In it a British politician, Ben Swein, has made the decision to resign and back an opposing candidate. He plans to tweet out the big news and has the following exchange with Malcolm Tucker, a director of communications:

BS: “I hereby tweet: ‘I have resigned. More to follow.’ (pause) That didn’t seem that momentous.”

MT: “How many followers have you got?”

BS: “Six hundred and twelve or thereabouts.”

MT: “Well let’s hope it gets retweeted. Otherwise you might as well have whispered it to a dead tramp.”

I love that exchange because it’s so true. I have 760 followers so I can relate. Post article, tweet out news, sit and wait. Nothing. Crickets. Oh well.

I might as well have gone outside and yelled it.

There’s a lot more news on this story to come and hopefully we can be the ones to break it. Until then I’m just going to crack open a beer and sit back and watch an old episode of “The Thick of It.”

News on brews

• The New Yorker’s cover story this month was on how it’s a great time to be a beer drinker. It’s a short read but the message is good: Don’t be a snob.

• Looking for a gift for a beer drinker you love? Check out this beer-of-the-month club.

• The fine folks at Two Brew Review stopped in at Whitewall Brewing in Marysville and wrote up some nice words. I visited Whitewall last month and had a couple of beers. It’s a nice little space to tuck in and enjoy an ale (or two).

• Interesting article on how well-made craft beer — despite being pricier — is beating Big Beer.

• Chris Pirillo, of LockerGnome’s Geek Lifestyles, sat down and cracked American Brewing’s Caboose Oatmeal Stout … and ate some jerky. The fun little video is below:

• CNN.com came up with 23 reasons Portland is the best beer city. Hard to argue. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79. Follow the Hops and Sips blog at www.heraldnet.com/hopsandsips.