From time to time The Crafty Pint has featured a Q&A with a beer blogger somewhere in Australia. As it happens I was the last one featured (I hope that doesn’t mean I’ve ruined it for everyone).

Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed reading them as it means I get to know a bit more about some of the writers behind the blogs I read. So I thought I’d do my own take – but broadening it to include podcasts, TV shows and whatever other forms of technology people use to bang on about beer. By the way, I checked with Crafty to make sure if it was okay if I totally pinched his idea – he didn’t seem too pissed off about it.

I thought I’d launch the series with myself – partially because it’s my damn blog and I can do what I like but also because it gives the upcoming bloggers a bit more time to answer these questions. And to make them look good by comparison.

So look for a new member of the beer media to pop up here on the last Saturday of every month.

Name: Glen Humphries
Blog: Beer is Your Friend (do I really need to provide you with a link?)
Established: June 2012

Why do you do it?
Initially it was to teach myself how to use social media, but then writing about beer became too much fun to stop. I also enjoy being a part of the beer blogging community and would truthfully feel a bit left out if I gave up writing.
As for the writing, I know I post heaps but I don’t mean to. In fact, this year I promised myself I would post less. As you can see, that did not happen.

What else have you got going on in your life?
My day job is a journalist. I’m also married with kid, which tends to cramp my style a bit when it comes to exploring beer venues. I’m kidding – my wife is actually really good about indulging my love of good beer. And my daughter has learned to refer to bottle shops as ‘‘the daddy shop’’.
I probably think about beer quite a bit more than is healthy but outside of beery stuff, I love reading and watching the Dragons play on the weekend. I used to love going to the movies but when you have a kid that sort of stuff just doesn’t happen any more.

What makes you keep writing if you’re not getting paid for it?
It’s fun. And when it ceases to be fun, I’ll stop doing it. I didn’t expect to make any money out of this – and I figure only a lucky few beer bloggers in this country can. So what I get out of it is enjoyment and – if I’m being totally honest – some very, very, very, very, very minor celebrity. And who doesn’t like people going “hey, I read your stuff”?

What’s one of your blog posts that you like the most?
This one that links porn and the definition of craft beer. Partially because I think I was a little bit clever. The most popular blog to date was the open letter I wrote to Two Birds asking them to bottle Taco – got 443 hits in a day from that sucker.

One tip about beer blogging that you’d like to share
I’ll actually give you (me?) two
1) Post regularly: This is important as it helps the reader form a habit of coming back to check your blog out. You should aim to post something on the blog every week. If you post stuff on the same day (or days) each week so much the better.
2) Don’t post more than once a day: I write way too much stuff and I’m often worried I might be overloading those who subscribe to the blog. To avoid making matters worse, I’ll only post once a day (unless exceptional circumstances arise). If you end up being hit with a prolonged burst of inspiration and crank out a couple of posts, schedule them on consecutive days. It breaks it up for the reader and gets them visiting over a few days rather than just once.
And that means more web hits. Man, I love web hits.

The phrase ‘‘craft beer’’ – love it or hate it?
Hate it. Always have but I never voiced my feelings for the first year of the blog because I was a noob and didn’t want beer geeks to think I was an idiot who knew nothing at all. But now I’ve been doing this for more than two years, I’m comfortable about being an idiot who knows nothing at all. Ergo, I hate the phrase ‘‘craft beer’’.

One thing that still surprises you about the beer scene?
That brewers like bloggers. Coming from a traditional media background – and being old – I expected them to look at some guy with a blog as a person out to scam free beer. I figured the guy writing for the newspaper (ie me) would have more cred.
But I see brewers more than happy to interact with bloggers, send them samples and invite them for a beer or give them free tickets to an event. Still surprises me – and makes me envious when they get sent stuff I miss out on. I’m thinking I must have pissed people off and they’ve crossed me off the freebie list. By the way, if I’m not on your list for free stuff, I’d like for you to change that.

And one thing you hate about it?
People who look down on others because of the beer they drink. And I’ve been as guilty of this sin as anyone else. But really, beer is supposed to be fun, supposed to be enjoyable. So if someone enjoys drinking Hahn SuperDry, just let them be. They’re not harming anyone.