The main sponsor of the Beer Bloggers Conference was Molson Coors, the global brewer most famous in the UK for Carling.
Kristy McCready is their head of communications in the UK and has been hooked into the secret world of beer bloggers and tweeters for a couple of years. She was quick to see the value of the event and was first to commit to supporting the conference by sponsoring the venue costs and the opening night dinner.
I think we first met at a tweetup in Sheffield early last year when she first scolded me for calling Carling - "Black Label" - a moniker that has not been used since 1997. Although I don't remember "Hey Mabel, Black Label", I am from a generation that remembers and still uses the catch phrase: "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label"
It is a tough gig trying to champion what you might call "cooking lager" to the bloggerati. Carling sells over 4 billion pints in the UK alone (yes, billion) so I leave you to you mull over the rights and wrongs of dissing such a product.
Their mission is to help people drink and appreciate beer ahead of wines and spirits and that is a bandwagon we should all climb aboard.
It would have been nice to serve Carling at the opening dinner but Steve Wellington from the Worthington microbrewery and Stuart Howe from Sharps, the latest addition to MC stable, were not going to allow that to happen and we were refreshed with a variety of their excellent beers served with the fine dinner.
The Beer Bloggers Conference would not have made such a mark without the help of Molson Coors and I raise a glass (of Carling ?) in their direction.
2 comments:
Whether you love or hate Carling, Molson Coors are passionate about their brands and have a track record of getting people in the industry to work together, to champion the whole beer category, not just their own brands.
Yes, MC have a big chunk of the 'beer pie' but they offer a diverse range of beers, including a lot of niche brands. I wish more brewers took that approach, working together to support all beers.
Thank you!! Sadly I'm not head of Communications (yet) - that accolade goes to Scott Wilson, I'm merely his puppet!
But that said we were delighted to have the opportunity to get involved - some might say it's because we had the cheque book but any brewer could have done that. I hope we were asked because, as you and Alex rightly say, our mission is to get people back into beer and champion the whole beer category.
Here's to next year!!
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