Waiting for RSBS

Belgian lacingWith apologies to Samuel Beckett . . .

The current, but perhaps not ongoing, demise of really simple BEER syndication has been noted in comments here and in a devoted post by Alan McLeod. For those of you don’t know, it is a site that aggregates the latest rss feeds from hundreds of beer blogs.

Jonathan Surratt invented both RSBS and The Beer Mapping Project, another free web utility that has improved the quality of our beer drinking lives. He wrote in an email that Twitter now works for him much as RSBS did before, but he’s not ready to let it pass. He’s got a lot going on — he’s the web director for Draft Magazine and devotes (gives away) time to various other projects — so cut him some slack.

When I started this blog I did a lot more pointing to “good reads,” but between RSBS and bloggers discovering how to use Twitter and Facebook to promote their posts that seemed redundant. I figured, probably incorrectly but I’ve learned to live with such ignorance, that if I was seeing three to five notifications every time a new beer post went up that you were seeing at least one.

I wouldn’t begin to attempt to replicate the service RSBS provides, with sometimes more than 100 posts a day, but here are a half dozen recent posts you might have missed and should read while waiting for RSBS.

  • The first ever reference to IPA. You shouldn’t need more than the headline to motivate you. But just in case, it’s a Martyn Cornell post.
  • What’s a pilsner? “Should Pilsener be considered a beer made with Saaz or Hallertauer or other noble hops only, or even be reserved for beers that actually come from Plzen?”
  • Take that, Philadelphia. “A unique blend of climate and tradition make the Great Lakes region the best in the country for beer brewers and drinkers.”
  • San Francisco versus Portland. Because they aren’t aware that the Great Lakes region is really No. 1.
  • Reviews for something that doesn’t exist. What if Schrute Farms B&B were a beer?
  • Now this is just stupid. Pilsner Urquell versus tiny Pivovar Kout na Sumave. I point you to this not only because I’m a big fan of Kout na Sumave (despite the fact I can’t get WordPress to show the various marks above the S and e correctly), because you must read the story at the end.

    • 2 thoughts on “Waiting for RSBS”

    1. I think blogger should link to other interesting posts. The VAST majority of readers are casual consumers of beer info. They go to a few sites they like and that’s it. If they’re visiting your site and you recommend something, it’s likely to appeal to them. Other mass aggregators are unselective and will appeal only to the most avid fans. So you do a service when you point people elsewhere.

    2. I agree with Jeff. He directed me to a hell of an April Fool’s Day spoof today involving children 😉 (Thanks Jeff)

      “Because they aren’t aware that the Great Lakes region is really No. 1.”

      It’s humor like this that we don’t get via Twitter or other aggregators.

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