Researching

Perhaps it's because I've just published a couple of books. Or, more likely, because I've just started another. Whatever. The last few days I've mostly spent on research rather than writing.

Most of it dedicated to extracting information from those Elgood's records I photographed five years ago. Lots of quite modern ones. Which is the main reason they had lain untouched.

I've a lot of photographs of brewing records. (Just did a quick check: 30,704.) It takes a while to work through all that. Which is why I've been operating on a "when needed" basis for a while. I only fully transcribe brewing records when I need them for something I'm working on. Usually, a book.

My Elgood's collection is a bit odd. I don't have much older stuff, but a full set 1975 to 1986. Dead handy for the book I'm working on about the 1970s. I don't have a huge number of brewing records from the 1970s. "Keg!" won't be a book with 500 recipes. Thank god. I was going crazy writing all those recipes for "Blitzkrieg!".

There are few laughs in this sort of work. And rarely any revelations in recent records. It's just a matter of slogging my way through. The reward comes later when I get to use the material.

I'm just about to dive into Frank Baillie's Beer Drinker's Companion. As I noticed it lists the number of tied houses each brewer owned. I'm definitely extracting that. It also names the beers each brewery produced, cask, keg and bottled. I'm sorely tempted to pull that out as well. Lots of work, though.

Can I be arsed? You tell me.