The results are out

My blog reader survey has now reached the maximum of 100 responses, in only just over two days, so here's a breakdown of the results. Three twerps failed to spot there was a second page, so there are 100 answers to the first four questions, and 97 to the second four. I’ve not bothered with percentages as all the figures either add up to 100 or very close to it.

1. What age group are you?

Under 18: 0
18-24: 3
25-34: 14
35-44: 27
45-54: 31
55-64: 20
65 or over: 5

2. Are you?

Male: 96
Female: 3
Prefer not to say: 1

3. Are you a member of CAMRA?

Yes, a current annual member: 36
Yes, a current life member: 7
No, but I have been in the past: 12
Never been a member: 45

4. Where do you live?

North-West of England: 19
Rest of England: 57
Wales: 3
Scotland: 7
Ireland: 3
Europe: 5
North America: 2
Elsewhere: 4

5. Do you drink cask beer in pubs?

Yes, regularly: 53
Yes, occasionally: 30
No, never or virtually never: 14

6. Are you a smoker?

Yes, currently: 35
No, but I have been in the past: 22
No, never smoked regularly: 40

7. What are your main interests in reading this blog?

(Choose as many as apply)

The smoking ban: 37
Individual freedom in general: 39
Beer: 81
Pubs: 72
I live in or have a connection with North-West England: 16
Other: 5

Some of the “other” responses sounded like “beer” or “pubs” to me:

• Hilarious smoking ban rants. Love 'em..
  
• I like Stockport pubs
  
• Grumpiness
  
• I'm a brewer and keep an eye on most beer related blogs
  
• have imported and sold beer in the past, so have some interest in the beer aspect

8. Do you work in the licensed trade or brewing industry?

Yes: 8 No, but I have in the past: 17 No: 72

9. Any other comments?

16 comments were left – reproduced verbatim below:

• Read your blog weekly
  
• It is a good read for local beer drinking lad and also good read for those who do fall into these categories
  
• Excellent blog-always thought provoking
  
• There are other areas in England!!!!
  
• I used to write awp software but the deterioration in the on-trade cost me and many others our jobs.. The most annoying thing I know is to have government ministers say that the ban has had little effect I saw our figures.
  
• When in England I do use Pubs. but not as much as pre July 2007. Keep up the good work
  
• Your rants about the smoking ban are getting tedious. Just accept the fact that you will never over turn it, quit smoking for the good of your heath and get on with drinking beer.
  
• Getting longer in the tooth now, and really saddens me to see how that wonderfully English institution, the 'Boozer', is slowly but surely vanishing. Sad, very sad.
  
• I read this blog for my regular dose of right-Libertarian anti-prohibitionist bile, but I would hate it to go further down the Burning Our Money/Raedwald/DK route. At the moment I think you've got the balance between the political stuff & enthusiasm for real ale about right. I also read it for the same reason I read your OT columns, because you're a good writer.
  
• Your blog, and the comments posted, are an interesting sidelight on what is going on in the beer/pub world. Most interesting is the degree of response given to each topic. Needless to say, with so many CAMRA members involved, the volume of response tends to be in inverse proportion to the importance of the issue.
  
• Good writing, hence staying on my RSS feed.
  
• Keep up the good work!
  
• bit of a hobby Off Licence years ago. Haven't been in a pub since smoking ban. Completely changed my life. Was never interested in any kind of campaign previously but now in a permanent rage.
  
• thanks for the blog - entertaining & informative - cheers
  
• If supermarket counts ??
  
• I like pubs and the camaraderie they (should) offer.

So, the typical blog reader is aged 45-54, extremely male, never been a member of CAMRA, lives in England outside the North-West, regularly drinks cask beer in pubs, has never smoked, primarily reads it because of his interest in beer and has never worked in the brewing industry or licensed trade.

I’m not going to comment in detail, but the overwhelming male bias is quite notable. And who was the “prefer not to say” – a joker or a hermaphrodite? It’s clear that beer and pubs come ahead of the more general lifestyle/political aspects in generating traffic, and also that “Beer” comes some way ahead of “Pubs”.

I have toyed with the idea of creating a more general blog, but in the end felt that what makes this blog (and indeed any other) distinctive is that I am writing on a subject that I know something about, and feel passionately about. Those who know me will be aware that I do have other hobby-horses (never!) but I would just be producing a second-rate echo of something that others do far better.

And if you feel my rants about the smoking ban are getting tedious, nobody says you have to read it.