Optimism Forever — Five Years of Pellicle, In Numbers
On Wednesday May 1st, 2024 we celebrated our little magazine turning five years old. As part of these ongoing celebrations we thought it might be nice to reflect on that via our data: what we’ve published, who’s reading us, and where they are based. If you enjoy this post, consider subscribing via Patreon, as I usually send a similar, behind-the-scenes-style newsletter out to our subscribers once a month. It’s one of a growing number of perks we offer, including our community message board, which is accessible to all subscriber tiers.
The real reason you should subscribe though is that by doing so you’ll directly be supporting the creation of more features and the writers, illustrators and photographers who make them. Just like those who make the list of our most popular features from our first five years below, in fact. Supporting a lovely drinks mag for the price of a pint a month? Sounds like a no-brainer to us.
Since Pellicle was launched on May 1st, 2019 we have published just over 300 features typically between 1500 and 2000 words in length (sometimes longer, sometimes a little bit shorter). In their creation we have worked with over 150 freelance writers, photographers and illustrators, every single one of them paid for their work, thanks to our subscribers, and our sponsors (Hop Burns & Black from 2019 to 2023 and Loughran Brewers Select from 2023 onwards.)
In our lifetime we’ve had 690 subscribers in total, during which our highest level of active subscribers has been 422. Thanks to their support, and that of our sponsors, we’ve paid out over £160,000 to our contributors in our first five years. That’s what it’s all about! In fact at our current rate that number will hit about £200,000 towards the end of February next year. That incrementally increasing spend is why we need more people to become subscribers.
While 2021 and 2022 were relatively slow in terms of readership growth, 2023 saw a 16% jump in readership year-on-year. As of April 30th 2024, readership is already 22% up year on year compared to the same quarter last year. Based on what we have in our editorial schedule, we expect this to be another record-breaking year in terms of active readers (and believe me when I say we’ve got some hum dingers waiting in the wings.)
In our first five years Pellicle has been visited by more than 475,000 individuals, racking up more than 860,000 pageviews. Good lord. The vast majority of these visitors, about 58%, are based in the United Kingdom. The United States is home to by far our second highest audience at 23%. The only other nations to break more than 1% total readership are Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany and France, respectively, but none of these equate to more than 2% readership.
Where our traffic comes from is pretty evenly split, with 33% coming direct to the site, 31% via links shared on social media, and 30% via search (of which about 99% is via Google.) Our fastest growing source of traffic is our Newsletter which accounts for 1% of people visiting the site, but the next time we do a roundup like this I expect that figure to be far greater. (You should subscribe, Katie’s emails are great.)
Three in every four visitors are reading the site via their mobiles. Which feels pretty normal. We’re glad we made the decision right at the start to use nice long images that looked nice on a phone, as this has worked out very well for us. In general, we will keep optimising the site for mobiles, but it does look very nice on a big screen too (we think so, at least.)
That’s it for the hard data, but if you want more, join us on our Patreon subscriber messageboard and I will be happy to answer any questions on our numbers, as full transparency is the name of our game. Now it’s time for the fun stuff: in our first five years, these are the 10 most read features we’ve published…
1. Bun! A Taxonomy of the British Bread Roll
Words: Katie Mather, Illustrations: Laurel Molly
With an astonishing, but not unsurprising lead of several thousand hits is our associate editor Katie Mather’s epic taxonomy of British bread rolls: Bun! No one has covered the subject more succinctly, or with as good humour and wit as our Katie. And yet, people keep debating the subject, and so every time they do, thousands more flock to our site to read about this fascinating subject. Seriously, someone commission Katie to write the book on this already.
2. I Want To See Mountains Again — The Banked Beers of Teesside, North East England
Words and Photography: Reece Hugill
Probably what we consider to be our first viral hit, Reece Hugill’s emotive, award-winning personal essay about the banked beers that only exist in his home region of Teesside continues to be a mainstay of site traffic to this day. Perhaps the most hilarious thing that happened because of this is the time we got an email from someone in Texas who visited The Sun Inn, Stockton, as a direct result of reading this article, but was disappointed that they didn’t find the warm welcome or high level of customer service they were expecting based on the article. Howay man.
On a side note, this is the kind of piece that defines Pellicle as a beer publication, and has informed our direction ever since.
3. 10 Years of Fuss — 21 Beers that Defined the Last Decade of British Brewing
Words: Various, Illustrations: Tida Bradshaw
Our first and only genuine listicle, this summary of what we considered to be the most influential beers in the UK of the 2010’s certainly got a lot of people talking at the time. Looking at it now, what’s striking is how some of the most influential breweries on the list have fallen by the wayside in terms of that influence, either through acquisition by a multinational entity, or by simply going out of business. Proof, if it was needed, that there’s more to running a brewery than simply making one iconic beer. (It is nice to see, however, some of the breweries on this list continue to be among some of the most well regarded in British beer today.)
4. The Essential Guide to IPA
Words and Photography: Matthew Curtis
When we launched this piece it was to be the vanguard of an entirely new series we decided to call Essentials. However, we spent the money on other stories and so it fell by the wayside. However for a second time! We have two Essentials pieces in the works so far for 2024, and they will aim to be fun, informative, yet irreverent guides to things we want to write guides about. PS, a session IPA is still just a pale ale in disguise. Love and kisses.
5. Milk Drunk — Untangling the Stigma of Drinking Alcohol While Breastfeeding
Words: Jemma Beedie, Illustrations: Jessica Wild
As is often the case with any feature we publish that has a topic centred around social justice, or those questioning cultural norms or stigmas, this piece fell a little flat when it was first published. Once it found its audience, however, it also found its legs, and it hasn’t stopped running since. This is an ongoing theme for us with pieces of a more challenging nature; we’ve always hoped they had immediate impact, but their value over time has proven to us that they’re worth investing in. A brilliant piece on a tricky subject handled effortlessly by Pellicle regular Jemma Beedie.
6. Soda Never Changes — Making Nuka Cola from Fallout
Words: Paul Crowther, Illustrations: Georgina Hewitson
The next time I get one of those solicitation emails that tells me my website has terrible SEO, I shall simply direct them towards this article. One of the highlights of the past five years is how popular our resident homebrewer, Paul Crowther’s recipes have been. By far his most popular is this one, a non-alcoholic recipe where he creates his version of Nuka Cola from the Fallout video-game series. Thanks to the recent arrival of its accompanying TV show it has recently had thousands upon thousands of hits, catapulting it into our top 10 as though it’s been struck by a Vault Dweller with a maxed out Big Leagues perk.
7. I'll Hauf What They're Haufing — Exploring the Curious History of the Scottish Half and Half
Words: Jemma Beedie, Illustrations: James Albon
It comes as no surprise to me that Jemma Beedie features on this list twice. Her voice is one of those that grabs the readers’ attention, and compels them to learn more. This fascinating piece on the history of the Scottish hauf an’ hauf—where one takes a dram of whisky with a half pint of beer—is an informed and entertaining look at one of the more elegant traditions within Scottish drinking culture. It makes me want to head straight to the Ben Nevis in Finnieston, West Glasgow, and order a Balvenie Caribbean Cask with half a Juicy T every time I read it.
8. A Series of Fortunate Events — How The Kernel Brewery’s Table Beer Came Into Being
Words and Photography: Lily Waite
It wouldn’t be a Pellicle list if it didn’t feature at least one piece by our associate editor and multi-award-winning beer writer Lily Waite. And, in fact, it’s one of her very first pieces for us that has drawn the most attention over the years. That’s probably because it’s about her favourite beer (well, her other favourite beer after Allagash White of course) The Kernel’s inimitable Table Beer. A true love letter to one of the great beers to have emerged in the modern era of British beer.
9. Cut To The Feeling — The Anatomy of Smith’s Scampi Fries
Words: Rachel Hendry, Photography: Jonathan Hamilton
Rachel Hendry has been on one hell of a roll recently. The co-founder of the excellent Burum Collective has a knack for digging into a story, finding a particular angle and then explaining it in a way that compels you to keep reading. Whether it’s a piece on the legacy of Double Diamond, the advertising mis-steps of Babycham or how wine is used as a prop in the TV series Succession, everything she writes is a total banger. Good job we’ve commissioned her to write more then, really.
10. Where the Wild Things Are — The Joy of Harvey’s Sussex Best
Words and Photography: Matthew Curtis
While most of my time spent working on Pellicle has involved either editing pieces, paying invoices, or dealing with back of house admin, every so often I carve out a little time to write about something I really want to write about. What’s the point in founding a magazine, after all, if you don’t actually write for it yourself? One of my earliest pieces was this ode to Harvey’s Best, in which I deliberately (for better or worse) attempted to obfuscate the secret behind the mystical yeast that gives Best its unique character. By coincidence, since publication I have had a great many conversations about Debaryomyces hansenii. Make of that what you will.
That’s quite a list, isn’t it. There were so many near misses that almost made it into the top ten too, with places in the bottom half of the table changing regularly in the weeks leading up to me compiling it. Pete Brown’s piece on Ted Lasso and the idyll of the London pub was edged out by Scampi Fries mere hours before the final numbers were counted. My profile of Sheffield’s St. Mars of the Desert Brewery continues to be an immensely popular read (and is still probably my favourite thing I’ve ever written). Will Hawkes’ engaging, longform look at how the Bundobust restaurant chain emerged from Bradford’s rich cultural melting pot is up there too, as is David Jesudasons’ first ever piece for us, Desi Pubs. Publishing that certainly worked out well for all parties involved, I’d say.
We’ve published a lot of features on cider and wine over the years too, and while they don’t quite reach the heady heights of those about beer or pubs, you might be interested to know that our most popular cider piece is this one, on Roger Wilkins, by Nicci Peet. Meanwhile, Eoghan Walsh’s fascinating profile of Antidoot Wilde Fermenten is still our most popular piece that involves winemaking.
That wraps up our online celebrations for our 5th anniversary, but there is still time to join us in the flesh on May the 11th at our Birthday Block Party, in our home city of Manchester. It’s totally free to attend, but do check out the ticketed beer tastings hosted by Katie Mather and Rachel Hendry. What’s not free however, is producing these features, so get subscribing and help us produce the next banked beers, scampi fries and bread rolls. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for Pellicle, here’s to the next five years.
