LONDON -- When Marcus Wright reached the summit of a Swiss mountain this spring, he did what all serious hikers do: pulled a cold beer from his backpack.
Before taking the first sip, however, he snapped a photo and sent it to a group chat. He wasn't sharing the view with friends or family. He was logging intake.
The 31-year-old consultant has a higher summit to climb: collectively drinking one million beers with one thousand (mostly) strangers.
Wright was added to the 1 Million Beers chat last year by a friend who said he "needed his help with something." The mission: Take a photo of every beer you drink, accompanied by its number in the group's tally.
Wright , who lives in Düsseldorf, Germany, currently tops the charts for the number of beers drunk, averaging 4.1 a day.
"When I check the leaderboard it's always nice to see I'm still on top," said Wright. "Although it's probably a bit concerning." A connoisseur of the craft, he's logged more than 1,500 distinct varieties of beer.
The group was formed, as might be expected, over pints at a London pub. Aidan Smith, a 29-year-old working in finance, was watching a cricket match last August with 20 friends. Several drinks in, someone asked how many beers they might drink that day. "A million?" another suggested.
Challenge accepted. Smith launched 1 Million Beers on WhatsApp and by 3 p.m., they were 100 pints down, 999,900 to go.
As the group recruited friends, it hit WhatsApp's cap of 1,024 participants in just 23 days. There's no formal process for getting in; it's a case of waiting for an opening -- and knowing the right person.
Most members aren't heavy drinkers; many log an average of half a beer a day. But four have hit 1,000 beers each in less than a year.
"It's a little bit worrying for their livers, but pretty impressive," Smith said.
In June, the group hit their 10% milestone: 100,000 beers consumed. According to algorithmic forecasting, they're on track to hit the million mark in 2034.
Side challenges have given them a boost.
Late last year, drinkers jockeyed for the "Christmas Number 1" spot. The group's No. 2, known as Henry HM, launched an aggressive strategy to outdo Wright: a vacation to Thailand, where access to cheap beer allowed him to overtake his rival at the last minute. In January, when much of the world is trying to go dry, the group held a Beer World Cup for elite drinkers to keep people engaged and bump up numbers.
Rival groups exist, all aiming to hit 1 million. "Drinking is a big pastime in England, I guess," said Toby Trumper, a group administrator.
Trumper spends an hour each week managing a master spreadsheet that tracks KBIs -- Key Beer Indicators. The dashboard features a leaderboard, progress charts, weekly totals and a heat map of peak drinking hours. Most popular: Saturday, 6 p.m.-7 p.m. Least popular: Tuesday, 5 a.m.-6 a.m.
During an England World Cup game in June, consumption more than doubled to 499 beers, compared with an average of 206 on a regular Wednesday.
Sometimes members realize they're at the same pub or soccer game, prompting spontaneous meetups. "Being in a group with all these people we don't know makes it so funny," said Trumper , who lives in London. "It's like a simulation."
The rules of the group chat are simple: No communication beyond a photo and a number. No cider, wine or alcohol-free beer. And if you aren't pulling your weight, you're out. Though some legacy drinkers can be readmitted following a sober period or health cleanse.
"We need fresh blood and renewed energy," said Smith.
He and a team of admins take the role seriously, evicting inactive members -- and those who break the rules. They have a side chat where they debate the legitimacy of some questionable-looking beers.
One man was summarily expelled after he posted a shot of Baby Guinness, a coffee-liqueur cocktail that looks like a stout but has no actual beer in it. Another member was mocked for drinking a Coors Light, but escaped the ax.
Others have been removed for trying to log the same beer twice. Admins now zoom in on aluminum cans to cross-reference dent patterns. To prove authenticity, members have resorted to writing numbers directly onto pint glasses or photographing clusters of empty bottles.
"We call each other out when a hazy lager looks a bit too much like a cider," said Jonnie Gibson.
The 29-year-old analyst from London became invested in the challenge the moment he joined, even taking advantage of his brother's wedding to up his own count. "The appeal of the herculean effort of doing one million beers between 1,000 people is just funny," he said.
Drinks have been logged from engagements, weddings, 12-week pregnancy scans, driving tests and marathons. There have even been some celebrity sightings.
One member shared a photo from the first day of his honeymoon. The group reacted with heart and celebration emojis. His bride was less pleased.
Climbing the leaderboard is important to many, but so is timing their posts to commemorate a milestone beer -- ideally with a creatively staged photo.
To mark the 1,000th beer, one man captured himself midair, holding a pint while jumping into a swimming pool. For the 25,000th, someone made a throne of beer crates and sat on it, pint in hand.
"Whoever is the first to post at a milestone gets immortalized," said Gibson.
Write to Natasha Dangoor at natasha.dangoor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 15, 2026 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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