Social Media and Breweries

Brady over at The Daily Pull has a post about breweries and their social media campaigns. His post is a response to another beer blog, Drink with the Wench, that posted a survey asking readers which breweries conduct the best social media. I was super surprised that Deschutes Brewing wasn't listed because not only do they have a great Twitter feed that is informative, they also respond to followers, they have a really great blog, they make wonderful videos (see below), they've got a giant wooden keg that travels around and serves beer and you can follow it around online, and more. Ultimately for me, they aren't simply trying to fill internet space, grasping for readers, they are attempting even in their social media strategy to provide quality information about their products and beer in general, creating a wonderful well-rounded experience for their beer drinkers. I unfollow many breweries, including Dogfish Head, that have too many posts that are just @responses and are not relevant for my learning about their company and their take on beer.


I think in Colorado we've got some breweries that are also doing a good job. Now, I don't follow all the breweries on Facebook, and I don't read all the blogs, but I want to acknowledge a few that stand out to me. Crooked Stave - I haven't even had their beer yet, is it even released? but their blog is fantastic, really informative but also fun to read. The Crooked Stave twitter isn't rolling 20 times an hour (which annoys me with other breweries) and when there are tweets they are generally informative about what's happening at the brewery. I think New Belgium does a great job responding to their fans, and I think they put together a lot of great community-centric events that yes, bring attention to the brewery but also provide opportunities for people in different fields to come together and find affinities. They've got interesting videos where they showcase other people's art and other group's activist interests that they align with, a reasonably interesting blog, and they give out grants. I also really dig PJ, known as @hookedonwinter. He doesn't even have a brewery yet, but he's starting one, and he writes about it in his blog, Starting A Brewery.

In Colorado Springs the two that stand out to me are Trinity Brewing and Bristol Brewing.
Trinity has really stepped it up in my opinion when Jason got his own Twitter account. He doesn't always post about Trinity but he has a lot of nice supplemental information about what's happening in the brewery, what ingredients he's thinking about, and his general inspirations. I like it. His videos and podcasts are a step in the right direction as well, although they definitely have a DIY feel to them so some have been harder for me to get into than others. Bristol is really great at keeping people in the loop and combining efforts with groups that aren't immediately beer related, but are important elements of what makes local community what it is. They connect people, really. They post a lot of interesting photos, some videos on occasion (not sure if they make the videos or if someone else does) and have clearly been very active with the recent beer-related house bill. Often with Bristol I don't feel like I'm just being advertised to, I feel like they truly believe in their stake with their neighborhood.


What do you all think? Is a social media presence an important part of running a brewery? Why or why not? What are some of your experiences if you have any? Do you like to read the information they post online? Do you watch their videos? I'm curious what you all think. Maybe you don't think it's important at all? Obviously some breweries ignore it and do fine, what do you think? I'm happy to post more of my thoughts on the matter too if we can get some interesting comments in here.

Lastly, I want to post a great video about Dan Gordon of Gordon Biersch and the rarest beer in the world. Essentially he's poking fun at the recent drive for extreme beers, and he's hyping this conceptual beer through social media efforts. Great video.