The Social Bar Scene

In our e-marketing class at PLU we have discussed how consumers today spend more of their time connected online more than any other form of entertainment. Of course it is no surprise then why local bars and breweries reward thirsty patrons who are passionate followers of their brand. Pyramid Brewery located in Seattle across from Safeco Field is a great example of integrating social media to attract customers. If you are the Mayor of Foursquare, you receive drink discounts at Pyramid. Pyramid Brewery stays social through Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook to enhance brand awareness and connect to potential customers. Contests represent a unique opportunity to create PR and buzz for your brand. Currently, Pyramid is inviting people to submit a chance to win an all-inclusive three-day trip for four friends to the Land’s Music Festival in San Francisco. Pyramid also hosts its annual Snow Cap party in the fall and promotes the event by Twitter #SNOWCAP25 and records the event to be shared through YouTube to get people pumped up for an epic drinking party.

Groupon, the social site that promotes daily deals near you, has recently advertised for beer local tours in the Puget Sound. The social coupon site also offers daily deals for restaurants and bars near you. This is a helpful app to stay social with if you like to explore different restaurants without gouging your wallet.

 

Google Offers recently had a coupon offering customers a bartending class in Seattle at ABC Bartending School. Google has leverage with the social side of marketing and business transactions because the search engine is top of mind for people searching on the Internet.

YouTube enables viewers to watch instructional videos, product demos, hilarious commercials, contests and news. YouTube allows you to expand your audience and grow your business through video messages. Check out some of these videos by local breweries.

 Red Hook Brewery Commerical

Companies that know how to leverage social media will create a YouTube channel to showcase their videos and products. Breweries use YouTube to take viewers on a tour of the brewery or follow episodes or “epi-SUDS.” 

Instead of product reviews, breweries create beer reviews of craft beers on tap. The majority of videos created by breweries are informative such as “how to tap a keg” or “the beer cultivation process.” There is also an opportunity to showcase events and parties and attract new customers through entertainment and humor. 

Instead of product reviews, breweries create beer reviews of craft beers on tap. The majority of videos created by breweries are informative such as “how to tap a keg” or “the beer cultivation process.” There is also an opportunity to showcase events and parties and attract new customers through entertainment and humor. 

Social media proves to be an effective tool for engaging with your customers and learning more about how your fans feel about your brand.

Stay social my friends, because staying connected saves you beer money!

-Brandon

Last Call...

So it is last call here at the Beer Me Bro' blog, but as we come to the end of our blog competition, the Beer Me Bro' team wants to thank everyone who supported us and took the time to check out our blogs these last few weeks.
It has been so much fun for us to conduct research for this project that we want to continue to blog about it even when the competition is over! We want to continue to honor this amazing beverage since beer did save the world and all... Thank God for Beer

Because lets be real, research for a beer blog is some of the most fun you can have; grabbing some beers with friends can create some of the best memories you will never forget and sometimes never remember!

So for all of our followers out there, feel free to do your own research, find your favorite beer, your favorite breweries, play some drinking games, sing some drinking songs (or karaoke), practice ways to open your beers and perfect your pour to impress your friends, and above all... drink and be merry!

Please let us know about your experiences via this blog or our Facebook page. So until next time my beer loving friends... you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!

Drink one for me,

-Michael

Proud to be from Bend

Bend, Oregon... a beautiful town set within the Cascade Mountains and the Deschutes River flowing through the center. I am extremely happy to say I am from such a fantastic place with Mt. Bachelor and the river so close by; one other piece that could not be overlooked, even if you tried, are the amazing breweries scattered throughout town. 

With one of the highest breweries per capita around, Bend is home to some of the best micro brews from places like Goodlife Brewing Co., Brew Werks Brewing, Bend Brewing Co., Silver Moon Brewery, Cascade Lakes Brewing Co.,  10 Barrel Brewing Co., Boneyard Beer, Three Creeks Brewing, and more! 

The Brewery that really put Bend on the map, that most beer lovers probably know of already is Deschutes Brewery. This brewery pumps out around 225,000 barrels of beer every year! And they are only getting bigger. Fun fact: a barrel is two kegs which is 31 gallons of beer! That is a lot of deliciousness being sent all over the US. 

I was fortunate enough to take a tour of the Brewery with some friend last time I was home and they have an impressive operation going on. The tour starts out with 4 samples of their beers on tap (always a good way to start a tour) and then you are lead through the brewery, getting to see where they brew, how they brew, how they taste test the beer (which ends up being 20 samples before lunch if you have that job), and you get to see  and hear about the history of the Brewery. 

Year Round Brews: Black Butte Porter, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Inversion IPA, Green Lakes Organic Ale, Obsidian Stout, Cascade Ale, & Chainbreaker White IPA. 

Seasonal Brews: Red Chair NWPA, Twilight Summer Ale, & Jubelale.

Bond Street Series: Hop Henge, Hop in the Dark, Hop Trip, & Fresh Hop Mirror Pond. 

Reserve Series: The Abyss, Jubel 2010, Black Butte XX/XXI, The Dissident, Mirror Mirror, Black Butte XXIII, & The Stoic. 

My favorites so far are the Chainbreaker White IPA and Red Chair; then again I do enjoy the Inversion and Black Butte Porter... and all of the other ones. You can read up on all of them by clicking the names and figure out which ones you want to try! 

I highly suggest the next time you want to enjoy a great micro brew, pick up a Deschutes Brewery Beer and you won't be disappointed. 

-Mike 

Ninkasi, Rogue, & Falling Sky; The Triple Threat

Last weekend I decided to make my way down to Oregon to visit some friends at U of O and OSU... It was a very eventful weekend to say the least. This trip presented a great opportunity to try some of the delicious Oregon micro brews in the name of research for this blog of course. I figured my first experience would come once I got to Eugene, but I was informed by the friend I was staying with that if I did not stop at a Rogue Brewery (http://www.rogue.com/) in Portland and pick up their newest concoction then I would not be welcome (this was in a mostly joking manner... I think).

To avoid any risk of sleeping outside I figured the best course of action was to pick up Rogue's Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale. Just like breakfast, this beer is good at any time of day; with the smell of maple and a hint of bacon when you take a sip, it is absolutely a one of a kind treat.

The first Eugene brewery we ventured to was Falling Sky Brewing (http://fallingskybrewing.com/) for dinner. They had just finished their first batch of beer and of course we needed to give all of them a try. We decided on a flight so we could sample all of the beers with our meals. The brews we had were: a Bare Hands Bitter, Persuasion, First Flight IPA, Pouring Porter, Irish Red, and a Blonde. My personal favorites were the Porter, which had full flavor, but wasn't too heavy and the IPA with a great hoppy taste with not too much bitterness and a hint of grapefruit.

The next day I had to check out Ninkasi Brewing Company (http://www.ninkasibrewing.com/). They are one of my favorite breweries, and fun fact, Ninkasi is the ancient Sumarian matron goddess of the intoxicating beverage, beer... who wouldn't want to drink with her?!

So my friends, Pierce and Megan and myself decided to walk since it was finally sunny and warm outside. We walk through the gates into a small, but very welcoming entrance to order our beer of choice. I decided on the

Tricerahops Double IPA which has double of everything from a regular IPA; it had fantastic full hoppy flavor that was still not overpowering. Not to mention it is about 8% so one pint was good for me in the middle of the day.


I would highly recommend going to all three of these breweries whenever possible or picking up their beers in the store if you are looking for something awesome to drink.

In the words of a very interesting man, "Stay thirsty my friends."

-Michael Warsaw

Where can I tap that? (Apps that let you tap your next local beer.)

Just imagine: it’s a warm, sunny day in the Pacific NW and your palate is craving for a hoppy taste. Cheap beer is not going to satisfy your thirst my friend. Plus, why not shop local and support that microbrewery that is nestled around the corner, right? Your thirst needs help and aid is an   app on your phone.

Here is the Top 5 Best Apps for Local Beer that I recommend you download and try out yourself.

#1 “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”

I want to highlight “Happy Houred,” a free app that takes your current location and then locates surrounding bars to find the ultimate drink deals! Happy Houred encourages its users to add new bars, which means that deals are constantly being added to your radar once you punch the clock. With this app, over 700 cities in the U.S. are available for scouting out prime time Beer Me Bro’ bonding with your friends! Happy Houred is a top favorite and is a definite DOWNLOAD!

            

                                   Cost: FREE

#2 My mind is telling me I am thirsty, and my mouth wants a microbrew.

Just a horse needs to be led to the watering hole; a thirsty consumer needs their mouth led to a satisfying microbrew. This is the ideal app for the consumer who wants to venture out and find craft beer. Find Craft Beer relies on GPS tracking to locate pubs, breweries, bars, liquor stores and homebrew stores from the palm of your hand. For only $0.99, Find Craft Beer enables a user to customize their settings to select from all of these options and target the nearest destination to lead your mouth to a microbrew.

Cost: $0.99

 

#3 Three cheers for iBeers Pro!

As a kid did you enjoy “Where’s Waldo”? If not, that’s too bad, because this app is the same concept, but of course with beer. iBeers Pro earns their name by listing more than 2,700 hoppy varieties and profiling each beer as if it were a CIA agent. Each beer is categorized by the country of origin, brewer, type of beer and bottle size. In addition, users can rate various beers and the iBeers Pro app allows you to create a favorites list. Now all Apple has to do is introduce Beer Genius, a brew database that collects your favorites, creates drink lists and refers you to other brews. iBeers Pro is an essential app for the Indiana Jones of beer drinkers, the consumer who likes to branch out beyond their normal  beers. A Lite version is offered for $1.99 and the regular iBeers Pro version can be downloaded for $2.99.

  Cost: $2.99

#4 Beer me with that…..

Let’s say you’re out with some friends and you need to know how to pair the food with the booze beverage. How do you sync Cajun food with a beer? I want sushi, but how do I get my brew on? Beer Match is beer’s answer to Match.com by pairing 31 styles of beer with more than 500 different kinds of foods! Within seconds, Beer Match lets you promptly find out if the pale ale or the pilsner is the better choice when planning food for your palate. This app is on the value menu to be downloaded for only $0.99!

                                                        Cost: $0.99

#5 What would beer be without entertainment?

This next app places 5^th on our list and serves the purpose of showing off without attempting a keg stand. The iBeer app is a $0.99 gem that allows the user to choose between 5 different beers and moves as you tip your phone.  Realistic picture quality allows you to jostle the drink and make it disappear! The belch at the end can make any bystander think you are Homer Simpson.

                 Cost: $0.99

I encourage you to ask Siri about recommendations for local beer and share the responses and experiences by posting on our blog.

Stay tuned for more blog posts from Beer Me Bro’ and Like Us by “toasting this” and sharing it with your friends. 

Brandon

Brew it yourself...

Being from the NW and specifically from Bend, OR (where some of the greatest micro brews come from like Deschutes Brewery and Good Life Brewing) I have developed quite a taste for good beer; some may say a "beer snob" well I'll wear that title. I love a good beer with distinguishing flavors and depth. Not that I won't enjoy a cold Coors Light or even a Keystone, but there is something great about drinking a local beer with some personality.

Because of my love of micro brews, my good friend Pierce Kennedy decided it was time for me to try brewing a batch for myself. He had done it a few times before and got me my own beer making kit from the Brooklyn Brew Shop (http://brooklynbrewshop.com/). My one gallon kit came with everything you needed and the website provided instructional videos and information on how to go about brewing your own beer.

My kit was for a Bourbon Dubbel, a Belgian style ale. Even though I had never brewed beer before, the Brooklyn Brew Shop provided step-by-step instructions; however, this did not make the process less frustrating. Don't get me wrong, making your own beer is fun, you learn something new, and it is extremely satisfying to get drunk on the beer YOU produced, but it is a long process that must be closely monitored along the way.

After pre-soaking oak chips in bourbon, sanitizing everything (which is extremely important), creating the mash and the sparge, boiling, waiting two weeks for fermenting, bottling, and waiting another two weeks I finally had 2 growlers full of delicious Bourbon Dubbel. It had good flavor and made me want to try another batch down the road.

For anyone that is interested in brewing their own beer, I would highly suggest Brooklyn Brew Shop; I would also suggest to talk to someone who has done it before and to brew with a buddy, because no one likes to drink alone.
~Michael