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

Garfield Street Run Down

It's Thursday night and let us be real for a minute, no one (profs included) is too concerned about classes or work on Friday (I don't have class on Fridays), and we all want to go out, unwind, and have some fun. Here is where Garfield Street comes to the rescue; to outsiders it may not seem like much, but to us Lutes here at PLU it is all we need. Garfield Street has been providing us with entertainment for years. For Example, LollaPLUza last year with Macklemore...  

But I digress... Lets start at the beginning of a Thursday night...

For me, it begins at my house. The roomies, a few friends, nothing spectacular but always good music, good company, and good brew. When I buy my beer for the night I try to stick to the NW breweries because it is always best to support the North West (Rhyme was on purpose). I recently tried Widmer Brothers' W'12 Dark Saison; a seasonal beer with a fantastic unique taste (I suggest giving it a try).

After throwing back a few you can usually find us at Farrellis around 10:30pm for Happier Hour; buying pitchers, playing pool, and possibly losing a few bucks to pull-tabs.
Farrellis does not brew their beer, but they do keep a great selection of fantastic brews mostly from the NW. From Mac & Jack's African Amber, to Elysian Men's Room Red, to one of my favorites Ninkasi Total Domination IPA; there is something for everyone.

As the good times roll at Happier Hour it gets closer and closer to that time we all hate to love or love to hate.. but either way the time comes to go to the LAST EXIT. The Exit is unique in that it only serves beer, which is fine for all of us here at Beer Me Bro... it's kind of our thing. So everyone arrives at The Exit and it really gets going around 11:30, then....................................beer........................................................
..........................................................beer.........................................
haha and then......................................................................................
......................................Rack City.............................................then..
.......................................................................................after that......
..........................................................................................................
........last call and we all take a nice walk back to our humble abode.

And I don't want to leave out Felix over at Reyna's. Another great spot to hit before heading to the Exit. Gotta get that $6 beer, shot, and nachos deal obvi. (the use of "obvi" was purely sarcastic and not meant to be taken seriously in any way).

Peace out,
-Mike 

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