I reluctantly joined Twitter back in 2009, but it turned out to be a great experience. First off, I've met several other fellow beer drinkers through Twitter. Through them, I was able to try new beers, be able to discuss beer in a snobbish manner and not get a weird look when I'm sipping on a beer darker than Coca Cola.
Breweries have increasingly adopted Twitter to interact with their fans and beer drinkers. Molson was actually the first brewery that interacted with me through Twitter, and that was back in 2009. Heck, Molson encourages their employees to use Twitter. I'm not a fan of Molson (but Export is pretty tasty), but I wish all breweries encouraged this. It gives beer drinkers on Twitter a sense of who the brewery is, the people behind the product and what they stand for.
Over time, breweries I've never (previously) heard of would start following me and start tweeting me about beer. One brewery that I remember vividly was Garrison Brewing. A year back they started following me on Twitter, and one of their first tweets to me was to let me know that a few of their products were making its way to Manitoba, and sure enough, their Martello Stout and Imperial IPA both started being sold at the local MLCC stores a few weeks later. Its stuff like that that gets me to try new products in the first place, because they show that they are people too.
Then there's the flip side of the coin, Manitoba Liquor Marts have been on Twitter since this spring, and it's an example of what NOT to do on Twitter. They occasionally Tweet about random products in stock, and that's about it, but that being said.. recently they started to respond to customers' tweets (finally). Previously, they would rarely (if ever) respond to customers questions. I guess someone at the MLCC realized that they have to treat Twitter like a Customer Service division, in a way, as customers want to know what products they should try or if they have any complaints. I still prefer this parody account though.
Finally, there's Untappd, a Social Networking site/service that is similar to Four Square, where you can post what beer you are currently drinking, post a photo of said beer and have the information automatically post to your Twitter or Facebook profile. I love it because you get to see what beers your friends are trying out, and it can give you some idea on what beers you need to try out. If you drink a certain brand of beer on a certain day, or x of a certain style of beer, you get a badge to congratulate you on drinking said beer. The problem I have with it is that they have special badges for beers from certain countries. They have a Down Under badge for Australia, God Save the Queen badge for England and Rising Sun for Japan. Wait, there's no badge for Canada. Why not? I've sent numerous Tweets to Untappd on Twitter, and no response, but they always love to tweet back when you recommend Untappd to a friend! I suggest a Take off, Eh? Badge. Will it take on? Probably not, but I believe a Canadian badge will happen, one day. The Canadian beer industry is incredibly diverse as it is, so why not?
That's about it. Sit back, have a beer and tweet!
Here's some people to check out on Twitter:
Yours Truly!
Gramiq
PaddockWoodGuy
BloguedeBieres
Breweries:
Garrison Brewing
Half Pints Brewing
Brasserie Unibroue
Howe Sound Brewery
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