So before all of this happened it was pretty obvious what craft beer lovers, bloggers, and other influencers did which was go to breweries and travel to go to breweries and big craft beer festivals. Now that both of those things are unrealistic now what do we do to keep our sanity?
1. Homebrewing
Well many people homebrew anyways but I wouldn’t be surprised if the amount of homebrewers grew during this time. In fact many people are doing live brew days during this time so you can watch and learn from some awesome homebrewers. In fact there are a few Instagrammers that I highly recommend checking out that not only homebrew but also share the times that they do brew. First I want to mention my sister in beer Sheena or @knowledge.on.tap who is a homebrewer and a level 3 sommelier and not only does she make good beers but she is so great to talk to and has been a great friend and supporter of me. Another girl I highly recommend is my friend Mikenzie with @bitchesnbrews she is super cool and knows a lot about brewing beer and when she does brew days she invites other people to come along. She’ll tell you everything you will need before the brew day and you will go through the brew with her live which is awesome. She also has been a huge support for me and me, her, and Sheena have become very close friends and we call ourselves the Badass Brew Bitches.
2. Have a Virtual Beer Party/Bottleshare/Happy Hour
So I have pretty much been doing these every week actually most days of the week. The ways you can do this are either set up a zoom call and then invite anyone who might be interested or if you are heavy on social media then just give the link to whoever says they’re interested. Another way particularly brewers and beer bloggers and instagrammers have been doing this is by Instagram Live. I do both personally but during these you just have a couple beers and talk about whatever comes to mind. Many breweries and bottleshops are doing delivery and beer to go so there are ways you can support local beer and even show your friends you are chatting with some beers that they may have never heard of.
3. Catch up on your Beer Reading and Listening List
Maybe you’re a bookworm and are looking for some books to enjoy with your delicious beverage. Of course I recommend the book pictured here The Beer Bible by Jeff Alworth. This book just goes over every beer style you have ever dreamed of and maybe even some you never knew existed. Another book I highly that will be part of a series is Craft Beer Country by Kirk Richardson. He is going all over America in search of great craft beer he has one book out now which covers Idaho, California, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. Here is a list of some books that have been given a good review on Goodreads:
Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch,and How Craft Beer Became Big Business-Josh Noel
True Brews: How to Craft Fermented Cider, Beer, Wine, Sake, Soda, Mead, Kefir, and Kombucha at Home-Emma Christensen
Beer Craft: A Simple Guide to Making Great Beer-William Bostwick, Jessi Rymill
Beer School: A Crash Course in Craft Beer-Jonny Garrett, Brad Evans
The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World’s Favorite Bevarage from 7,000 B.C. to Today’s Craft Brewing Revoultion-Jonathan Hennessey, Mike Smith, Aaron McConnell
Sustainable Homebrewing: An All-Organic Approach to Crafting Great Beer-Amelia Slayton Loftus
Brewed Awakening: Behind the Beers and Brewers Leading the World’s Craft Beer Revolution-Joshua M. Bernstein
Beer and Food: Bringing Together the Finest Food and the Best Craft Beers in the World-Mark Dredge
Oh Beautiful Beer: The Evolution of Craft Beer and Design-Harvey Shepard
Of course there are a lot more listed so if you want to check out the rest of the books just look on www.goodreads.com. Now if you are a podcast head there is one podcast that two of my friends in Ontario do called Four Elements Craft Beer Podcast. You can check out their website at http://fourelementscraftpodcast.com/ and you can also follow them on Spotify and Apple Music. They also have an Instagram page @4elements_craftbeer_podcast that you can follow as well. Some other podcasts that caught my eye on Spotify are: Craft Beer Storm with Michael Potorti, Good Beer Hunting, Hop Talk: A Craft Beer Podcast, The Craft Beercast, Tap That AZ-Arizona Craft Beer Podcast, Craft Beer Bucket List, Brew/Drink/Run-The Craft Beer and Homebrewing Podcast, Crafty Beer Girls, Craft Brewed Sports, Crafty Crimes, What Ales Ya: Florida Beer and Brewery Tour, Music to My Beers, BeerDad and Brewed Podcast, and Beer There, Drunk That. Again if you use Spotify there are a ton more podcasts listed just search craft beer and then click see all podcasts.
Virtual Beer Festivals
Miss going to those beer festivals with your buddies? Well some people are getting creative and doing virtual beer festivals. I know particularly here in Arizona next Saturday @Arizona Craft Brewers Guild is hosting the Keep Arizona Brewing Virtual Craft Beer Festival on April 18th at 2 PM. It is $5 to get in or until April 15th you can buy a shirt from Goodfellas Merch and get a free ticket. You can find more information on this website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/keep-arizona-brewing-virtual-beer-festival-tickets-101701658398?utm_campaign=&utm_source=google%20&utm_medium=ads&utm_content=Brand&gclid=CjwKCAjw1cX0BRBmEiwAy9tKHq9z1NFX8Mzf4QNCkziYVprTyFH2GBvBoolDQs-Bg7BLV1ivRSYpAxoC94MQAvD_BwE. Now let’s see if anyone else is doing these.
Hopefully this long post made up for the super short post that I did on National Beer Day. If there is anything else that you craft beer lovers have been doing to stay entertained during this time please let me know I’m looking for many fun/creative things to do. Stay safe out there and until next time Hoppy Travels!