“This is my friend Pete, he’s a Sagittarius” #BeerTwitterIRL

I had a marvellous time at the London Craft Beer Festival last Saturday. I had a spare ticket and I had no hesitation in reaching out to Pete McKerry (@PJMcKerry) to see if he was keen and luckily enough he was so I had a drinking buddy for the night.

Now I’ve only met Pete a few times and really enjoyed his company but haven’t really known him that long. How did I know to ask Pete?

In short, Beer Twitter.

When you first get into beer and blogging its not too difficult to find interesting people to follow on twitter (all roads lead to @totalcurtis). I discovered Pete on twitter and met him for the first time over a few drinks organised by Steve (@beerolockshow) at the DraftHouse in Old Street. I’d interviewed Steve and Mark for my podcast after meeting them through beer twitter where I discovered their podcast.

During the podcast Steve said, “I now have a bigger group of friends than I’ve ever had as a result of doing the podcast”. I didn’t really know what he meant at the time, until the weekend.

It was great to have a few beers with Pete and have a chat and we also met up with loads of other people from Beer Twitter in London. One of things we did talk about that got me thinking was what happens when you meet people from Beer Twitter In Real Life?

Is there an etiquette to it? What are the different scenarios and how do you react? Have you ever noticed someone you interact with on Twitter and thought about introducing yourself? All questions we pondered.

When you recognised someone from Twitter IRL

At a beer event there is no doubt going to be someone from BeerTwitter there that you’ve never met before. Do you introduce yourself? How? Do you shake hands? Mention your twitter handle?

For me, this really depends on the situation and what type of mood I’m in. I first introduced myself to Matt (@totalcurtis) at a beer event a while ago referenced I followed him and that was the start of our IRL interaction.

Sometimes I’ll recongnised someone but not make the formal introduction, either because the stuation doesn’t allow or I simply get the fear.

I don’t think I’ve ever had someone come up to me, sadly.

When someone from BeerTwitter that you’ve never met IRL invites you to something

This can be a tricky one. You don’t know the person, you’ve never met then, they could be using an anonymous name. I met a Luke McGlynn (@mcglynn784) at BrewDog Shepherds Bush for a Cloudwater Tap Takeover after he’d gotten in touch via twitter as a fellow West London. Since then we’ve met a few times and I’d definitely consider him a beer buddy.

When you meet someone then start following them on twitter.

This is something I’ve done loads. You meet someone, introduce yourself and have a chat and then follow it up with a tweet later. This is nice way for the person to link the name to a face to a twitter handle.

I’m sure there’s plenty of other scenarios and other stories for people to share on their Beer Twitter IRL experiences. I’ve now met plenty of people from BeerTwitter IRL, some I would consider friends, and will hopefully meet loads more (looking at you @thabearded1).

Either way I think connecting through social media and in person is great and should be encouraged, especially over beer!

I’d love to know your BeerTwitterIRL stories.

Picture taken by @gingerdaniels13

Episode 11- Evin O’Riordain

The Kernel Brewery sits at the heart of the Bermondsey beer community alongside a number of other producers including cheese makers, bakers, butchers, coffee roasters and honey makers. Evin O’Riordain, the founder of The Kernel, has not only built a great brewery but a sense of community amongst these local producers.

I sat down with Evin over a few of their amazing beers to hear his story and came away with a better understanding of the philosophy of the man behind The Kernel.