Tough Topic: Breweries & Social Media

I have been intrigued by how different breweries have reacted to my blog posts.  By far I would say most breweries have no clue I am here.  That is fine with me.  I understand I am not on everyone's radar.  I often wonder what makes the cut.  Great Divide retweets or shoots off a "thanks" for the review to many bloggers on their Twitter feed, yet I have never received an acknowledgement.  What does Great Divide use as a metric to decide how they warrant a response?  Others such as Hook & Ladder often post a comment and promote a blog post of mine.  On my birthday Sierra Nevada started following me.  I think this is smart.  For one it shows an appreciation of someone promoting your product and an acknowledgement goes along way.

Recently I received backlash from a brewery.  I counted Metropolitan Brewing among my Twitter followers and assumed they read this blog on a frequent basis.  The day I published my review of Metropolitan I no longer could count them as a Twitter follower.  They de-linked me within hours of posting.  I know they saw the review, and I did not feel it was a bad review.  I gave an honest review of a two-year old brewery with a lot of potential.  Did I call them out on their issues?  Yes!  I am not their cheerleader.  I am a reviewer, and my commentary was not harsh.  Most of the problems I listed were either solved or easily solved, and I finished my post by telling readers to go buy their beer.  You can see my harsher posts here, here and here and Metropolitan's review was nowhere close to harsh.

By flat out disavowing my blog instead of just ignoring it Metropolitan annoyed me.  Actually, they pissed me off.  I stocked up on their beer to start doing beer reviews to further promote their products.  Social media counts as free marketing and by taking a passive aggressive stance Metropolitan lost out on marketing.  I am one of the few people I know who think Metropolitan will be successful.    With marketing skills like this maybe I am wrong and they will fail.

Breweries market mostly to a crowd that skews to the young and technologically savvy.  They need to embrace the social media world and not make snap decisions.  If a brewery feels a comment is not fair they should respond to it.  Engage the market and address what issue a consumer has, or at least ignore it.

Beer Review: Tumbler by Sierra Nevada

Tumbler, an Autumn Brown Ale, comes to us from Sierra Nevada, and has a solid malty presence.  Tumbler does not come off very hoppy, yet it has the same IBUs as Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale (37 IBUs).  I noticed a earthy, caramel aroma with some nuttiness on the first sip.  The flavor profile reflects the aroma, but with added notes of burnt sugar and a bit of smoke.

The beer is medium bodied.  I normally consider browns to be a decent summer beer, but this one is too heavy for the summer heat.  As an Autumn seasonal, that is not a problem.  Drink before the snow falls Tumbler is a bit too light for a snowy winter day.

I bought a case of this after trying a six pack.  If friends consider you a "connoisseur" , you are often expected to show up at parties and tailgates with a decent beer. Tumbler is a affordable option to take to fall festivities.  Overall, this is a nice addition to Sierra Nevada's lineup, and I look forward to sharing it with my friends.