Vancouver Beer Tweetup

Tweetups (Twitter meetups) “back in the day” used to be when you were out at a restaurant or pub, picked up your phone, and told others on Twitter to spontaneously join you. Arriving with a pint in their hand, you would chat up new friends and old thanks to social media.

Now that things are a little more organized in the online realm, Vancouver has its very own, official beer Tweetup that organizers hope will become a monthly event.

Photo credit: Landfeldt on Flickr

@YVRBeerTweetup was founded in early 2012 by Jonathan Evans (@JonnyBeers) and Nick (@VancityBeerGuy).

“We just had a few tweets back and forth about how there was a lack of Tweetups in Vancouver, in January,” Jonathan told me over the phone. “We both like beer so we said ‘let’s do a beer Tweeetup’, then we both laughed about it… then thought ‘why not?’.”

The very next day Jonathan and Nick started up the Twitter account and saw a rush of 100 followers almost instantly. Within 2 days, they already had the interest of 8 local breweries and venues.

The first YVRBeerTweetup happened at Doolins just 2 weeks following their brainstorm and the second is on its way. The instant popularity can be credited to the wide reach of Twitter, pulling in audiences from all professions and corners of the region and of course, as Jonathan says, the common denominator is the beer.

The plan is to make YVRBeerTweetup a monthly occurrence and now with over 10 venues interested, they’re looking to diversify the event’s activities. “We don’t want to have the exact same thing every time,” Jonathan added. Beer dinners, bus tours, and expanding beyond Vancouver – reaching out to Howe Sound, Surrey, the Fraser Valley, and the interior could be next.

Join the next Tweetup at Malone’s on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. The beer special will be $5 sleeves for a Central City cask espresso vanilla bean oatmeal stout. You can also order a BC beer taster paddle (five x 4 ounce samplers) for $6. For food, there will be poutine for $5 and burgers for $6. Just show up and enjoy.

Find out everything you need to know about upcoming events by following @YVRBeerTweetup on Twitter.