Question: Do you vary your types based on the season or just drink what you like when you want?

Answer: This really depends. If I am just drinking a beer to enjoy the beer (meaning I don’t plan on posting about it) I will drink whatever I feel like at the moment. However, I do try to plan certain beers for certain occasions for posts on my Instagram. For example, for major holidays I try to find a beer that I feel “fits” with that holiday. I will then save that beer for the day of the holiday and drink it and post about it that day. 

Question: Is your husband jealous of your fame?

Answer: Seeing that I don’t really have any “fame,” I don’t think so. In fact, he actually likes all the perks I get from having a beer Instagram account. He has never complained when a beer box shows up at our house, or when I ask him to help me do a photoshoot at a local bar/brewery. 

Question: Why do people want to see your feet?

Answer: People are WEIRD! I have no idea why people have asked me (countless times) to see pictures of my feet. My answer is always the same, NO. 

Question: How long does it take to put together an IG post about a brewery visit?

Answer: It all depends. Usually my process for just a post (the first time I visit a brewery) is this: I take some pictures of the outside brewery, while looking at the menu I take a few pictures of the bar area, when I am waiting for my beer I take a few pictures of the inside, and when my beer arrives I take many pictures of it. I don’t always use every picture, but I like to have a variety. Also, I usually upload my photos to an editing app (I personally use Lightroom) and take some time editing. If it is a brewery I’ve been to many times I don’t usually do all of that, but I still edit all my photos and figure out what hashtags to use. So all in all it really depends. A post could take as short as 5 minutes to post all the way up to 20 minutes. 

Question: Do you judge breweries based on their own social media presence?

Answer: I sure do! I do not understand when breweries or bars chose not to use social media to help market their business. Instagram is FREE and it’s an app used by 1 billion people. It would only take someone a few minutes a day or even a week to post what beer you have and any other specials you might have. I personally check social media before I head to a bar or a brewery, and I like when I see they are active and have been letting their customers know what’s new. 

Thanks to everyone who sent in questions! Please feel free to message me if you have any more questions. 

Cheers!

What is your favorite of the seasonal Yeti stouts?

So, I need to be honest here and say I haven’t tried any of them yet. When I posted the poll on my story asking which one I should drink first, the majority of people said the pumpkin pie one. I plan on having that one around Halloween first. 

What is your favorite Barley Wine?

I am probably going to get a lot of crap for this, but I don’t care for Barley Wine. I would much rather have an Imperial Stout over a Barley Wine any day. 

Which big-name breweries in Colorado would you live to visit the most and why?

Even though I lived in Colorado for over a year, I still haven’t gotten to explore many breweries outside of the Colorado Springs area. The ones I look forward to visiting the most are:

New Belgium in Ft. Collins- This brewery just looks awesome! It is a beautiful facility and it is in a town that I want to visit. Also, Fat Tire was a beer that I enjoyed a lot when I first started drinking craft beer. 

Weldwerks Brewing Company in Greeley- When I lived in Florida I would constantly trade with people to get beer from Weldwerks. I am a huge IPA fan and have loved just about everything I’ve had from them. This is for sure one place I will visit soon. 

Coors Brewery in Golden- I know, I know, it’s not a craft brewery, but I have heard some awesome things about their brewery tours. Also, Coors Beers (especially Banquet) is a staple in Colorado. 

What is one beer that you drink that is connected to a specific memory? 

I have a few for sure, but one, in particular, would (once again) be one of the Great Divide Yeti Beers. I cannot tell you specifically which one (because I had one too many beers that night) but this beer reminds me of my friend AJ, and has been an inside joke for us for several years. I met AJ on Untappd, and the first night we met in person he brought a bunch of his homebrew beers and a Yeti. We didn’t plan on drinking ALL the beers that night, but we did, and at that moment I knew I found my Beer Soulmate (AKA someone I could always meet at a bar/brewery and try to solve all the problems over a glass of good beer). 

In your opinion, what makes a good brewery GREAT?

A great brewery must have the following things to be considered GREAT:

• Fantastic beer
• Friendly and knowledgeable staff
• Food options 
• Atmosphere that is welcoming and comfortable 
• A location that is convenient to get to and is around other options for drinking

I’ve been to many breweries that have been good but are just missing that little extra to make it GREAT. 

Back in 2012, I was married to someone who looks like your “typical” craft beer drinker. He is 6’4, he is 290 lbs, and he has a full beard. When people have a stereotypical craft beer drinker in their mind, it perfectly matches my ex-husband. The thing is though…he didn’t drink beer. In fact, he despised it. He only drank ciders or vodka-based cocktails. When we would go out guess who was always given the beer menu? Guess who was always told about the newly released beer? Guess who was always given the beer even after moments prior he ordered a vodka drink? At the time we would just laugh to ourselves and switch drinks. As time went on though I became frustrated. Why can’t people assume we BOTH might like to see the beer menu? Why can’t someone remember that I was not the one to order a vodka drink?

When I walk into a bar or brewery I am able to confidently order my beer and I already know what styles I will enjoy. Yes, I understand that not everyone is comfortable doing that, but it is frustrating when people want to question or “educate” me on my order before they actually serve it to me. A few years back I was at an Orlando bar where I ordered a Gose. I enjoy the lemon/saltiness flavor of them, especially after spending a day in the hot Florida sun. When I ordered the Gose the bartender immediately gave me a look, and responded with, “Are you sure? It is a type of beer not many people enjoy.” I reassured him that I wanted it. He came back moments later with a taster of the beer and told me I should really try it first because he doesn’t think I will enjoy it. I once again had to reassure him that I’ve had this beer before, and I am confident in my selection. Maybe he thought he was being helpful, but it had me wondering, would he question a man ordering the same beer? 

My last two stories are the ones that probably infuriate me the most. They also both have happened with the same person. AJ has been my best beer friend (or my beer soulmate) since basically the beginning of my craft beer journey. Yet when we drink beer together I sometimes find myself disappointed in how I am treated vs. how he is. Pliny the Elder is a beer you cannot get in Orlando. It was also a beer that a few years ago EVERYONE wanted to try. AJ got his hands on a bottle and asked me and another one of his friends to meet him at a local Orlando craft beer bar to open the bottle. When we got there all three of us ordered some beer and began to make beer small talk with the owner. When he saw that AJ brought the bottle of Pliny with him, he allowed us to open it up and share it amongst ourselves, him, and his bartender. The owner then went back to his office to bring out a beer he wanted to share with “us.” Why the “us”? Because he poured three glasses. One for AJ, one for AJ’s male friend, and one for himself. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing. I was at his bar, supporting his business by drinking craft beer, discussing craft beer with everyone, and drinking Pliny…yet he didn’t think I should get a pour of the beer he wanted to share. Luckily AJ saw what was happening and saw how upset I was, that he offered to share his beer with me. Needless to say, we quickly finished up and left. I haven’t been back to that bar since. 

My last experience I want to share also happened with AJ, but this time it happened in Boston. AJ moved back home to Boston, and my husband and I decided to take a trip out to see him. At this time I was very early on in my pregnancy, so I wasn’t drinking. One evening we stopped at a liquor store so my husband could pick out some local beer. While my husband was looking around AJ and I noticed that some of the staff were giving out tastes of some of the beer they just got in. I walked up with AJ and we were asked what we wanted to try. Being pregnant I obviously said none for me. The employee then responded with “are you sure? I have some fruity “girly” beer you can try.” “Girly” beer is NOT a thing. I know of several men who enjoy heavily fruited sour beers. Also, don’t assume that the only beer a female can enjoy is a “girly” beer.

I don’t want this post to come across as me being overly negative or thinking EVERYONE in the craft beer community assumes females know nothing about beer. In fact, I have had way more positive experiences than negative ones. Also, all these experiences have happened at least 3 years ago. I honestly feel that the craft beer community is growing and becoming more accepting of females and even minorities. However, there is still a lot of work to do. Sometimes I think women don’t drink beer because they feel intimidated. If you have a female friend who shows interest in craft beer, help them out! Introduce them to the beer you think they might enjoy. Take them to your local breweries. Don’t make any assumptions on what they will or will not drink.

Breweries and Craft Beer Bars

As a female, I do not always feel comfortable drinking at a bar alone. However, drinking at a brewery or a craft beer bar alone is a different story. Maybe it’s because I feel confident when ordering. Maybe it’s because beertenders have time to have a conversation with you. Maybe it’s because more than likely I am going to know at least one other person inside. Whatever it is, I am thankful that I will always feel welcomed and have a seat open and good conversation waiting for me at my favorite breweries or craft beer bars. 

IPAs

Everyone has their favorite beer style, and mine would be IPAs. The majority of my craft beer journey has been in Florida, and there is something so refreshing about the bitter, sweet, citrusy taste of an IPA after or during a hot day in the sun. I enjoy other styles of beer, of course, but I am thankful “The Haze Craze” is still a thing, and I can find a juicy IPA almost anywhere I go. 

Beer Festivals 

Sadly Covid has taken many things away from us in 2020, Beer Festivals being one of them. I am thankful for the ones I have attended in the past though. I’ve attended large ones like The Great American Beer Festival in Denver and smaller more local based ones in Orlando. I love them all! I enjoy getting to try so many different beers all in one place, I enjoy being with a group of people who enjoy the same thing as me, and I also love meeting new drinking buddies. I really hope 2021 will be the year of the return of Beer Festivals. 

Friends

I am most thankful though for my friends; especially my friends that I have met through the Craft Beer Community. In fact, 90% of the people I talk to on at least a weekly basis are people I have met at either a bottle share, a beer event, a brewery, or a beer festival. These people have become my closest friends, and it’s more than just the beer that we have in common now. It’s hard making friends when you’re an adult, but it’s a bit easier when you have some liquid courage and an established common interest. 

So, what are you thankful for this holiday season? 2020 has been a rough year, but it is almost over, and we will always have craft beer to be thankful for. 

I often have people asking me how to start a beer Instagram account or how to grow your followers. Once again, I am not an expert and am not on here to make money or make this my full-time job, but I will share what has worked for me. 

1. Instagram is all about engagement! You want people to follow you? You need to engage with them. Don’t just post a picture and close the app. Respond to comments, answer questions, share others’ photos, respond to your messages, etc. etc. Sure you might get more followers doing this, but this is also how I met some of my closest friends. 
2. Take quality pictures. You do not need to have a fancy camera but take your time staging your pictures and maybe get a basic editing app. I am a fan of Lightroom personally, but there are many options out there. People don’t want to follow accounts that have mediocre pictures that all look the same. Change it up! 

3. Hashtags are your friends! Do a little bit of research on how to utilize hashtags. Pro-tip, save your hashtags to your notepad and just copy and paste them before you post. 
4. Become friends or at least friendly with your local breweries. I am all about supporting local (especially breweries) so I want to share pictures from their brewery, beers I enjoy from them, and any special events they’re having. Breweries will notice this and appreciate it! They often then share your posts to their story, which means more people will see your posts and possibly follow you. 

5. Take a selfie every now and then. I know, I know, many people (*cough* females) get a lot of crap when we take a selfie with a beer. Some think we know nothing about beer and are just trying to gain followers by showing skin. However, this is not true for the females I know who have craft beer Instagram accounts. We have all realized that people enjoy seeing the face (male or female) behind the beers. 

6. Lastly, HAVE FUN! Unless you are trying to make this a full-time job, don’t overthink all your posts, don’t constantly compare your numbers to others, and just enjoy drinking good beer and meeting good people.

Do you have any questions about creating a Beer Instagram and/or blog? Feel free to send me a message or email. 

I started my account towards the middle of 2018. I can still remember sitting at the Downtown Orlando WOB and telling my husband I wanted a spot to share all my beer pictures. It was right then and there I made the account. I honestly didn’t put too much thought into my handle. I’m a girl who loves to “meet” beer. (I’m also a girl who grew up in the 90s and loved watching Boy Meets World). I made my page at WOB but shared my first picture from my home while enjoying a beer by my pool 

My page steadily grew in followers, but then something happened that made me stop sharing (at least frequently) for a bit. I found out in the summer of 2018 I was pregnant. Obviously, I quit drinking and in turn quit posting to my page as frequently as I once was. Sure, every now and then I would post a quick picture of a brewery I was visiting with some friends or a shot of what my husband was enjoying, but I just didn’t have the energy to post or interact with people daily. 

My son was born in February of 2019, and I quickly began to become more active on my page. I was able to enjoy beer again, I had new breweries to explore, and I missed my beer community. Those things all motivated me to well, drink up!

To be clear, this is just a hobby for me. I know some people make this (or try to) their full-time job. I work full time already, and I am a mother to a toddler. Life is too crazy for me to devote more time than I already am to my page. As of now I have a little over 10k followers and people often ask me what I have done to gain so many followers, so I figured I would share some tips on what has worked for me. Stay tuned for part two!

Goodbye downtown Orlando. Goodbye to the memories I made in my 20s and early 30s. Goodbye Wall Street and Church Street. Goodbye cheap beer, 3 for 1s, and pudding shots. Goodbye to broken shoes, broken bushes, and broken dreams. Goodbye to lost cars, lost credit cards, and lost friends. Goodbye to DDs, drunken pizza slices, and vegan hotdogs. 

Goodbye to the past. Goodbye to what might have been my future. Goodbye to the man who moved me here. Goodbye to mistakes, to failures, to disappointments, to heartbreaks. Goodbye to the “what ifs” and the “what it might have been.” Goodbye to late-night talks, late-night walks, and late-night visits. Goodbye to those who walked out, who didn’t think I was enough, and to those I hurt. 

Goodbye Disney. Goodbye Magic. Goodbye to a castle and a giant “golf ball.” Goodbye to pixie dust and character hugs. Goodbye Canada, UK, France, Morocco, Japan, Italy, America, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico. 

Goodbye breweries. Goodbye bottle shares. Goodbye to the places that shaped who I am today. Goodbye to Ellipsis IPAs, Hourglass Sours, and Ten10 Stouts. Goodbye to hushed conversations by candlelight at Thirsty Topher. Goodbye to first date spots that led me to the love of my life. 

Goodbye to the place I called home for ten years. Goodbye to schools that made me the teacher I am today. Goodbye to the friends that became my family. Goodbye to a house that Dan and I made a home. 

Hello mountains. Hello sunshine. Hello (again) snow. Hello to new beginnings, to fresh starts, to adventure. Hello Colorado.  

I remember waking up the next day laughing to myself, thinking that he would never call, and I felt pretty embarrassed with how I acted. I was actually shocked when later that afternoon, he called me and asked if I could start that weekend. I quickly realized I liked bartending, but it was a job I could only do in the summer when I wasn’t already working 40 hours a week. 

So that summer, I set out to find another job and ended up getting hired at a fun and unique bar/restaurant called Cloak and Blaster. Cloak and Blaster is a tabletop gaming bar and restaurant. You can eat, drink, and play one of their MANY board games at your table. They also have a lounge upstairs where you can play on different gaming systems. I’ll be honest; I felt a bit out of place here. I do not know anything about video games, and I didn’t get many of the references to certain shows/movies simply because they weren’t really my type of things I enjoyed watching, and because it is so close to our local University, everyone felt so much younger to me. What I lacked in gaming knowledge though I made up for in beer knowledge, and I really enjoyed learning new things while working there. They had various trivia nights, a week-long Harry Potter event, and many other special events throughout the summer. 

After my summer was over, I decided I just wanted to go back to being the customer and enjoying beer from the other side of the bar. The craft beer scene in Orlando was finally starting to expand, and it felt like every week there was some event, grand opening, or celebration I could attend. In 2016 I was given a chance to attend the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, with Kelly (from my previous post). We had an awesome time together, and I actually met so many other craft beer-loving people from all over the country! I cannot wait to attend this festival again and this time as a Colorado resident! 

Towards the end of 2016, my life took quite the turn when I met my husband. We met on Tinder (yes, real relationships can happen on that app) and planned to meet at a local brewery (of course) for our first date. While on the date, we realized we had met before. In fact, we have met several times before at various bars/craft beer events. Realizing that I met someone who loves craft beer and the craft beer community just as much as I do made me happy. In 2018 we got married, and in 2019 we welcomed our son. 

Being a wife and mom hasn’t slowed my passion for craft beer at all. Sure I don’t attend all the events anymore, I am all about day drinking now, and you aren’t going to see me at many bottle releases. However, my husband and son (safely and when he can) now join me on my adventures. We enjoy exploring new breweries together. My husband and I like to try the new beer while our son likes to soak in all the attention he gets from strangers who can’t resist a cute baby. 

In a few short weeks, my family and I are moving to Colorado Springs, and I cannot wait to continue my craft beer adventure there. 

I would often visit Bj’s with some co-workers for their happy hour specials, so I knew they offered beer flights. The man I wish with at the time had absolutely no interest in trying craft beer, so when my mom was in town for a visit, she agreed to go and try some beer with me. We were able to order a flight of every beer on their menu. I distinctly remember not liking about 75% of the flight. However, my tastebuds were awakened, and I knew I wanted to keep trying more.

Shortly after trying all the beers at Bj’s, I discovered World of Beer. I was like a kid in a candy store the first time I walked in and took a seat at a table. Unfortunately, I was still with my ex, who wasn’t into trying beer, but that didn’t stop me! I still had no idea what I liked or, for that matter, even what I was ordering. What I do remember after trying SEVERAL beers was that I found a style I really enjoyed. I found myself liking the smooth, rich, caramel-like flavors found in brown ales. I took some time, but now I knew what style was my favorite, and I was ready to keep searching and drinking.

At this time, I was active on Yelp writing reviews (mostly on places that I was checking out for their craft beer selection) It was actually through Yelp that I met my people! My now good friend Kelly at the time, started a group called The Orlando Lady Crafters. She sent me a message on Yelp complimenting me on all my reviews and inviting me out to their next meetup. Kelly had a group of about 15 beer-loving ladies who got together at least once a month to drink, discuss, and learn all about craft beer. She informed me that their next meetup was at a now-closed Mexican restaurant where the owner was allowing them to have a small bottle share. Kelly always liked to keep things interesting, so she had a theme for this bottle share. She asked all ladies to bring a beer with an animal on the label. I was a bit nervous about going to an event knowing no one, but I was also excited to meet ladies who also enjoyed craft beer. So, I picked up a six-pack of Old Dog Brown Ale by Smuttynose Brewing and headed out.

I am so thankful I went out that night and met those ladies. It was through them that I discovered the up and coming Orlando beer scene. I made some great friends, drank some great beer, and ended up meeting someone who made a significant impact on my journey. My relationship with the non-beer drinker ended, and I was enjoying going out with my friends. It was during one of those evenings when I met… let’s call him Paul. Paul was also recently single and also happened to be the owner of one of Orlando’s main craft beer bars. Even though Paul is quite a bit older than me, I really enjoyed my time with him. He took me to several different places in the Orlando area, where we got to try many different beers, and I got to meet different people involved in the craft beer community. Sometimes we would just hang out his bar where he was kind enough to let me try anything and everything. It was at that bar I learned Belgian beers are not for me. It was at that bar I discovered I enjoyed an occasional Imperial Stout at the end of a night of drinking. And it was at that bar I learned that I was interested in possibly being a bartender for some extra money.

To be continued…