First, Beer Swap. The ‘let’s send each other beers we can’t get near us and then use social media to talk about them’ game. The same rules apply as last year and if you blog or use twitter to talk about beer then you can enter (it is probably still GB only until we find cheap ways to ship outside of our little island). Here’s the deal:
• You need to find four local beers (use your discretion on ‘local’ but try and make them small breweries, also, choose good beers).
• No more than two beers from one brewery. Feel free to send homebrew, but only two bottles and then send local beers too. Or you can send homebrew as an extra.
• You will send them to another Beer Swapper and you will be sent four beers from someone else (it won’t be the person you send to).
• You then drink them and tweet and blog about them – send messages to @beerswap and use the #beerswap hashtag.
• The dates: The end date will be the 14th May. You have until the 28th March to join in and then Andy and I will sort out the sending. You will need to post out your beers by April 16th.
• To enter, go here and submit your details on the form (we need you to use the form to collect up all the names and details – your information will be kept secure, of course). We will sort them out and get them ready for the next stage.
Last time we had issues with postage and Collect+ didn’t really do it for us (the dreaded #collectplusfail). This time we need to do something different, so if anyone has any ideas then please let us know. We will advise on the best service when we announce the next steps after the 28th.
Who wants to swap some beer?!
And Twissup... Sheffield will be hard to beat but we’ll give it a damn good go! So, get the 15th May in the diary as we’re going to Burton-upon-Trent! (assuming the National Brewery Centre is all open and up and running). All the details will come soon but it will hopefully involve a brewery, a museum, maybe a maltings and definitely lots of pubs and beer! It’ll be a great follow-up to Sheffield! There's also a facebook group for #Twissup.Now, there’s just two questions:
1) Beer Swap: Are you in? (If yes, remember to fill in this form!)
2) Burton Twissup: Are you in?
Yes (i'll go and fill in the form now)
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes.
Looking forward to it.
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteDon't want to rain on your parade with this one but I think Burton may disappoint on the beer front (I think it may hinge on what Steve Wellington plies you all with).
JC
JC, it's about getting to see the Brewing Centre and seeing a historic beer town. White Shield is the big draw, of course. I think we've got some insiders to help us out... While the beer might not compare to Sheffield, there's still plenty of choice. You should come along!
ReplyDeletetwissup - oh yes. I'll be there!
ReplyDelete@The_Brew_Co
Yup, I should be in for both! Been keeping my May diary free till I heard the date ... not too far from Brum anyway. There's a few smaller breweries around Burton, so hopefully a good plan of action can be put together!
ReplyDeleteToo bad this Beer Swap thing is only for GB... No possibility for belgian bloggers to join this excellent initiative?
ReplyDeleteIts a pity I wont be back in the UK for beerswap by april. Maybe the next one.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading all about it though
Mark - love to be there. However I'm in Amsterdam that weekend (should have been the Meibock Festival but the buggers went and arranged it for mid-April this year...)- so at least I'll have to consolation of trying some decent beers. Perhaps next time.
ReplyDeleteCheers
JC
YES and YES!!! Manic week, sorry. Will pick you with you Monday - twissup without the bus, sounds perfect to me!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't do the 15th unfortunately, already booked to go out with some friends. :(
ReplyDeleteCan't do that weekend unfortunately, it's the weekend before my wedding and I'll never get the time off!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time everybody and no doubt i'll see some of you soon.
This doesn't seem to be attracting many names. I'm a bit doubtful about Burton as it is an awkward place to get to, has little by way of attractive beer and pubs and I've been round and up and down the Museum Brewery before.
ReplyDeleteI'm therefore undecided at this point.
For what it's worth, I quite liked the idea of Burton. Never been there before and it's an obvious pilgrimage for any beer lover.
ReplyDeleteCan understand that it might not hold the same appeal if you've been there before though.
How about doing Burton with a smaller group (if there isn't a huge take up) and then quickly following up with another twissup for larger numbers? Just an idea.
T'man, we're focussing on the Beer Swap first, which has 32 people registered at the last count. The Twissup is more of a forewarning of the date. We chose Burton to coincide it with the new museum opening, plus it is a bit of a beer pilgrimage!! The beer choice might not be as good there as somewhere like Sheffield but that doesn't really matter, I don't think. It's about sharing beer with people!
ReplyDeleteBurton will likely be a smaller group than Sheffield, that's understandable. We will do GBBF in August and if people want to then perhaps we can do another in between Burton and then, but we'll see. We'll announce more plans on Burton later.
Not sure anyone would want to go to the museum. We all know how beer is made.
ReplyDelete