Ed Roberts

“Beer people are good people” is a phrase commonly used online and in real life in the beer community. The first person I saw use this phrase was Lee Williams of Hoptopia. Most of the time I believe deeply in the statement.

I have been on Twitter since September of 2008. It has been an amazing experience. I have developed a good number of real life friends and relationships from Twitter and other social media. People who know me know how passionate I feel social media can be to the craft beer industry.

I have never had a cross word with anyone on Twitter that I can recall. I have debated topics with people but it has never degraded into name calling or insults. I think a good debate can be healthy if done right.

Yesterday I had a Twitter message from someone by the name of Alan Atha, of Beltane Brewing, a start up brewery located in Novato, California. He doesn’t follow me nor do I follow him. I was having a conversation with someone who I have followed for a while and have exchanged many tweets with in the past. Alan inserted himself into the conversation and calls me stupid.

I gave Alan the benefit of the doubt and assumed he misunderstood what I said. I sent him several messages clarifying what I had said. He did not bother to respond, despite continuing to post to Twitter on other matters as you will see later.

I am a bit surprised and disappointed in Alan’s behavior. As one of 600 start up breweries currently trying to get off the ground he needs all the help he can get. Beltane Brewery has no real website (only a Blogspot blog) and has no beers listed on the Beer Advocate website.

Hopefully Alan reviews what occurred and learns from what happened. Interactions like this will not help make his business successful. Alan, if you ever makes it to Florida you have a standing invitation from me for me to take you out for a Florida brewed beer and we can discuss our favorite beverage, craft beer.

What followings is a copy and past transcript of the conversation. Please let me know your thoughts. If I am wrong here please tell me!

Cheers and Happy 4th!

Ed

wesleybeero Wesley Anderson

A guy pull down the “LOCAL” sign off of my 21st Amendment display because it’s canned in MN. He told my co-worker we should check our facts.

16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@wesleybeero we have FL beers contract brewed outside the state that Whole Foods here removed the Local label from.

16 hours ago

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@wesleybeero I’m ok with stuff like that as long as it is clearly disclosed.

16 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

wesleybeero Wesley Anderson

@AllOverBeer @Ed_Roberts I know the beer is canned somewhere else, but the brewery & beer is made here in San Francisco.That’s my argument.

16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

wesleybeero Wesley Anderson

@AllOverBeer @Ed_Roberts also the balls on this guy to pull signs of of displays and tell us what we should do

16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

BeltaneBrewing Alan Atha

@Ed_Roberts get it right, Ed. Think before you act stupidly. Oh, you already did.

15 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

BeltaneBrewing Alan Atha

Question: What are the parameters of ‘local’? 20 miles, 50 miles…the USA? @Ed Roberts

15 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing tweet doesn’t show me what u were referring 2. The tweet after that asking about what is local u didn’t get my name right.

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing r u calling me stupid RE: my tweets w/ @wesleybeero? Let me clarify. His customer’s behavior went 2 far.

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing In retail though we deal with people like this more then we would like so I am used to it. Local is however u define it.

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing In speaking w/ customers in SoFL if asked 4 local beer I would mention all beers made anywhere in FL. If it seemed important

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing I would point out which 1s r contracted brewed elsewhere. I prefer if the beer mentions where it’s brewed 4 full disclosure

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing FL doesn’t have that many production breweries so as far as I am concerned Cigar City which is hours away is local to me.

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

Ed_Roberts Ed Roberts

@BeltaneBrewing in California where u have so many breweries your scope of local would probably be smaller.

9 hours ago Favorite Reply Delete

BeltaneBrewing Alan Atha

YUM! RT @femALEist: 50 year old Gueuze and other sour beers: http://tinyurl.com/3zzomuu

3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

BeltaneBrewing Alan Atha

Grill cleaned. Burgers built. Pliny poured.

3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Brooklyn Brewery Night at Coffee District
Special guest- Mike Vitale, Vice President, Brooklyn Brewery

Tuesday 6 pm - 9 pm March 8th 2011
325 NE 2nd Avenue # 104, Delray Beach, FL 33444
(561) 455-0541 ‎
http://www.mycoffeedistrict.com/
Facebook event link

On Draft:
Special Release of Brand New Brew Master’s Reserve MAIN ENGINE START
CUVEE NOIR *only keg in S.Fla*
Brooklyn Lager

In Bottles:
Local 1, Local 2, Monster Ale & Black Chocolate Stout

Come meet the great people from Brooklyn Brewery & enjoy very special Brooklyn Beers on tap.

Raffling Pint Glasses, T-Shirts & Brooklyn Brewery gears.

Meet the Brewer: Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery
**Exclusive to Total Wine Pembroke Pines**

Meet Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery. This is a very special, free, public appearance. Garrett Oliver, author of The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food and the foremost authority on beer & food pairing in the United States, will be in the store sampling Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Brown, Brooklyn Local 1, and Brooklyn Local 2. 

Garrett will share great food pairing information for these beers and will be signing Brooklyn bottles.  Come visit our store for this exclusive experience with a master of craft beer.

Location- Total Wine Pembroke Pines

Date- Tuesday August 24, 2010

Time- 6:30-7:30pm

Our event is basically here! Here is the link for the Twtvite I used for the event. Please review it for event info. It is from 3-6pm tomorrow 8/21 at Abraxas Lounge in Miami.

Here are the attendees: myself, Diego from Abraxas, Dave from South Florida Beer Blog, Phil from Dos Beerigos, Mike from Mike Loves Beer, Ian from Fresh Beer, Sally from BX Beer Depot, Vanessa from Potables & Edibles, Ruth & Mike from Bon Beer, Tony from EGA Brewing, Cesar (Fresh Beer) representing Cervezas Miami, Rob from Daily Beer Review, & Chalie from Mug of St Arnold.

Please try to bring 24oz-750ml of a special beer you wish to share with the group. It should be something that Abraxas does not sell. For those of you able to stick around afterwards it is Avery Weekend at Abraxas. See link for info on the festivities. Please take good care of your servers.

Remember our goal is to sample some good beer and discuss how we can grow the craft beer scene in South Florida. Brainstorm. Bring your questions. Be ready to make some suggestions. We have an incredible array of talent, skills, knowledge, & vast background at this event. We have bloggers, bar owners, retail store owners, distributor reps, home brewers, beer travel, and whatever I am. Maybe the sexiest man in craft beer, right Phil? ;) Let’s take advantage of this vast talent pool.

What’s working in your world? What do you need help with? Phil and Mike are discussing starting a podcast. We have Garrett Oliver coming next week. How do leverage this? How can we get more beer rock stars down here for appearances? My dream is still to see an organized South Florida Craft Beer Week. Who’s going to GABF? Let’s discuss. Phil & I have discussed a big homebrewing competition for the public. Would a website & logo for our group be of any use? Mini beerups have started at WOB CC. How can we help support? Mike went- how was it? Just trying to get your brain going! Bring your topics please!

Here is a Google map for Abraxas. There is plenty of free street parking at that time of the day. There is no food served at Abraxas. Feel free to bring food, snacks, or get food delivered from a nearly place.

Any questions, let me know.

Cheers!

Ed Roberts

cell- 954-242-1826

For a recap of our prior event(s) see-

http://edroberts.tumblr.com/post/629905191/sofl-beer-social-media-tasting-round-2-recap

Photo taken by the Ferm of Dos Beerigos

    On Saturday 5/22/2010 a group of South Florida social media users who share a love of good beer got together at the Coffee District in Delray Beach. It was an appropriate place to taste 30 plus craft beers, make new friends and see old ones as well, and discuss the beer community in the South Florida area.

    This was the second meeting. The 1st was held at Total Wine in Pembroke Pines in February. Planning is already underway for round 3 which will be in 2-3 months, most likely in Miami-Dade county. The plan has always been to move the meetings around South Florida to give different people an  opportunity to get involved. Many of the invitees have connections to the craft beer community in South Florida through beer blogs, working for stores, bars, & restaurants that support good beer, working for craft beer distributors, brewers or breweries, and other beer ventures.

    Here is some links to accounts, reviews, photos, etc. of our event. I will update this list as they are added.

Dos Beerigos- His account includes a list of 32 beers we sampled. I can’t vouch that this is a complete list. He also gets credit for getting the 1st post up regarding the event. He did this in under a day.

The Ferm updates his site frequently and is your best bet to get to taste some of these mighty fine beers. He is always looking for guest bloggers.

other links for Dos Beerigos twitter facebook

John Linn from Clean Plate Charlie-John does a great job of writing for the Broward-Palm Beach New Times about the food & beverage world in South Florida including craft beer. He has written great articles recently regarding Big Bear Brewing, and does a weekly beer of the week story. His linked story is a great overall recap of the event. 

Clean Plate Charlie twitter 

Daily Beer Review- tasting notes on all the beers and his thoughts on the event.

Bon Beer Voyage- recap, beer pics, & tasting info.

Here is a list of the other attendees and their social media contact info.

• Coffee District- website facebook twitter
• myself, Ed Roberts- facebook twitter
• Mike, Mike Loves Beer- website twitter facebook
• Rob, Daily Beer Review- website twitter
• Kelly, Cerveza Chica- website twitter facebook
• Joel- blog coming soon? twitter facebook
• Jonathan, Boca Beer Lovers, meetup site
• Ruth & Mike, Bon Beer Voyage- website twitter facebook blog
• Phaan, The Lodge Boca- website facebook twitter
• Ryan & Jim, Funky Buddha- website facebook twitter
• Ian, Fresh Beer- website newsletter facebook twitter
• Tony, EGA Brewing- website twitter
• Jeff, Draft Doctor- website facebook
• Vanessa, Potables + Edibles- website twitter facebook
• Drew, Magellanic Brewery- website facebook twitter
• Vanessa, Cooking and Pairing with Beer- website twitter facebook

One action item for us that came out of the meeting was a political one brought up by Drew & Jonathan. Attached is a well worded explanation of the issue from Bob Paolino of Great Lakes Brewing News.

“Beer is one of the most heavily taxed food products you buy. You pay a federal excise tax, some kind of state excise tax that varies by state, and on top of all that, in most states you pay a sales tax as well, generally not just on the product itself (which is bad enough) but you also pay sales taxes on top of the other taxes. Taxation has a valuable role in civil society, but this is a matter of fairness and how one product is subject to all these additional taxes that don’t apply to most other products.

It might be a small step, but there is a proposal in the U.S. Congress to reduce excise taxes on small brewers, HR 4278 and S. 3349, both of which have bi-partisan support among their sponsors. To get information on these bills, go to http://thomas.loc.gov and type the bill numbers in the “Search Bill Summary & Status” field. From there you will be able to view the bill and see if your Member of Congress is a co-sponsor. Call and thank him or her if a sponsor, and ask him/her to sign on if not currently a sponsor. Express your support for craft brewers.

The other part of your assignment is to check the web page of the House Small Brewers Caucus athttp://smallbrewers.defazio.house.gov/ and find out of your U.S. Representative is a member. If s/he is, please thank him/her to express your support for craft beer. If s/he isn’t, ask the simple but tough question, “Why not?” and be sure s/he knows that you are a supporter of craft brewers.

The House recently passed H Res 1297, a resolution in support of American Craft Beer Week, on a voice vote. (When you search for it on Thomas, be sure to type H.RES.1297, not HR 1297) That’s nice, but it’s mostly symbolic. Tax fairness for small brewers is the real test of support.”

Here is a Beer Advocate link on the issue and the Brewers Association link on the issue.

I appreciate everyone attending the tasting. If anyone has any feedback on any aspect of the SFL Beer Social Media tastings please let me know. I am open to suggestions. If you know of anyone who you think should be invited to participate in future events or have a suggestion on a place to host a tasting event please contact me as well.

Cheers!

Ed Roberts

edwardroberts@gmail.com