It seems like the Internet world loves a good challenge, so we have one for all who are participating in this year’s Live Beer Social, taking place before our VIP hour at the Montana Brew Fest in Great Falls, MT. This signature event of the Beer Now Conference has often been referred to as “speed dating with beers” and used to be called Live Beer Blogging.
The premise is simple: conference attendees are grouped at 10-12 tables. Breweries bring one beer to showcase and start by standing at a different table. A timer is set for five minutes, during which the brewery has to pour and talk about the beer it brought. There can be anywhere from eight to 12 bloggers, writers, and Influencers at each table, clamoring for a perfect picture and perfect pour, and asking questions about the beer and the brewery. The timer rings and a new brewery and new beer is brought to the next table. Over the course of an hour everyone will have sampled every beer. It’s a fun, fast, and furious way to sip and share about beer.
This year’s Live Beer Social is sponsored by the Montana Brewers Association, so all the beers 
attendees will sample will be from Montana! The 11 Montana breweries are coming from as near as Great Falls itself to as far away as Sidney, MT (376 miles away)! Here are the breweries pouring at the 2019 Live Beer Social:
- Snow Hop Brewery (Helena)
- Mighty Mo (Great Falls)
- Jeremiah Johnson Brewing (Great Falls)
- Black Eagle (Black Eagle/Great Falls)
- Bayern Brewing (Missoula)
- Kalispell Brewing Co. (Kalispell)
- Philipsburg Brewing Co. (Philipsburg)
- Meadowlark Brewing (Sidney)
- Bozeman Brewing Co. (Bozeman)
- Lewis & Clark Brewing Co. (Helena)
- MAP Brewing Company (Bozeman)
The Live Beer Challenge:
While the beer drinking part of the Live Beer Social will be fun, the name of the game is learning and sharing content with your readers and followers. To that end, we challenge each participant to complete one of the two challenges.
Challenge #1: Post your 10 best photos as an Instagram post (you’ll have to get creative to fit all 11 breweries in 10 pics), tag each brewery, and use the hashtags #BeerNow19 and #VisitGreatFalls. Plus, send a separate Tweet about each beer you try, mentioning the brewery name with “@” (Untapped check-ins will count!).
or
Challenge #2: Live stream the entire Live Beer Social on your Facebook page or group with Facebook Live. Plus, send a separate Tweet about each beer you try, mentioning the brewery name with “@” and use the hashtags #BeerNow19 and #VisitGreatFalls (Untapped check-ins will NOT count for this one!).
To complete the first challenge you will only need a smartphone to tweet during the Live Beer Social and then craft your Instagram post after. To complete the second challenge you will need your smartphone (Facebook Live) and a laptop computer (Twitter).
For extra credit: Post one of your three required blog posts just about the Live Beer Social. Here are some example posts from past attendees:
Inspired? Ready? Go for it!