Swedish beer blogger dempabeerwrote about a new batch of High Five! beer from Dugges some days ago, as he was did not feel that the quality was up to previous batches. A number of his readers added their comments, and then brewer Dugge himself entered the discussion, giving his point of view. (In short, the quality of his hops had not been good enough.)
A good example of how social media transforms the relationship between the consumer and the producer. It gives the consumer a lot of power – but it also opens for a true dialogue, far beyond flashy marketing.
I think it’s been good for the blogger that the brewer wanted to “positively” join the discussion.
It is not uncommon that similar “stories” end up with angry conversations or with someone obtaining a bad reputation due to something wrong that is been said.
If used properly and with good manners, social media could expand beer culture and co-operation to great levels