When last we looked at beer brands on Facebook, the national and international brands had overcome age concerns and had crowded out the microbrews. Twitter, on the hand, with its limited ability to confirm the age of users, is what Facebook was before the big brands discovered it: a platform for the small brewers and their passionate consumers.

The feeds match that, giving the feeling of an intimate conversation, not a marketing promotion. Depending on the brand, followers can get a mix of funny references, news about upcoming events and the beers the breweries sell. In that sense, it is perfect for a microbrew. The top of the list is Flying Dog with 8,108 followers which is a lot closer to that brand’s total drinkers than the top big beer on the list, Beck’s 3,843 followers. I would call that the definition of room to grow.

As for age requirements, 40 of the top 59 have some kind of reminder that you have to be of age to follow the feed. The top two do not have any restrictions.  Meanwhile, Nielsen has done an assessment of the Twitter users and found that 16% of its 22 million users are under the age of 24 while 64% are between the age of 25 to 54 and 20% over 55. Is this enough to get past the age concern and/or is it worth Twitter’s while to get age verification from its users? Twitter, of course, is kind of a Wild West application, where people don’t have much patience in their responses. An age verification requirement probably gets in the way.

These social media channels are all becoming part of the outreach mix for brands of all kinds. Compare Beck’s followers to  Starbucks more than 268,000 followers. We can see that the breweries are paying attention: we found major beer brands that have grabbed names and seem to be testing or just reserving a spot for a Twitter feed. We believe that Twitter may ultimately have greater value for brands than Facebook. It is a portal for instant communication about sponsorships, events, contests and other promotions that is more portable than Facebook. In that way, it presents a good means for a larger brewery to get the word out. Someone, of course, will get around the age issue and begin to use it well – how about using it to promote a new brand extension like Guinness 250, giving information about where to find it and how it is made? Or an online treasure hunt like our ‘Stache Dash to find specially marked glasses?

The opportunity is there. This technology is in its infancy.

Here’s the list. Let us know what you think:

Brewery             URL             Following  Followers   Age Tracking
1.   Flying Dog@flyingdog            8533            8108                none
2.   Dogfish @dogfishbeer          359             7576                none
3.   Fat Tire @newbelgium        7445            7525                   21
4.   Stone @stonebrewingco  6124            7144                   21
5.   Deschutes @deschutesbeer    4358           4505                   21
6.   Beck’s @becks_beer         3668           3843               m/d/y
7.   Harpoon @Harpoon_Brewery 3724       3611                    21
8.   St. Arnold @SaintArnold          508           3003                none
9.   Rogue @RogueAles               47           3000                none
10. Epic @epicbeer               2792           2802                none
11. 21st Amend. @21stAmendment 725         2650                none
12. Shiner @Shinerbeer          1809           2638              m/d/y
13. Dos Equis @dos_Equis_guy  1929           2102              m/d/y
14. Goose Isl. @GooseIsland              5            1705                  21
15. Sweet Water@sweetwaterbrew  93           1704               none
16. Sierra Nev. @SierraNevadaCA 1233         1627               m/d/y
17. Fullsteam @fullsteam            1319           1557               none
18. Moosehead @mooseheadlager  1889       1501           yob/country
19. Yazoo @YazooBrew              81         1350                  21
20. Newcastle @NEWCASTLE    1886         1332              m/d/y
21. Bridgeport @bridgeportbrew   606         1332                 21
22. Michelob @michelob            1265          1166             m/d/y
23. Singha @Singha_Beer    2001          1161                 21
24. Moylan’s @MoylansBrewery 544        1105              none
25. Widmer @Widmer_Brothers 141     1100                21
26. Full Sail @fullsailbrewing      16        1087             none
27. Hoppin Frog @hoppinfrog         955        1012             none
28. Alaskan @AlaskanBrewing  185         993                21
29. Marin @MarinBrewingCo 542         911              none
30. Corona @corona_beer             0        862            m/d/y
31. Atlanta @AtlantaBrew          152       856                21
32. Metro @MetroBrewing      120       838             none
33. Pabst @pabstblueribbon   411       733            m/d/y
34. Tecate @TecateBeer            981       635             m/d/y
35. Ommegang @BreweryOmmegang 16    633             none
36. Track Town @TrackTownAles     27       537              none
37. Big Sky @BigSkyBrewing      53       522              none
38. Yuengling @yuengling_beer     93       511                 21
39. Heineken @heineken_beer        5       497             m/d/y
40. Allagash @allagashbeer            6       465                21
41. Warsteiner @Warsteinerusa    535       383             m/d/y
42. Samuel Adams@SamuelAdams     8       373             m/d/y
43. Hooker @hookerbeer            22       358               none
44. Bastone @BastoneBrewery   84      350               none
45. Lift Bridge @LiftBridge              55      338                 21
46. Coors @CoorsBeers          594      338             m/d/y
47. Budweiser @budweiser                0      338            m/d/y
48. Brewschool @brewschool         189       243              none
49. Cusquena @cusquenabeer   230       224            m/d/y
50. Jolly Pumpkin@JollyPumpkin      1        191                 21
51. Rubicon @rubiconman        52        116               none
52. Abita @TheAbitaBeer       0         84             m/d/y
53. Schlitz @SchlitzMKE         69          71              m/d/y
54. Skol @cervejaskol             3         62                  18
55. Molson @molsonbeer          20         35               m/d/y
56. Stella Artois @stellaartois              0         12               m/d/y
57. Tiger @Tiger_Beer              5         11                m/d/y
58. Peroni @PeroniBeer            23          8                m/d/y
59. Tuborg @TUBORGreen         8          6                   21

List generated by Elasticity’s Chris Lentz.