Did you hear about the upset in Los Angeles? No, not the Houston Astros late-game home run rally to beat the L.A. Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series Wednesday night. This upset came via Twitter (which is obviously the world we live in now) while the mayors of L.A. and Houston were making a friendly bet over the World Series.
Before you read on, I know I slammed Twitter a few seconds ago, but in this story, social media actually turns out to be a force for good. Now, back to that upset we were talking about …
Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted he would send a “uniquely L.A. meal” to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner if the L.A. Dodgers lose the World Series. That meal, he goes on to detail, is: “from our friends at @KogiBBQ & @GoldenRoadBrew.”
If the @Astros win the series, we will send over a uniquely L.A. meal from our friends at @KogiBBQ & @GoldenRoadBrew.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) October 25, 2017
Facepalm. Kogi is L.A.’s specialty local Korean BBQ food truck fleet. Golden Road is an L.A. based brewery owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), a company based in Belgium and the largest brewer in the world (and the same company the tongue-in-cheek Take Craft Back campaign is trying to “buy”).
(READ: Buy Anheuser-Busch InBev? Craft Beer Wants to ‘Take Craft Back’)
The Los Angeles County Brewers Guild — the group representing about 70 L.A. small and independent craft breweries — took the opportunity to respond to Mayor Garrcetti: “We have 69 independent breweries who are not owned by AB-InBev. Let’s #shopsmall #drinklocal!”
Happy to help, @MayorOfLA! We have 69 independent breweries who are not owned by AB-InBev. Let's #shopsmall #drinklocal!
— L.A. County Brewers Guild 🍻 (@LABrewers) October 25, 2017
L.A. craft brewers followed suit, many tweeting like Alosta Brewing Co.: “As an #independentbrewery in LA, we’d be happy to supply some #LAbeer for this wager.”
All the social media clamor may have actually worked. In a response to an Instagram photo from Scholb Premium Ales in Torrance, California, the mayor’s personal Instagram account (@ericgarcetti) said Thursday: “We’re including locally owned beer as well. Thanks for the heads up and we’ll be in touch to help get a good selection so Mayor Turner can have the best LA beers when our Dodgers win!!!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BasBlx0AqJ0/?taken-by=scholbcraftbeer
L.A. County Brewers Guild Executive Director Frances Michelle Lopez (@frannyfullpint) announced today on Twitter she has a meeting with the mayor’s team Monday to “discuss ways where the City of LA can support our cause. YOU GUYS HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN!”
We’ll have to wait to see which beers the L.A. mayor sends the Houston mayor if Houston takes the pennant. As a longtime Justin Verlander fan, there’s no secret who I’m rooting for — but I’d say the L.A. County Brewers Guild has already turned this moment into a win for small breweries.
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