(Translation for the Twitterverse virgins: Flying Dog Brewery is holding gatherings for its Twitter followers in cities near you.)

2010, our 20th anniversary, is the year of the Raging Bitch. So for those familiar with all things @ and #, some call them TweetUps, but we call them Bitch Sessions - Gonzo gatherings of Flying Dog Twitter followers. What do we do? Simple: Eat, drink, and tweet…with a few beer specials, schwag, and entertainment mixed in between.

Our market managers in Maryland, DC, Virginia, Philadelphia, New York City, and Denver will hold Bitch Sessions on the first Thursday of every month, starting January 7. So far, we have the following planned:

• Urbana, MD: Buffalo Wild Wings and Beer, 7 to 9 pm
• DC: The Big Hunt, 5 to 8 pm ( @flyingdogjt on Twitter)
• Arlington, VA: Rustico, 5 to 8 pm (@flyingdogva on Twitter)
• Denver: Paramount Cafe, 4 to 6 pm

Want more info? Want to stay up-to-date? Become a part of the 21st Century and follow @flyingdog on Twitter.

Last night we filled up our Denver warehouse space in the name of good beer and helping those who are less fortunate than we are. 250 excited Denver and Boulder twitterfolk showed up to drink free beer, schmooze with other twitterfolk and help out an important cause. For 2 glorious hours, the beer was free and people were having a great time. Afterward, we cruised to the Blake Street Tavern and Lodo’s on a mini pub crawl.

We even were featured on CBS4Denver, a great television station with a pretty amazing reach into Social Media. Check out the video clip here form last night’s 10PM news broadcast.

As a group, we raised $1261.50 for the Food Bank of the Rockies through voluntary donations. The really great thing is that every dollar we donated provides 4 meals for the hungry. So as a group, we effectively provided 5,046 meals! This is a very practical and real way to help out lots of people in need during these tough times.

Of course, we couldn’t have pulled this event off without our wonderful partners: Allen Klosowski (aka @thebigklosowski), Erika Napoletano (aka @redheadwriting), Food Bank of the Rockies, and Tuggl. This was a great and very motivated group of people to work with, and we’re already thinking about future collaborations with these fine twitterfolk.

Finally, we had some volunteers that need to be recognized. @gpelz, @raquelc415, @naomimimi, @caligater, @jeffporn & @chrisporn were all invaluable as volunteers, and we were lucky to be able to crowdsource them so quickly from Twitter.

We love being part of this wonderful Denver/Boulder community.

We’re working with some of the coolest dogs on the block to bring you the next installment of the #denvertweetup! Join @thebigklosowski, @redheadwriting and @flyingdog for an August 13 tweetup (6-8PM) at our warehouse (2401 Blake Street, two blocks north of the baseball stadium). So come drink free beer for a few hours and then come out on a LoDo pub crawl with a few hundred of your new closest friends.

We’ll also be accepting a suggested $5 donation for the Rocky Mountain Food Bank. We won’t be mad if you don’t donate, but don’t come crying to us when a piano falls on your head because of the negative Karma for not helping the hungry.

Get more info & your free ticket here. See you in a couple weeks!

It’s been a few months since we’ve had a Denver Tweetup, so we’ve decided we’re going to be having a Tweetup at the Blake Street Tavern on Thursday, July 23rd. So come between 6-8PM, and everyone who shows up (and is 21+), we’ll give you a free beer and free pint glass.

Flying Dog Denver Tweetup
Thursday, July 23rd
Blake Street Tavern
24th & Blake Street, Denver
6-8PM

Follow Flying Dog on Twitter
Follow Blake Street Tavern on Twitter

Scared? Don’t be. A Tweetup is basically a bunch of people hanging out and drinking beer, especially when Flying Dog is involved. Whether you’re a seasoned tweeter or someone looking to learn more about what this newfangled fad is that’s sweeping the universe, this event is for you. We’ll talk beer, Twitter, tech, whatever you want. We just want to meet tweeters who love our beer and have a good time.

P.S.: If you’re planning on getting tanked, please have a designated driver. Or take a cab. Or walk. Or take public transit. We know you all are capable of making adult decisions, and this will be one of those times. Idiocy will not be tolerated.

Last week, we had a Twitter contest in honor of American Craft Beer Week. Each day we asked the twitterverse what craft beer they were drinking. It didn’t have to be Flying Dog beer, we just wanted to show our support for the American craft beer industry. This industry is unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. Even though the 1500+ craft brewers are all competing against each other for shelf space, tap handles and the like, I think we all realize that we’re united in this fight for better beer.

We got a few hundred responses over the week (thanks to all who participated!), and used a very scientific method of picking a winner. So without further ado, the winner is @freemandaddy5 for his tweet:

@flyingdog #craftbeer I’m drinking the best! http://twitpic.com/5dpls

We’ll be sending @freemandaddy5 some Flying Dog swag! He’s also a die-hard Gonzo enthusiast (just take a look at his twitter homepage).

We’re really excited to be taking part in the next Twitter Taste Live event on April 18.

Not familiar with Twitter Taste Live?  That’s ok, we’re learning too.  Our most recent newsletter does a good job of explaining it, but the simple explanation is that’s Twitter Taste Live an online beer sampling forum using Twitter as a means for sharing tasting notes and asking questions.

Our VP of Brewing Ops, Matt Brophy (@brophybrewer) and Flying Dog CEO, Jim Caruso (@jcperro) will be hosting a special Twitter Taste Live on Saturday, April 18th at 8PM (EST) and will answer questions about our Canis Major Series of beers or just Flying Dog in general.

If you’re interested in joining us online, log on to TwitterTasteLive.com and get signed up.  It will be great opportunity to get those burning beer questions answered by the people that brew Flying Dog.

One of the common questions we get is, “What food should I pair with this beer?”  Here are a few ideas of which foods we like to pair with each of our Canis Major styles. We encourage you to have some of these on hand and share your thoughts at the Flying Dog Twitter Taste Live.

Double Dog Double Pale Ale - smoked meats and cheddar cheese

Gonzo Imperial Porter - BBQ and chocolate desserts

Horn Dog Barley Wine - dried fruits and sweet desserts

Kerberos Tripel - Turkey or other poultry, creamy cheeses, fruit pastries

17 syllables.

5.

7.

5.

That’s Haiku.  And we’re having a Twitter Haiku contest.  Here’s how to participate:

1. Write a Flying Dog Haiku. “What’s a Flying Dog Haiku,” you ask? That’s for you to decide and us to judge.
2. Post it on twitter with “@flyingdog” at the beginning. the @flyingdog is not part of your haiku.
3. Do it before Noon on Feb 18, 2009.
4. The top 5 haikus will be chosen by our esteemed panel of Neal Stewart (Prime Minister of Marketing/@nealstewart), Josh Mishell (Visual Viceroy/@joshmishell),  Jim Caruso (Flying Dog CEO), Stephanie Kerchner (PR and Events Ninja/@stephkerchner) and maybe a few more people.
5. Yes, it should be creative.
6. Yes, we like to see our name in lights, so including something about Flying Dog earns brownie points with the judges.  Maybe something about Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Steadman - you get the point.  Go to our website for some creative motivation.
7. The top 5 Twitter Haikus will receive $50 gift certificate to our online store.
8. Must be 21 to enter and/or win.
9. All entries must be posted to Twitter.com by NOON, Feb 18.
10. The judges decision is final.  Believe us, they’re not screwing around.

And yes, this contest was inspired by Beer Haiku Daily.

This is why we love our Flying Dog drinkers: you’re always the first to compliment the good, but also the first to point it out when we screw up.

We posted on Twitter today that we are going to award a prize to our 2000th Twitter follower.  Immediately, the lighthearted backlash began:

• Sigafoos @flyingdog What are you, Apple, with your punishing early adopters? I keed, I keed. But give me cool stuff too
• deege @flyingdog So you’re saying I followed too early?
• naomimimi @flyingdog so can i unfollow then follow you again?

So, here is the new contest:

1. Yes, we are still going to award a prize to our 2000th follower.
2. BUT, we are also going to draw 10 names from our first 2000 followers and give out even cooler prizes.  So, don’t unfollow us and try to be the 2000th follower because you might get locked out of the whole thing altogether.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.  That’s why we do this whole Twitter thing.  We love talking to everyone.  And, we need someone to straighten our ass out everyonce in a while.

Big thanks to everyone who came out for our first ever Tweetup last night at Blake Street Tavern in Denver.  It was great to put a face with some of our friends on Twitter.  Here’s a list of some of the people we met:

@penguin

@mattgist

@jeffporn

@kcdunstan

@karyrivera

@vdulay

And a lot more!

We’re already starting to kick around ideas on where to have our next one, so stay tuned!

And if you’re feeling left out of the festivities because you don’t know what Twitter or a “tweetup” is.  Click here for more information.

The Flying Dog crew wants to invite everyone in Colorado to come drink some beers with us! We are hosting a “Tweet-Up” at the Blake Street Tavern on Tuesday, January 13th from 6-8! This is a great opportunity to drink some Flying Dog beers you may not have had a chance to try or your all time favorite brew for FREE! Blake Street Tavern carries all of our “pack” brews on draft and all of our Canis Major beers in bottles. We will be buying the People’s Republic of Flying Dog brews and appetizers and you get a free pint glass if you say a secret code. Check out our twitter page for that code!

See you on Tuesday! Cheers!