Interview: Benjamin Moore of #BeerChat

Benjamin Moore is known online as the ActiveBeerGeek, his beer blog focuses on the Maine beer scene as well as physical fitness, and he also leads a weekly twitter chat called #BeerChat. BeerChat wasn’t started by Ben, it was an existing hashtag that had died out and Ben set out to bring it back to life, BeerChat is pretty simple, the host asks a question and anyone following along with the hashtag can answer back, it’s a great way to connect and learn with others who enjoy craft beer. BeerChat happens Thursday evenings at 9pm EST.

Me and Benjamin Moore at the 2012 Maine Brewers Festival

What was your Inspiration for Starting BeerChat on Twitter?
I wanted to bring the craft beer community together on Twitter. There seemed to be a huge amount of people who either blogged, worked with, or just loved craft beer. I thought a weekly chat would be a good idea to bring together everyone. I also wanted to learn more about beer in general and I knew the more people who participated in the chat the more I would learn.

Who participates in BeerChat?
Beer bloggers, casual beer lovers, brewers and industry people.

The Topics Vary from week to week, what are some of your favorites?
The most basic and the most advanced topics are the most fun and are my favorite. I learn the most when the topic is advanced like a specific type of beer. A basic topic like beer 101 for example brings out the most people for participation.

BeerChat is not always hosted by you; I’ve hosted and will be again on October 10th, how do you choose your guest hosts?
I seek people who work in the beer industry, have extensive (and sometimes specific) knowledge, and/or beer bloggers. The more diverse the hosts the more #BeerChat can spread.

Any fun Guests Hosts lined up for the Future?
As of right now, no. #BeerChat just had a stint of 4 guest hosts in a row. I will be returning hosting it next week, October 17th (Topic TBD).

If you could pick anyone in the beer industry to guest host BeerChat, who’s your “White Whale” of guest hosts?
Greg Koch CEO of Stone Brewing, Rob Tod CEO of Allagash and Ashley Routson @TheBeerWench

I’d like to thank Ben for taking the time to answer some questions for me and I hope you all will join me on Twitter tomorrow night as I guest host BeerChat, Join the conversation by searching #BeerChat.
Cheers!
Chaddah

Chad Lothian

About Chad Lothian

Chad Lothian lives in Old Town, Maine. He is a craft beer enthusiast and homebrewer. Chad has travelled to brewpubs, breweries and brewfests all over New England.