With the coronavirus forcing the cancellation of beer festivals and closing bars, craft breweries and brewpubs around the country, creative proprietors of America’s favorite adult beverage are holding virtual beer festivals.

The events are popping up around the country. They represent a potential opportunity for promotional products distributors to provide branded merchandise that can help generate badly needed revenue for brewers and their employees.

In craft brewing mecca San Diego, a virtual beer festival is planned for April 25. Organized by Vegas Beverage Group, the digital event will feature tasting presentations by brewers, performances from local bands and interactive games.

Participants sign up to receive a case of 10 special-release beers from local/regional brewers, as well as brewery-branded merchandise. Packaged together, the suds and swag can be delivered to a participant’s home or picked up locally. Once signed up, virtual attendees get a video link so, at the designated time, they can go through the tastings with beer experts and take part in yet-unrevealed games.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Brewers Guild already held a virtual beer festival on March 28. The event centered on encouraging Iowans to buy a ticket, purchase beer from local craft brewers and then participate in an online suds-consuming session via the hashtag #virtualbeerfest. Proceeds went to benefit staff at breweries that belong to the Iowa Brewers Guild.

Time to get this started. Cheers to Iowa beers! #virtualbeerfest pic.twitter.com/Y9Pjnug9Fz

— MrToasty (@MrToasty) March 28, 2020

#virtualbeerfest
Iowa beer, Iowa pork. Only way it could be better is Iowa people. Covid crisis 2020 pic.twitter.com/BdpNjV0t4O

— tom richmann (@TomRichmann) March 28, 2020

Similar fun was in the cards for lovers of lager, ale, stouts and other varieties in Colorado courtesy of the Shelter-In-Place Beer Festival, which was scheduled for Saturday, April 11. Organizers were encouraging would-be participants to purchase a $5 ticket, with the money going to Colorado brewery workers.

Next, participants were instructed to order beer (and brewery merchandise) from their favorite Colorado craft beer makers. The event’s official beer delivery and taproom pickup sponsor, Handoff, was offering to donate $1 for every order placed through its app. With beer on hand, participants were to start posting responsible drinking pictures or videos to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #SIPBeerFest.

Organizers were selling official #SIPBeerFest T-shirts and onesies. Merch proceeds were going to benefit Colorado brewery workers.

Thank you Podium Ink coming through with our #SIPBeerFest t-shirts! All proceeds will be given back to #Colorado craft brewery employees affected by #COVID19 layoffs, etc. Get your order in now at https://t.co/b98g9ZNcCs #supportlocal #craftbeer pic.twitter.com/h8mQF807Ck

— Unfiltered (@UnfilteredCraft) April 3, 2020

Clearly, promotional products have a part to play in the virtual festivals. Distributors can research if similar events are occurring in their areas, then creatively consult with organizers on what swag options could be best to help engage potential participants and generate sales. Distributors can also contact individual participating brewers about making event-specific swag and/or using merch to encourage beer lovers to buy their brews for the festivals: “Buy a six-pack, get a free ‘Virtual Brew Fest’ bottle opener.”

If no virtual beer events are occurring in your locale, get proactive. Contact local brewing guilds and associations, or even individual brewers, and see about helping to organize one. That kind of high-value initiative has potential to win you long-term loyalty from breweries once the COVID-19 pandemic is over and business begins again in earnest.