IGNORANCE was bliss.

Back in the simple days, we could enjoy the beer we were drinking and that was that. If another pub or another drinker had a better beer, we’d never know – and if we found out belatedly, then c’est la vie, the moment had passed, and better luck next time.

Nowadays, though, landlords have more power. They have grown ever-more cunning and conniving, peddling their wares brazenly online, tempting us into their lairs and making us instantly envious. And it’s all social media’s fault.

Twitter has changed many aspects of life, helped bring about the Arab Spring, revolutionised the media and hooked millions along the way. But more earth-shatteringly than all of that, it has given savvy pub landlords a precious tool against weak-willed beer lovers stuck behind a desk.

One pic, one click, and they’ve stolen your attention. “Don’t you wish you were drinking THIS right now?” they ask, sordidly and seductively, cackling away behind their screen, using twitter to flaunt their bitter.

And guess what – it works a treat. That’s how I ended up drinking Camden’s Ink Stout a few weeks ago. Because a simple picture by landlord Shaun Collinge flashed across my screen at 6pm on a slow Thursday and after a long day up to my elbows in newspapers, stories and weighty reports, I knew that was the sort of ink I needed.

York Press:

I wasn’t disappointed, of course. It turned out to be a pitch-black beer with a thin head and a fiery, almost burnt, flavour, slightly liquoricey, slightly chocolatey. But I wouldn’t have known it was anywhere in York, had it not been for that tweet.

Likewise, last week I found myself propping up the bar at The Rook and Gaskill in Lawrence Street drinking Lunar by Half Moon Brewery, for no reason other than that 24 hours earlier, landlord Paul Marshall had tweeted his beer-list into the stratosphere and made me instantly thirsty, eager to try the latest offering from a new brewery rapidly growing in reputation.

York Press:

I was meant to be having a lazy evening at home, tackling the mountain of ironing currently threatening the structural integrity of my living room. Instead, the bar it was.

And likewise last Saturday, when I was due to meet some friends in town, I knew by mid-morning that we would visit the Duke of York - because they had tweeted a tantalising picture of this: Brooklyn Brewery's Hammarby Syndrome, which turned out to be a strong amber ale, combining Swedish ingredients and American ingenuity.

York Press:  

If any old school die-hards out there are bemused and repulsed by all this modern mumbo-jumbo and technological skulduggery then you have my sympathies – but do give it a shot.

Search for #yorkbeer on twitter or follow some of the accounts listed here, and you may just find yourself discovering new beers lying in wait around the corner, beating the masses to those rarer creations, broadening your horizons. Sure, there's a risk that you'll turn into a pub bore, glued to your phone and coining a new alien vocabulary. But you don't need to - and the pros can outweigh the cons.

As for me, I’m off to Brigantes. And then Vahe Bar. And then Sotano, where Odell's St Lupulin has apparently gone on the bar. #cheers

New to twitter? Here are a dozen to follow to get you started

 

In other news....

THE Marcia in Bishopthorpe is holding its second annual beer festival, from August 15 to 17. The pub changed hands early last year and now has a strong commitment to real ale, with three permanent fixtures and three rotating guests.

BICIS Y MAS (that’s Bikes and More) opened on Thursday night in Walmgate, opposite The Press office. It’s a bike shop, repair workshop, cafe, restaurant and bar all in one. The drinks range includes Belgian beers and organic wines, and we’ll take a proper look shortly.