Viral Facebook group started with beer chugging videos. Now it’s helping a community
A sickness had left Andrew Beile stuck at home earlier this month, and he was admittedly bored.
Realizing last week that the COVID-19 pandemic meant many of his friends also would be unable to go out, Beile started a Facebook group so his buddies could stay in touch. All 15 friends live in Liberty or did at one time.
Because they couldn’t tip a cold one together, Beile named the group “Quarantined Beer Chugs,” a nod to the coronavirus restrictions and the social aspects of drinking. With stay-at-home orders issued from coast to coast, virtual happy hours have become popular as co-workers or friends join one another on Zoom or other video conference apps for a cocktail.
There’s something to be said about the social aspects of drinking as Beile’s Facebook group has ballooned to more than a quarter million members in roughly 10 days.
“I’ve been a bartender and love craft beer,” said Beile, 31. “So I created it to share beers and talk about them, make funny videos and make each other laugh and keep in touch. It’s definitely done that, but I did not expect it to reach so many people and do that with them, too.”
As the group nears 300,000 members, Beile has heard from people in more than 25 states, as well as the United Kingdom and India.
The page has become a place for people to share not only funny drinking videos, but messages of support, too, as the coronavirus takes a mental toll on people.
In one post, a daughter talked her father into chugging a cold one with her in a video. Another user toasted a friend who was murdered on what would have been her 21st birthday. A person who suffered a heart attack shared a photo from the hospital and wrote: “Hug your family and hold your loved ones close, you never know how long we have on this earth.”
And it’s gone beyond beer. Wine, coffee, soda, whiskey, you name it, and it’s likely a video has been shared on the page. Aware that he doesn’t want the group to be about drinking excessively, Beile has designated Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday as hydration days.
“We encourage chugs of all kinds of things, even if you don’t drink,” Beile said. “There’ve been quite a few pregnant ladies, and people who’ve been posting ‘I’m sober for 10 years but I’ll chug some water or I’ll chug some milk with you.’ Everybody’s super encouraging and that’s what we really want. We don’t want to single you out if you don’t drink.
“We want you to come in and have a good time, watch some videos and you can post a funny video of yourself chugging some water. Because that’s what it’s all about. We’re trying to build people up everywhere because there’s not really much of that going on with how scary times are, how confusing times are.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy with people in the service industry feeling the pinch, and while Beile now has an office job, that still hits home. Live music also has been put on hold.
That’s why musicians have been encouraged to play on the Facebook page and post their account on Venmo or other money transfer apps to earn donations from members of the group.
“A lot of them have reached out and said that they feel like they’re playing at a bar again and making a wage again, so that’s been a really cool aspect of where we’re going with this,” Beile said.
“We’re starting our first mega-benefit concert on Wednesday. It’s going to be hosted by a social media influencer, Chad Tepper. He’s going to be chugging beers while American Teeth and the Dreamers play.
“Basically it’s going to be like a live studio concert. We’re going to practice social distancing, so they’ll all be standing six feet apart. It’ll be like you’re basically watching a live concert, but they’ll be playing just for cameras.”
The goal isn’t just an opportunity for homebound people to hear live music. Viewers will be asked to donate $1 with money going to Feed the Northland Kids and the United States Bartenders Guild.
It won’t be the first fundraiser for the group. Berserk Athletics in Liberty designed and sold a first-edition Quarantine Beer Chugs T-shirt, raising nearly $2,000.
Beile plans to use that money to buy meals from local restaurants and take the food to hospitals and fire stations. Beile and his friends want to make an impact where they live.
That’s a big step up for a Facebook group that was formed less than two weeks ago to stay in touch and down a beer.
“It’s pretty weird,” Beile said with a laugh. “I don’t know how it spread so fast or even why it did. I’m happy it did and I’m happy that we are taking this really huge, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make it the best we can and give back to the community that’s always been there for us when they need us most.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 9:30 AM.
