Walking into a beer distributor in 2022 feels like a museum of modern art. The cartoon designs, sparkling shapes, and trendy calligraphy paint the aisles of the concrete warehouses. The lure of a craft beer can in-store turns heads no matter what type of beer drinker you are. With the surge of independent breweries, more flavors are blessing taste buds across the globe than ever before.

Among the millions of people exchanging drinks on a Friday night, craft beer connoisseurs find a special hobby in trying out new breweries. Much like wine fanatics, these people carved a niche into supporting small businesses by enjoying their hop-based recipes.

For beer gurus like Phil Bosco, the experience of trying new beers is documented in a gallery — through his social media alias — Paired Pints. Throughout various platforms, Phil takes beer to the next level by pairing a cuisine with each brew.

Through an array of artistic and eye-catching photos, Paired Pints tethers food, beer, and art together.

Behind Paired Pints

Phil is a local resident of Phoenixville, PA. The idea sparked from his love of photography, finding a way to keep himself busy on the weekends.

For the extra push, his family and friends encouraged him to start the account. Other inspiration came from BingingwithBabish, a culinary YouTube channel, giving him the confidence to take a step into achieving an adaptation of his favorite YouTube channel.

Starting Paired Pints

When did you start, and how did you build a following?

“I started in late 2017, and my growth was slow, until last year. My page really picked up steam when I began to use colorful backdrops in my photography.

Tagging breweries really helped me grow because they liked my photography and shared my content. In turn, it got the word out and I gained more followers. There were a couple of other instances where I ended up on Binging With Babish’s live stream and he shouted me out, resulting in a good gain in followers.”

Style and Engagement

Phil’s photos are taken on his Canon 5D MIII with a 70–200mm canon lens. For photography experts, the full-frame 5D is a staple in the world of capturing high-quality images. He tends to keep a minimal amount of edits and uses Savage backdrop paper from his collection.

Content is ever-changing in the social media game, and Phil is convinced his artistic photos are receiving less engagement as of late. This article from Hootsuite shines a light on engagements pivoting to people. No matter what the algorithms do, Paired Pints’ reels do quite well against other accounts his size.

The Reality of Social Content

In this series I am writing, the theme thus far has been time. Phil tells me that advancements in his career have affected his ability to produce more content. Although, he focuses more time on producing quality content.

“This last year has shown me to stop gatekeeping — what is good content and what is bad because that path ends up hurting and halting the creative process.”

Phil also said that he’s put a lot of effort into paid miniature beerscapes. Conversely, his favorite projects are when a brewery throws him a 4-pack of beer to photograph.

Upcoming Goals

“Take a step back and learn technique.” Video is everything these days and I don’t want to be that person who has some chef or hospitality worker yelling at their screen because my technique is bad.”

The quote above reflects his reason for creating “Is it Stupid Food?” Youtube series. Making it an outlet for long-form content without a lot of screen improvement.

A part of his personal mission is to help others with burnout and anxiety. He’d like to pay it forward to other content creators who helped him get through stressful times.

For a local flare, he’s looking forward to trying Paloma’s menu and getting back out after the initial waves of the Pandemic with his dog, Rosie.

Where to Find Paired Pints

Phil shared a video with me of a video featuring him cooking over 9 years ago. You could say that he always had the dream to share food content.

Website: https://www.pairedpints.com

Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaItiJd1hfYiV1LNDHXnYeg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pairedpints

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pairedpints

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pairedpints/

Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/PairedPints/