A Twickenham-based brewery is hosting an alternative Valentine’s event in collaboration with two true crime podcasters.
The Brewery Market, on Church Street, is hosting an event called Murder on Tap: Broken Hearts & Candy Beers as a nonconformist celebration of Valentine’s Day with the hosts of The Switchblade Sisters Social Club.
The anti-Valentine’s event is described as romance with a dash of dark humour and sweet revenge, paired with tastings of four candy-inspired beers.
Podcast co-host Emma Farrington said: “It’s one of those holidays where you don’t want to do something, you feel bullied into it by society.”
The idea was sparked between Brewery Market founder Linda Birch and podcast co-host Dee Safieh to inspire women to drink beer with the premise of true crime tales.
Linda said: “I like the idea of women taking back beer.
“There’s even a women in beer movement called the Crafty Beer Girls which is an awesome network of women.”
The night is not exclusively for beer drinkers because those provided aren’t typical tastes, including a drumstick lolly flavoured one.
Dee added: “My favourite event at the Brewery Market so far was last year’s Valentine’s Day one, which is why I’m so excited for this week.
“With podcasting you don’t get much feedback, but it’s so lovely to meet listeners or potential listeners and have that face-to-face interaction.”
Last year’s event sold out, so the team have decided to add two more dates into the mix for 2025 with different themes each night.
On Wednesday night, it is the raw and unedited night, Thursday is their Galentines special and Friday is all about love, with a free printed beer glass at the end.
The nights will consist of deep dives into crimes on a big screen, with breaks for activities and beers with food pairings.
The theme of candy beers is paired with gourmet versions of typical kiddie food, like crisps and chocolate.
Linda said: “My favourite part is actually the different types of people that we have coming to the event.
”Groups, couples, even people by themselves.
”It’s so diverse and everyone becomes really friendly by the end of the night.”
The Brewery Market is happy to swap drinks for non-alcoholic or gluten-free options, making this event extremely accessible to all.
The next event hosted by the Brewery Market and the podcasters will be on Wednesday 26 March and is titled Murder on Tap: Black Widows & Dark Ales.
The Switchblade Sisters Social Club podcast is going to be doing lots more fun projects in the upcoming year, including the possibility of live recorded episodes.
This includes a talk at an International Women’s Day event at the Double-Barrelled brewery in Reading on 8 March about women in true crime.
Safieh is also working on a new crime-fiction book series.
Meanwhile, the podcast will be launching its highly anticipated season five within the next few months, with a new segment where submitted tattoos are judged.
For more information and to listen, visit https://switchbladesisterssocialclub.com.
Main picture credit: Dave Barros
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