For mobile drinkers
In the era of the smartphone, we’re always on top of things: we know what our friends are up to, what movie is running when and where, we can read up on the latest special offers and worldwide news, look up the current number of steps, the balance on our account, emails, the weather, and … and … and. We can find out what restaurant is open, what their daily specials are, and whether other people are recommending this restaurant. So why not make use of that for our shared beer after a hard day’s work as well? The craft brewing scene, at the leading edge of keeping up with current trends anyway, is not at all averse to using state-of-the-art technology when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Just for fun I had a look at a few apps for beer-lovers and summed up the benefits of these brilliant (some of them more so, some less) little program:
Barly – Find Beer You’ll Love
Right at the start, I’m welcomed by a friendly bartender, who guides me through the settings – now that’s what I like! First of all, you specify your personal taste preferences, with choices here including “crisp & clean” or “malty & sweet”, or firm things up a bit more in terms of region and your favourite beer style, such as Belgian IPA. After that, the purpose of the app is primarily to find out more about a certain beer or a certain brewery. The search function works flawlessly and supplies me with a lot of information. What’s really innovative is the “Snap” function: you photograph the beer menu in a restaurant or a bar, the app then recognises the beers and displays information on them. What’s more, you’re given some personal recommendations based on the taste range you’ve specified before. When I tried it out in actual practice, though, it only worked with English menus, but this it did without a hitch!
RateBeer
As the name implies, you can use this app to rate your own taste experiences, and communicate your ratings. It’s only available for Android, which is why I was not able to test it with my iPhone, unfortunately. But if you go by the comments, it’s also helpful for the German-speaking regions. You can start a search for certain beers, get information on them, then you can rate them and see the ratings other people have given them. What’s more, the app lists breweries and restaurants in the vicinity. In addition, you can draw up a personalised beer list. The ratings for the app itself, at an average of 3.5 out of 5 stars, are sound.
Beer & Battery Level
More often than not, a mobile’s screen background serves to have your loved ones with you in digital form wherever you go. Not least because you want to demonstrate to anyone accidentally looking at your mobile: look what a fabulous wife / fabulous kids / fabulous cat / cool car / delicious pizza I’ve got! And yes, for some people it’s beer that takes precisely that place. For example, this live wallpaper indicates the battery-charging level of the mobile in question by means of the beer level in the glass. Needless to say, this can be individually customised, and so you can choose between pale and dark beer. Now if that’s not true love! I found this kind of top performance in terms of programming sophistication only for Android users; but I’m sure that in the iOS App Store lots of similar gimmicks can also be found.
Untappd – Discover Beer
Quintessentially classical: here, you have to register first, or log in on Facebook. Hmmm, that puts a damper on my enthusiasm, because I personally find that kind of stuff rather irritating. But obviously many people don’t, because this app for rating beers boasts incredibly favourable ratings – 4.3 out of 5 stars on average! And that with millions of downloads. It’s also free of charge into the bargain, and available for both Android and iOS users. Here it’s all about keeping the social beer network alive and kicking: bars in the vicinity and beers that friends liked are displayed and can be rated and commented on. When an exceptionally good (or bad?) beer was consumed, you can take a photo, rate, share, add information. And a list of beers that you definitely want to try is also part of the parcel. Unfortunately, the selection of localities, in particular, is currently restricted to the USA, but still – a useful tip for your next trip to the land of opportunity!
Craft Brewers Conference App
Last year, the organisers of the Craft Brewers Conference, the craft brewing scene’s biggest event, were offering an app for iPhone and Android users, for uploading exciting and helpful background information on the fair and the seminars directly on people’s mobiles. Ranging from exhibitors and hall plans, products and manufacturers, right through to events, everything was there for fast retrieval, and also for filling in a favourite list or a personal schedule for the day. We may safely proceed on the assumption that there will be an app of this kind this year as well. Surely a valuable aid for finding your way around, both for exhibitors and visitors, with lots of practical tips and information! By the way: Krones will also be there at the Craft Brewers Conference 2017 in Washington. Where we’re looking forward to seeing you!
Brauns Brauerei Atlas open2016
In the USA, the craft beer scene is much more vibrant and much more widely disseminated than in Germany, which is why a large proportion of the apps available relate to refer to American territory. But I was able to find at least one beer-localising app for Germany: the “Brauerei Atlas”. It provides a nationwide listing of approx. 1,400 breweries, more than 1,200 restaurants and taverns, and at present just under 600 events. If you click one of these on the map, you’re immediately shown many background details on the beers, on how to get there and on any idiosyncrasies applying. Information galore!! However, it’s mostly the large breweries that are listed; you will look in vain for insider’s tips or small craft breweries. Not bad to start with, but definitely offering scope for expansion!
Pivo – Order a Beer
And last but in no way least, make a note of this, a truly irreplaceable app for globe-trotting beer addicts, who do not want to come out as a helpless tourist on their trips. This app provides translations of how to order a beer into 59 different languages – for 0.99 cents an incredibly good investment.
Do you yourselves have any apps to do with beer? Please feel free to let us know how you’re faring with them in the comments!
