Crosspost: Smart Phone Apps for Beer
Besides better beer, we have another love: technology. For that reason, we also have a tech blog called Tag Team Tech. It's not as active as Hoperatives, but we basically post when we have something to say about tech.
Sometimes, our love for beer and tech combine and thus we have cross posting today on both blogs as we look as some of the many smart phone beer apps at there.
#1 - Untappd
We've been using Untappd since we first heard about it at the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference in Boulder last year. (Be sure to notice that there's no "e" in Untappd.) Originally, it was a mobile web app which meant it worked on any phone with a web browser. Having run into a lot of beer apps that were iPhone only, that was a very good thing. Since then, they've been in the process of writing both iPhone and Android native apps. Both of us are Super Users on Untappd and we've been beta testing the Android version. It's very nice! (We like Untappd so much we were among the first to volunteer to help moderate.)
Untappd is like FourSquare for beer. You check in the beer you're drinking and you can also check in to your location. Checking in to a location will also check you in on FourSquare if you link your accounts. Along the way, you earn badges. Have five beers from five different countries and you earn the Beer Connoisseur badge. New badges are being added all the time.
A recent addition to Untappd is the ability to check in via a non-mobile web browser. As many Untappd users pointed out, we drink beer at home too and it's nice to not have to track down your cell phone in order to check in.
One of the benefits of using an app like Untappd is that it helps answer the question of "Have I had this particular beer before." Of course, that means you need to remember to check in your beers, but it does soon become a habit as you use it.
Untappd recently purchased Red Pint, a similar beer/location check in app that was iPhone only. We look forward to seeing what the addition of Red Pint brings to Untappd.
#2 - Beerby
Beerby (rhymes with "near by" as they are quick to tell you) is another beer and location check in app. Instead of badges, you earn "badgers." According to the Beerby web site, "Beerby uses the Levlr game mechanics platform to allow you to compete for Badgers, and create achievements for your friends." No word on their web site about whether the badger tie in is due to a University of Wisconsin connection somewhere.
We started using Beerby the same time as Untappd and really wanted to like it since it was a native Android app as well as an iPhone app. Alas, that was not meant to be. It just wasn't as robust and we didn't care for the interface.
#3 - Pintley
Unlike the other two apps we've mentioned, Pintley is a personalized beer recommendations app. You enter ratings and tasting notes as you drink beer and then Pintley uses that information to make beer recommendations for you. Once you sign up, Pintley asks you to rates some beers:
To help get you started, we've selected 30 common beers that we suggest you rate if you've tried them. Rating beers helps Pintley learn what you like and suggest beers you're sure to enjoy; the more beers you try, the better we get to know you If you haven't tried a beer or don't remember how it tastes, just skip it. As your tastes change or you try something new, you can always rate new beers or change ratings later.
You can also earn Pintley Points for rating beers and such. You also get points for linking your Twitter and Facebook accounts to your Pintley account. Unlike other beer apps, these points can actually win you prizes including the possibility of free beer. In addition, you can add beers to either your wish list or your favorites list.
We just started using Pintley and it will be interesting to see how it does with its recommendations. Untappd gives you recommendations too after you check in with a beer, but sometimes the less popular beers can get some off the wall recommended similar beers. We will let you know how Pintley does.
--So what's your experience with beer apps? Any you love? Any features you'd like to see added? Let us know!
