The social network and application for beer lovers has been around for several years. It's called Untappd and it's available for Android and iPhone users.
At the very beginning, a small disclaimer. I am in no way associated with this application, I did not participate in its creation or distribution, and I have no financial ties to the authors of the application. Also, I am not paid in any way to promote or write about her. I just find the app fun and it's been useful a couple of times to find new brewpubs and bars where I can try new types of beer. I thought it would be as useful to beer drinkers as it was to me, hence this text.
Finding pubs in a new city can be a challenge. I found this application very useful in that regard. I travel a lot, so finding a good pub is sometimes a challenge in a new and unfamiliar city. The application will show you a map of the surrounding bars and pubs based on your location. For each location, you can see the address, rating of the bar as well as the list of beers that are currently on offer. There is also a website, phone, photos, as well as visitor ratings and recommendations. You can see working hours, menu, possible events such as beer tasting and similar. Very useful, as it allows you to relatively easily find a place to go out and assess what awaits you there.
When you finally get to the pint, Untappd lets you tag the beer you're drinking. For beer tagging, the options are truly rich. You can search through a seemingly endless database of beers. I thought a couple of times that I wouldn't find small breweries and their products on the list, but I always turned out to be wrong - all the beers I've ever tried are there. After finding the right beer, there is a fun check-in where you can rate the quality and give some guidelines about the taste of the beer. The flavor profile is rich and it is almost impossible to find a flavor description that does not exist on the list. You can enter whether the beer you're rating is draft, bottled, can, and so on. You can also add a photo and a lot more details about the beer you're drinking.
For your efforts, the app rewards you with fun badges, which are also plentiful. As of this writing, there are over 14,000 badges awarded for beers and 4,200 badges awarded for locations. It doesn't end there, as there are also about 3500 special badges, such as the ones you get when someone toasts you or simply when you drink a beer on Thursdays :)
Of course, a social platform wouldn't be social without an element of socializing. You can add your friends, join groups, schedule get-togethers or simply give a virtual toast to someone who is drinking a beer. Finally, there are fun news and articles that guide you through the world of this royal drink and ways to enjoy it.
The app is fully functional and free, and in its slightly goofy style, with registration and the paid version you get a few rather odd options, such as being able to rate beers in 0.1 point increments instead of 0.25 point increments like in the free app. Quite unnecessary, but keep in mind that in this way, you are primarily helping the maintenance of the application.
Untappd is a fun yet useful app for those who want to try new flavors and find new locations for their beer adventures. Try it, you might like it. Cheers!
Disclamer Two: The source of all the illustrations are either my photos or print screens from the Untappd application on my phone, which are combined into collages at https://pixlr.com/photo-collage/.
