Beer Nerd Rant: How To Appropriately Use a Beer App

By Lorna Juett in Food on Apr 4, 2013 9:00PM

CNET recently posted a YouTube video outlining some of the best iPhone and Android apps for beer lovers. The list included Untappd, BeerBuddy, and BJCP Styles. The information contained in these apps can be incredibly helpful to a beer drinker, in helping you decide on what beer to drink, to keep track of beers you’ve tried, and also to educate you further about the many styles of beer out in the world, and ultimately, on your local bar’s tap list.

If you don’t want to watch the video and you’re out of the beer app loop, here’s a rundown of the apps that CNET recommends. The first, Untappd, is among the most popular beer apps available. Think of Untappd as Foursquare for beer, allowing users to check in which beers they drank and give them ratings. It awards users badges for unlocking certain “achievements.” You can also use it to follow your friends, see what they’re drinking, and brag about your superior taste and knowledge. Secondly, they recommend BeerBuddy, an app that allows you to scan a barcode on a bottle of beer and bring up all it’s vital information. Useful when you’re at a liquor store, BeerBuddy uses the user content generated ranking system at RateBeer to drop knowledge onto you. The final app is BJCP Styles. BJCP stands for Beer Judge Certification Program, whose mission is to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. They also certify and rank beer judges as well. Of all the apps mentioned, this is the one that provides the most pure, unadulterated knowledge about beer and its various styles.

I’m all for any tool that delivers knowledge to their users. But there are some problems with the way these things are used. While I’ve poked a little fun at the Red Eye’s recent “How To Be A Decent Human” series which has covered topics such as, “How to Sit Alone at a Bar and Not be Awkward,” “How To Not be the Bar Regular the Staff Hates,” and “How To Treat a Street Canvasser Like a Human Being,” I do find that, sadly, these sort of primers are sometimes necessary in our lives, and here’s one directed at a very specific population: Beer nerds with smart phones.

Here’s my one and only rule for using a beer app: If a server or bartender approaches you and speaks to you, PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE.

When I ask you, “do you have any questions about the beer list?” and I’m met with a wave of a hand, and eyes that won’t disengage from Untappd, I’m unlikely to engage with you further. This can flat out ruin your experience at a bar, as well as mine. Sure, you’ve got the world of beer at your fingertips, ranked and rated by drinkers from all over the place. But, just like Yelp, do these people have the exact same tastes as you? Do they know what mood you’re in, or what you’re about to eat, or what season it is? Do they also know that there might be something on draft that just got tapped and hasn’t hit our beer menu, or beermenus.com, for that matter, that might be exactly what you want? I highly doubt it.

Can the beer app offer you a small taste of a beer on tap before you sink your money into it? Certainly not. That brings me to another point. If you’re a dedicated user of Untappd, you’ve probably seen people who appear to try upwards of 15 beers a night. Of course it’s possible, but It’s more likely that these people are “tickers,” mooching tastes off of a bartender, and checking off the beers one by one, without buying them and seeing how their aromas and flavors change as they warm up, and the way your general impression changes about a beverage once you’re halfway into it. It’s braggadocious and annoying behavior, especially for the bartender. No matter how cool you think you look, you’re not making many friends by being a “ticker.”

Also, I think the BJCP Styles App may be the most useful beer-related app to keep on your phone’s home screen, since it helps you identify styles, and their characteristics. However, the content has not been updated since 2008. Some beer styles, such as Black IPA, aren’t even mentioned in the content because they didn’t even exist yet. A good beer server will have that information ready for you, should you want to learn more.

Of course, if you find yourself asking a server questions about a beer, and you’re met with glazed over eyes, and a response of “uhh, I have to go ask the bartender...” then wait for that person to walk away, and feel free to do some research on your own. It’s your money you’re about to part with, you might as well spend it on something you like.

Here's the video: