Benjamin Franklin once said that beer is proof God loves us and wants us to be happy. But as a self-described beer snob, I admit I’m pretty unhappy when I end up at a bar that doesn’t serve what I consider to be a decent brew.
Enter Beerby. Pronounced like “nearby,” Beerby is a mobile app (available for both iPhone and Android) that allows you to check in and rate your beer. The app boasts a database of over 40,000 beers, including my favorite locally-brewed IPA. You can add beers that aren’t listed yet to help build out the database, as well as leave comments and reviews about the beers you’ve sampled.
Beerly is integrated with Foursquare, so checking in with a beer at a location checks you in on Foursquare as well. The app shows nearby bars and restaurants where beer is served, and you can also search for locations that carry a specific beer. And as someone who has often sat down at a bar only to balk at a really wretched beer list, that is precisely the sort of thing that could make location-as-a-platform useful (to me at least).
Beerby also features game mechanics, with badges (or in this case “badgers”), levels, and leaderboards. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go level up on Beerby and celebrate Oktoberfest. Cheers.
