Social drinking with Untappd

Facebook for beer lovers, that’s the best way to describe Untappd. We went on a digital exploration tour to find out why this app is so incredibly popular.

We actually found the answer to our question pretty quickly: competition. By drinking a certain number of specialty beers, checking in at places or drinking on special occasions (or on weekdays), you can earn badges. That way, you can become champion of a particular bar or a notorious specialty beer drinker. And who wouldn’t want a profile packed with awesome badges?

Untappd is also primarily a social medium. You check in at a café and can see how many people visited before you and which beer is rated highest there. Naturally, you can also see where your friends are drinking beer, so you can join them and raise a toast.

Something new in your glass
Besides its social function, Untappd also contains a great deal of information about beer. Because the app has so many users, its database is enormous. You can rate the Spa Geel you drank with a score between zero and five, add a photo of the label and provide any other information. The more people do this, the larger Untappd’s digital library becomes. And for the real diehards, there’s the ‘Nearby’ tab. Here you can see which beers (including specialty beers) your local bar serves and even receive a notification when something new is available on tap or in a bottle.

In short: Untappd is a top app for anyone who enjoys drinking specialty beer. You’ll find an incredible number of beer varieties, and you’re rewarded with ‘likes’ from other users when they find your beer special enough. Naturally, competition is a major factor here, because everyone would preferably like to beat the entire bar and become king of Pale Ale. And we’re going to start working on that right away. Cheers!

Do you prefer wine to beer? Then check out the When Wine app here, our other favorite.