A New Craft Beer App by MU Alum

[Ron Paul]

Hey everyone, after I saw the enthusiasm for the Beer Thread I figured this would be a great place to post that I am in the process of launching a new Craft Beer Social Network.  We are nationwide, have 4500+ breweries, 55,000+ beers and we're constantly adding.  We're planning on launching it very soon on Android and its available on the iTunes store as part of our soft launch.

A few notes on how it works, you can follow your friends, favorite breweries, beers, bars, etc. and stay up to date on whats going on in the beer community.  We are in the process of uploading beer menus for 9800 locations (hopefully more) around the country as we speak.  If you add a beer to your wish list, as soon as one of our retailers adds that beer to their menu, you get a notification when and where you can find it.  There are recommendations, photos, and a bunch more to check out.

I am a Marquette Alum, season ticket holder, longtime scoop smack talker, and I'd appreciate if you'd check it out!  My username is JohnLavelle.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-beer-fridge/id626879320?ls=1&mt=8

Oh, and we're hiring sales/marketing positions all over the country, so if you're looking or if you know someone that might be looking we'd love to hear from you.  Business outings at MU games could be a plus.

John Lavelle
Founder
Beer Fridge
john@thebeerfridge.com
414-803-4236

[Stronghold]

Looks neat, I'll be sure to check it out when it hits Android.  You should give an update on here when that occurs.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I downloaded it.  I'm curious, what your background is in terms of developing the app?  I've heard it isn't that hard to develop an app even for technical lightweights....others have said it's quite the challenge.

Where do you fall?   Free app, are you able to monetize this in any way?  From the beer companies or the tavern listings?

[Ron Paul]

At MU I was building websites as a hobby and taking Econ for school, should've probably reversed that.  I know this is going to sound like a generic answer, but it really does depend on how in depth the app goes.  If you're just listing some information or doing a basic game it can be pretty easy.  If you're doing something that requires relating tables to one another and pushing out information in a consumer friendly manner, it does require quite a bit of work.

As far as monetizing, there is a subscription for retailers and breweries based on how much they get out of the app.  We aren't selling personal data and you'll never get an email from us unless you've won a contest you entered.

[Ron Paul]

Looks neat, I'll be sure to check it out when it hits Android.  You should give an update on here when that occurs.

I'll be sure to do that, we are launching Android in June.  It all depends on how well the beta testing goes.

[T-Bone]

What is the differentiator between Beer Fridge and any of these, or Untappd?
http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/brilliant-beer-apps/ (the ones that have social integration)

It looks nice and well done.  Just trying to figure out where it differs in an increasingly crowded market. 

As a home brewer, I would love to see an app that can find recipes for clones based on what you're drinking.  I know there are apps out there for home brewing where you can find clones, but nothing really slick.

[mugoose]

good stuff - i will check it out

[Ron Paul]

What is the differentiator between Beer Fridge and any of these, or Untappd?
http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/brilliant-beer-apps/ (the ones that have social integration)

It looks nice and well done.  Just trying to figure out where it differs in an increasingly crowded market. 

As a home brewer, I would love to see an app that can find recipes for clones based on what you're drinking.  I know there are apps out there for home brewing where you can find clones, but nothing really slick.

The market is crowded, but its very poorly done.  Just the user interface alone is really really challenging in any of those apps.

Here is the differentiator.  We help people find the beers they are looking for by working with beer centric retailers.  We are not using a FourSquare API because we don't need people checking in at a bus stop or funeral home (literally check ins I have seen on Untappd).  We help find new beers to try with our recommendation engine, see what your friends are drinking and where (legitimately), share on facebook and twitter and we do all of that with a presentation that is familiar to just about everybody.

The problem with Untappd, and the others, is that it doesn't really help anybody in the beer industry, up to and including the beer drinker.  They show where and what people are drinking when they are already drinking them and thats about it.  We are working with breweries, distributors, retailers and users to make sure we provide a much better product.

[ChicosBailBonds]

At MU I was building websites as a hobby and taking Econ for school, should've probably reversed that.  I know this is going to sound like a generic answer, but it really does depend on how in depth the app goes.  If you're just listing some information or doing a basic game it can be pretty easy.  If you're doing something that requires relating tables to one another and pushing out information in a consumer friendly manner, it does require quite a bit of work.

As far as monetizing, there is a subscription for retailers and breweries based on how much they get out of the app.  We aren't selling personal data and you'll never get an email from us unless you've won a contest you entered.

I did some of the same....designed MU's original gomarquette.com website and did some other things with only some very basic training.  Once things got a bit more advanced and I didn't have the time, we hired out to a firm to do the sites for us.  I haven't really dabbled in that stuff in years, however.  Congrats on the app.

[Ron Paul]

Thanks man, very much appreciated!

[Chili]

Thanks man, very much appreciated!

where's my droid beta???? 

[T-Bone]

The market is crowded, but its very poorly done.  Just the user interface alone is really really challenging in any of those apps.

Here is the differentiator.  We help people find the beers they are looking for by working with beer centric retailers.  We are not using a FourSquare API because we don't need people checking in at a bus stop or funeral home (literally check ins I have seen on Untappd).  We help find new beers to try with our recommendation engine, see what your friends are drinking and where (legitimately), share on facebook and twitter and we do all of that with a presentation that is familiar to just about everybody.

The problem with Untappd, and the others, is that it doesn't really help anybody in the beer industry, up to and including the beer drinker.  They show where and what people are drinking when they are already drinking them and thats about it.  We are working with breweries, distributors, retailers and users to make sure we provide a much better product.

That seems to be the case with most app categories.  There's a couple apps that do it well, and then there's everything else. 

I lean on the side of privacy and don't want to give anyone more information about myself than I have to (I installed Untappd, but never logged into it - and generally will not use apps that require facebook or twitter integration).  If there were a way to follow breweries anonymously, it would be of value to me (and on Android).

It's a great idea - I tend to like products of specific breweries and will give their other products a try before others.  My non-technical solution is to go to good bars that carry good beers. 

[Ron Paul]

The users privacy is extremely important to us. While we do offer a facebook login, it is not necessary, nor do we use it to gather information from it.  We just have it there for ease of use.  Originally we were going to use an Instagram API for our photo features and decided against it when we saw how cavalier they were with user privacy.

Going to good beer bars is certainly a good low tech way to handle your situation, but I know in my personal experience, there are a ton of great spots to go for beers that I never would have known about unless we were researching for the app.  Especially in cities outside of our home market.

Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, typing from my phone.

[mu03eng]

The users privacy is extremely important to us. While we do offer a facebook login, it is not necessary, nor do we use it to gather information from it.  We just have it there for ease of use.  Originally we were going to use an Instagram API for our photo features and decided against it when we saw how cavalier they were with user privacy.

Going to good beer bars is certainly a good low tech way to handle your situation, but I know in my personal experience, there are a ton of great spots to go for beers that I never would have known about unless we were researching for the app.  Especially in cities outside of our home market.

Sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors, typing from my phone.

Definitely want this as soon as it drops for Android so keep us in the loop.

[T-Bone]

The users privacy is extremely important to us. While we do offer a facebook login, it is not necessary, nor do we use it to gather information from it.  We just have it there for ease of use.  Originally we were going to use an Instagram API for our photo features and decided against it when we saw how cavalier they were with user privacy.

Thanks for the response regarding privacy.  I'll give it a shot once it's over on Android as well.

[Coleman]

You guys including stuff on Belgian beers, or is it just American crafts?

[Ron Paul]

You guys including stuff on Belgian beers, or is it just American crafts?

Belgian, German, Italian, you name it we have it in the database.

[Ron Paul]

where's my droid beta???? 

I'm using the Droid Beta right now, I'll let everybody know as soon as we feel the beta will work well on your phone.  We're looking to have the android version in the play store around the beginning of June.

[klyrish]

Where is information on these jobs available? Any web developer (if you're a Rails shop) or email marketing related positions open?

[Ron Paul]

We're in the process of finishing out our phase two development for the app, but we will be looking for people to work on the actual website once we have finished launching the apps.  Feel free to send me an email and I can keep in touch when we do that.

[TallTitan34]

I did some of the same....designed MU's original gomarquette.com website and did some other things with only some very basic training.

This one?

http://web.archive.org/web/19991013014225/http://gomarquette.com/

This one?

http://web.archive.org/web/19970612185958/http://www.gomarquette.com/

[LloydMooresLegs]

Thanks, ASE!  Looking forward to giving it a spin.