You head to the refrigerator to fetch a couple of beers for you and your dad. But you open the door and you don’t hear that familiar jingle of the beer bottles, and you realize Dad just finished them off. Now you have to go to the liquor store.
But what if you could have beer delivered to your doorstep? There’s an app for that – and many others to make life easier for the beer enthusiast in your life.
Whether your dad is a beer connoisseur who wants to travel the world sampling the finest brews, a casual drinker who just wants a drink in his hand, or a home brewer who wants to make the beer himself, he will find one of these iPhone apps mind-blowingly useful.
Letting him know about any of these 13 apps would make an iTunes gift card a more special gift, too. All of these apps are available in the iPhone’s app store and rank in the top 150 food/drink apps. But most of them are also available on Android.
Some of them cost money, but in the long run would be a worthwhile purchase. So look at these apps and let Dad know which ones you think would be best for Dad.
Oh, and don’t drink if you’re under 21 and drink responsibly!
If you just want a drink…
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Drizly
Cost: FREE (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
Forget the milkman. When’s the beer man getting here? This free new app lets you pick out your favorite booze and have it delivered to your doorstep, without ever leaving the house. It’s already available in Boston and New York and just expanded to Los Angeles – so it’s catching on!
Deliveries take about 20-40 minutes, and the delivery drivers verify your ID with their own scanners. But dad probably won’t have to worry about that!
Happy Hour Finder
Cost: FREE (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
Legitimate “Happy Hour” promotions may be illegal in Massachusetts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find great deals at bars around the city – like dollar drafts at Coogan’s.
You can search locations near you, find deals for certain days of the week, and save your favorite places.
Where the F*** Should I Go for Drinks?
Cost: $1.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? NO
Well that’s a little aggressive! If your dad has a foul mouth he might enjoy this amusing app that automatically gives you a place near your location where you should f***ing go for drinks – unless the place looks like s**t.
Find Craft Beer
Cost: $0.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
This app does exactly what it says in its name: use your GPS to find craft beer locations near you, or search by city. You can search bars, pubs, liquor stores, breweries and other potential craft beer locations.
You can even filter your results by type of location – for instance, you could search for only liquor stores in Brighton, Mass.
Get Drunk Not Fat
Cost: $0.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
Crass name aside, this app is for beer enthusiasts who want to lose weight or maintain their physical health while also enjoying their favorite brews.
You simply search for your favorite drinks and you can rank them by nutrition or price. Drinks are given letter grades to help you determine the best option for what you want.
iBeer
Cost: FREE (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
This one is just pure entertainment, for beer enthusiasts and non-drinkers alike. Your screen turns into a makeshift glass of beer, which you can “drink” by tilting your screen down toward your mouth. Great for tricking little kids into thinking you have a stomach of steel!
Beer Communities and Databases
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Beer Buddy
Cost: $3.99 (iTunes Store)
This handy app has been called “by far the most comprehensive beer app out there,” and they’re onto something: Beer Buddy is like having a worldwide beer encyclopedia in your pocket.
You can use the barcode scanner to look up reviews, information and history on just about any beer you find, search for beers by name with the “beer finder”, and find places near your location that serve your favorites. You can even create a wish list of beers you’d like to try with the “On Tap” feature.
RateBeer
Cost: $3.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
Geared mainly toward craft beer enthusiasts, RateBeer integrates the online community at RateBeer.com into its mobile app seamlessly, allowing you to build a list of friends and follow their beer ratings, as well as post your own.
It’s the perfect app for those who want to try new drinks and value the opinions of fellow craft beer drinkers.
myBeerNation – Beer Journal and Brewery Finder
Cost: $4.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? NO
This app contains a database of over 3,200 breweries from all over the world, which you can search by name or those closest to your location.
After visiting said breweries, you can keep track of the beers you sample and rate them in your “beer journal”, keep photos of the beers you drank, and share your experience on social media from within the app.
Brewski Me
Cost: FREE (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? NO
Use this free beer database to log and track the beers you’ve drank, and follow your friends’ activity through connecting your Facebook account.
This app also has a barcode scanner and even lets you add new beers to the database.
World of Beer
Cost: FREE (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
This nifty free app contains a massive beer database and contains all the pertinent info you’d need. You can search for beers and filter by country, style, color, and alcohol percentage.
You can also use World of Beer to find events happening near your location, and it even has its own loyalty program.
Home Brewing
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BeerSmith Mobile Home Brewing
Cost: $7.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
BeerSmith is custom brewing software for those who want to turn their basement or garage into a home brewery. The mobile version syncs with the desktop app for working on your recipes on-the-go.
The app contains all of the ingredients, calculators and other tools you would need to create your own brewing recipe, as well as a database of proven recipes that have already been made.
Brew Pal
Cost: $1.99 (iTunes Store)
Available on Android? YES
This is for more experienced brewers. You can enter all of your different ingredients and the app will predict your beer’s alcohol %, color, bitterness, and other qualities. It keeps track of all the ingredients and even sets timers and reminders to help you through the entire process.
HOW ABOUT ANOTHER ROUND?
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