Untappd: Foursquare for Beer Lovers

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What the hell is Untappd, anyway?

By combining two of my favorite pastimes — beer and social networking — Untappd might just be one of my new favorite websites. Untappd is a social site that allows you to share your beer “check ins” with your friends while earning digital swag along the way. Think foursquare meets Beer Advocate. According to their website, “Untappd is a new way to socially share your favorite beers, as well as where you’re enjoying it, with your friends!”

The premise: Drink socially.

It is no secret that thekruser is a fan of foursquare…and of beer. With Untappd, though, instead of checking into a venue and adding a shout, you check in with a beer and add your location. You do not have to add your location if you do not want to. The locations are pulled from the foursquare API, drastically cutting the time required to enter it manually — and let’s face it, with the nature of the app, the spelling, grammar and dexterity needed to enter your location might be somewhat diminished the more you use it. The nice part is, you can choose whether or not to share your check ins with your foursquare, twitter, and facebook friends with a click/tap on your phone. Your Untappd friends can see your check ins and “toast” them, similar to a facebook friend “liking” your status.

The site

Right now, Untappd does not have an app available for download. It is strictly a mobile website. The site is available on iPhone, Android, and Palm. Sadly though, OS6 is the only BlackBerry version that is supported only Blackberry OS5 and up is supported. This is due to an issue that non-WebKit BlackBerrys have with geolocation. Hopefully there will be a native app available in the future. There is a desktop version as well, but you are not allowed to check in from there. However, it is nice to use to see what your friends are up to and what badges they have earned.

The mobile interface is divided into tabs: Friends, The Pub, Your Tab, and Drink Up.

The “Friends” tab is the default tab when you open the site on your phone. It shows your most recent activity and allows you to see what beer your friends are currently enjoying.

“The Pub” tab acts like the public timeline on twitter. You can see what others are drinking and comment, if you so choose. You can search the pub for your favorite brew, a location you frequent, a person’s name, or your favorite brewery…to see if they have put out a new brew that you haven’t heard of yet.

“Your Tab” is where you go to see your activity (the beers you have checked in with), check on your badges, or to change your settings.

The “Drink Up” tab is where you go to add a new check in. It leads with your top three beers that you have checked in with, making it easier to check in at about round 12. It also includes three tabs at the bottom that recommend trending brews by micro, macro, and local breweries. If the brew you are nursing is not on the list, you can add it. As a matter of fact, there is a badge for that!

The badges

What would a social check in service be like without badges? Boring. Untappd has a wide array of badges that are broken up into three categories: beer, venue, and special.

The “Beer” badges are awarded for different beer milestones: the number of beers you have checked in with (badges like Newbie and Take it Easy), the different countries the beers you have checked in with are from (like Beer Connoisseur and Cerveza Matador), and the types of brewskis you have checked in with (like Johnny Appleseed and Heavy Weight)…just to name a few.

“Venue” badges are earned by adding locations to your check ins: badges like Beer Party, Brew Crawl, Tailgater, and Above the Clouds for example.

Badges listed in the “Special” category are for special achievements or are only available for a limited time: Beta Drinker, Beer-giving, and To Infinium and Beyond.

And how do you earn these badges you ask? You should know me better than that by now. I am going to tell you. All you have to do is check out my Untappd badge pages! The secrets are there. Just make your selection from the drop down at the top of this page and get to earning.

To keep up with Untappd development, be sure to follow @Untappd, @gregavola, and @timm3h on twitter. For badge info and updates, follow @thekruser and @fromaniac