Coaster Factory brings you our Must Have Android Apps for BEER LOVERS

We thought it was time to list our top 10 (okay, so we listed 13) MUST HAVE Beer Apps for your Android based mobile device. We're not ignoring ios Apple, that will come in another blog post. This is for droid based fans! Of course there are literally scores of beer apps on the market, nevertheless we strike out to discover several of the most useful beer drinking applications that you'll want to explore. Whether you're broadening your beer taste buds, seeking the nearest pub or simply rating a beer, we're giving you another reason to wet your whistle.

Have you been drinking the same beer since college? You know what we're talking about. That old "trusty" nationally recognized brand that just rolls off the tongue like a gumball machine. Or perhaps you’ve been drinking the same local craft brew that may not be available beyond the borders of your town. Bar hopping? Pub crawling? Staring at a beer fridge? Deer caught in the headlights admiring the fancy beer tap logos? Whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day, meeting up with friends on a patio or just enjoying a quick brew after work, maybe it’s time to get a little more adventurous. Life is way to short to drink bad beer, and if ordering the same boring brew at your local watering hole is getting, well, boring, perhaps it’s time to download one of these fun beer apps for your mobile device.

Rate beer. Log beer. Learn about beer. Beer.

Like the wine connoisseur, the beer sommelier too likes to talk about their favourite libations. Armed with any one of these smartphone apps and you’re well on your way to becoming a true Zythologist.

• The Beer Expert: Truly one of our favourites. A beer database that says it can identify nearly every beer you come in contact with, anywhere. Speak the beer name, type it in, or scan a Bar Code. Access over 300,000 beers, and counting! The secret to The Beer Expert’s comprehensiveness is that it brings together two of the beer world’s greatest forces; The Beer Sommelier ® and RateBeer.com, which is arguably the largest beer database on the Internet. thebeerexpert.com

• Like to travel? How about Beer In Japan? Other than Sapporo, one doesn’t normally think of Japan and beer in the same thought. The BIJ app gives OFFLINE access - no WIFI or 3G required - to Beer in Japan's selection of Japan's top craft beer venues, including directions and opening hours. And it includes discount coupons to save you money! Featured in Beer Advocate magazine, Dec 2010 if you want to find out more about the craft beer scene in Japan, consider following twitter: @beerinjapan

• BJCPDroid: BJCP stands for Beer Judge Certification Program. The BJCP’s goal is to train beer experts includes everything you ever wanted to know about beer styles, flavors, aromas, ingredients, etc. If you’ve always wanted to know the difference between a brown porter and a robust porter, or to get to know some classic examples for amber hybrid beer, you’re going to love BJCP’s app. There are no frills here, just information, and lots of it. ​

• Beer Map - A third-party application that uses the API from the Beer Mapping Project website to find and display the locations of Breweries, Brewpubs, Beer Bars, Stores and Homebrew Shops.  beermapping.com

• BeerCloud is a revolutionary mobile app that helps you pair beer with food, track down your favorite beers in your neighborhood, and pull up a full description of any beer with a scan of its barcode. Released by GreatBrewers.com, a website developed and run by a group of national beer wholesalers.

• ​Beer counter is an application that can keep track of your beer consumption. This application comes in handy in locations where the bill is paid for at the end and no individual tracking is done for a group of people having a couple of beers together. 

• BeerDiary is a beer tasting diary. Use it to encourage thoughtful tasting while you enjoy beer. Record what tastes you notice for each beer, and even take a picture of the beer or the bottle. It's your personal diary, just for beer. When choosing what to order next time, you can refer to your notes. More features to come: enhanced tagging, star ratings, and drink list paging. 

• Today's Beer is your daily beer inspiration. Discover a world of beer right at your fingertips. Rotate every beer 360 degrees while examining distinct label designs, and uncommon bottle types. Tap for full beer profiles and again for ‘pint view’, displaying the true color of every beer.

• Here’s one that is simply called BEER. Keep a journal of your tasting notes and ratings with this beer app. Keep notes on that great microbrew you just tried. Keep a log of your beer experiences the next time you have a glass at a bar, at a beer festival, or at home. Rate your favorites on your phone so you'll never forget them. Read beer reviews that others have shared in our community and search the beer guide for interesting beers to add to your Wish List

• BrewR is another app aimed at brewers, and will especially appeal to home brewers. You can add your own recipes, complete with ingredients (which you can choose from the vast ingredient database), recipe notes and specific batch notes. It also includes several timers to use while brewing, such as a boil time countdown and hopping time alerts. 

• Beer Citizen allows users to review and recommend beers from around the world. This app is directed more toward the more adventurous beer drinker who is interested in trying new beers, but doesn’t want to invest in a whole case of something they may not like. Instead of a vague, general review, this app features the ability to rate individual traits of each beer, giving other uses are more complete, in-depth description of a particular beer. As more citizens review a beer, review data is used to build an aggregated beer profile. Now, instead of relying on 5-star ratings or reading page after page of written reviews, you can quickly see in great detail what the entire community thinks a beer is like, and decide if it suits your personal tastes before you buy it.

• The Brewing Assistant Free (there is also a paid version) from Brewology101.com is an app for assisting in the brewing of your beer. It helps you build your own recipes by calculating your recipe's IBUs, SRM, OG, FG, and ABV while you build your recipe. For those who want to become a “brewmeister” in their own home, this app allows the home brewer to create their own recipes, providing several essential calculations during the recipe creation process, saving the home brewer time on doing all the calculations by hand.  Once brewing has begun, this app has a Mash Timer that will alert you as to when your mash needs to be stirred at the exact interval you select in the settings.  The app also includes a boil reminder that will remind you to add ingredients per your recipe. 

• Pintley Beer Recommendation is the best way to discover beer you'll love. Unlike other beer apps, Pintley doesn’t just know beer; it also knows you. Pintley learns from your ratings and taste notes to understand exactly what pleases your palate the most, so you can be your own beer expert.
  With Pintley, it's easy to interact and share with friends, and the app has all the tools you need to discover great beer on-the-go. With a large beer library available and new beers being added all the time, users can quickly look up unfamiliar brands to see if it might be something they would like to try.  Reviews and check-ins can be linked to Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare for a user’s contacts on those applications also can see their beer recommendations and reviews.  A language Intelligent-Search feature allows users to find foreign brands and spell them correctly in their personal lists and reviews.

• Beer Hero, with the help of your GPS in android phone will allow you to find the best place to have great bottled craft-brewed beers and Brew Pubs. It also has a Beer / Meal pairing feature that will point you to locally available beers that go well with your meal choice.

blog articles by Alex Zafer