How I use Untappd

Low ratings can really hurt a brewer!

Even though the popularity of the beer tracking, badge hunting and ego inflating app is huge, there are some side effects of its use that impact the industry. This is an unfortunate fact. Does that mean you should stay away from it completely? I don’t think so. There are things that help make this virtual world of beer just a bit nicer. I stick to the following rules, and I think that is for the better:

Rule 1: Try to rate objectively

“This beer is probably pretty good, I just hate cherries and I taste that in here.” Well, if cherries were part of the expected flavor profile, then you can’t really complain about that, can you? Also: if a sour is not your thing in general, that doesn’t make every sour a bad beer. So don’t destroy it (and its brewer) by giving it a very low rating. Try to rate within the style (yes, the very best pilsners deserve a 5-star rating and barrel aged imperial stouts do not have to start at 4!). If a beer is really bad, you can also stick to not rating it at all, if you want to be nice. Especially if the bad aspects of the beer you’re consuming are potentially a result of 1) your own disliking of the style or one of the ingredients, 2) the way the beer was stored after it has left the brewery or 3) the way the beer was served to you (dirty glasses, wrong temperature, etc.). In such cases, please don’t blame the brewer for somebody else’s mistakes!.

All in all, it would be much better if you try to indicate how good of a Dubbel your Dubbel is, than it would be to indicate how much you like something. You can include your own opinion in the “How was it? Leave a note” section, if you really feel like it, but…

Rule 2: Take objective tasting notes seriously

… it would be nice to use that section for your tasting notes. I start new lines for 4 different aspects of the beer. I have only started doing this recently. It takes more time and effort, but it also forces you to really analyze the beer in front of you. Don’t worry, analyzing takes a few sips, you can always just enjoy the rest afterwards. The 4 new lines are for: nose (how does it smell; start with this as the aromas escape), looks (color, brightness, head), flavor and finish/aftertaste. After that, I might include a note on my personal experience drinking this beer, if I feel so inclined.

Rule 3: Age of the beer

For some beers, the year or batch matters. In that case, by all means pick the entry from the database that corresponds to the beer at hand. Often, though, this is just a way for people to increase their unique beer count, while drinking a beer they already had before. If you’re into that game, who are you fooling? Often, the time between production and consumption is more important than the year the beer is from, but unfortunately the app doesn’t let you easily enter that. Use it the way it works for you!

Rule 4: Please don’t be fooled by ratings when buying beer

Ratings are more a result of how Untappd is generally used, than of the quality of a beer. A thick, heavy rum-barrel aged barley wine is likely to have a higher rating than a clean and crisp IPL, regardless of its quality. This si because people generally like such styles better, rate by price or some other subjective measure like how much they enjoyed the drinking experience. If you really want to become an all-round beer aficionado then you should use Untappd only to check whether this is a new beer to you, if that is something you care about. Don’t buy for the rating. You’ll drink and taste more objectively if you didn’t first read what other thought of your current choice.

I think the above guidelines are useful and make the app a little less toxic to the brewer that occasionally sees something go wrong, even more so if that is not even their own fault. I must admit that I only recently started doing this and do realize it takes a bit of practice in tasting beers (and a fair share of discipline). Only after some well-respected sommeliers gave me their advice (somewhat like the above) did I realize I should do better. Perhaps you should, too… Do let me know if you have any further remarks on that front!

Lists to organize and remember

There are other features of the app that I use extensively. One is the “Lists”. For events or trips it is sometimes nice to collect the beers I had in one list for easy reference. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I forget. These lists can be public (most of mine are) or private (for events that don’t appreciate it much if you’re giving away their secret lineup, for example). My most often used list, though, is my “Fridge” list. This has an inventory of my beer fridge. At that the time of writing that list contains just under 100 beers, which should be in my fridge. When I check in a beer from that list I get prompted with the question whether I want to remove it from the list, which is an easy way to do stock management. It takes some effort after a trip to the beer store, but I find it worth it.

The best thing about checking in from an inventory list is that you don’t see other people’s opinions before you have to formulate yours!

An inventory list can be very useful, when the beers in the back are hard to get to!

Location, nearby venues and beer and all that

I’m not always in my own neighborhood, or wherever I know my way around. I might need some help getting me to places. Breweries, taprooms and bars with a good selection are things I’m sometimes looking for and Untappd can be a good help in that. Be careful with their somewhat selective “verified venue” filter, you don’t always only want to see places that happen to pay Untappd to show up. Local check-ins can be a great way of finding local venues without business contracts with the app.

My history of check-ins is almost like a beer diary, especially on trips. The photos are a good memory of the places I had the beer, or landmarks very close (in space and time), which is a feature I like. I sure hope I can keep this version of a scrapbook for eternity!

Toast!

Every time I check in a beer, I try to go through the recent check-ins of my friends and toast (‘like’, if you like) one of them.

I try not to hunt badges. I do, just for fun, pick out something special for my big round numbers of unique beers, but I typically don’t go out of my way to unlock a new, or level out a badge. I don’t blame anyone for doing so, though, but I must say that going back and retroactively adding “Untappd at home” as a location on all your pre-pandemic venue-less check-ins just to max out quicker seems like bragging. Also, sharing one sip with all of your friend’s picks at a festival shouldn’t allow for a check-in: you should at the very least be able to say something about the beer you had, based on what you enter. Otherwise it’s just ego-boosting on a meaningless number.

Last but not least: if you, like me, are somebody who uses an app on a daily basis, it is worth it to go for the paid version. With Untappd that is called the “Insider Program”. You do get some extras (rating per .1 star rather than per .25 star, but I don’t use that; I don’t see how I would be able to give a consistent rating at that precision), but to me it mostly means that I support the creators and maintainers for a service that I use and enjoy often.

Cheers to Drinking Socially!