7 Apps for Beijing Beer Aficionados and Wine Snobs
With the explosion of Beijing's beer fridge scene comes the following inevitable, horrible situation: you're standing in front of massive fridges filled with dozens or even hundreds of beers and wines, and you just don't know what to pick. Do you go with something familiar, or do you want to try something new? You can't even remember what you had last time you were at this bar.
As someone with a poor memory (possibly from drinking so much beer), I've reached out to the Internet and downloaded the apps below to help us all become better drinkers.
For beer aficionados
BeerBuddy (with Barcode Scanner)
This is many a beer aficionado's number-one beer app, developed by RateBeer, and serving tons of fans all over the world. Its database is massive: over 300,000 beers, with more than 1 million comments on them. The app incorporates a scoring mechanism called the Beer Judging Certificate Program. There's also a barcode scanner which makes identifying your beer easier than a bleary, one-eyed attempt to type it into a search bar. You can review the beers you have had before, or use it to search for bars and restaurants nearby (helpful if you've been kicked out of one watering hole and need a replacement ASAP).
It supports use in multiple languages, including English, Japanese, French, German, and Korean.
Price: RMB 25/USD 3.99
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
RateBeer
Another app developed by ratebeer.com, RateBeer is a little simpler but based on the same database as BeerBuddy. The information presented on the app looks identical to that of Beer Buddy too, and while we're not sure why there are two apps, this one is also pretty good.
Price: RMB 25/USD 3.99
Rate: ☆☆☆☆
For broke beer aficionados
BeerAdvocate
I like this app not only because it is free, but also because it's an extension of one of my favorite websites, Beer Advocate. The interface is also simple, and the design is neat (the white background is better than BeerBuddy's brown, in my opinion). It's easy to check reviews from the website through the app, but there is one issue: it's impossible to upload the beer you've just drunk. For that, you have to go in through the website.
Price: Free
Rate: ☆☆☆
Untapped
This free app is my go-to, it has everything for a lazy person: you can review beers, score them, toast others, search for top bars and top beers, and you can even add your local microbrewery to their database with ease: Boxing Cat, Great Leap, Jing A, Slow Boat, Nbeer, Arrow Factory, Harvest, Mater Gao, Panda ... you name it. You can also sync your check-ins with FourSquare, and share them to Twitter and Facebook.
The most charming part of this app is that it will award you with badges the more you drink, even though the last thing us drinkers need is more encouragement. Once you start to use this app, upload the beer you're having and you are ready to share it on your other social media platforms. Just beware of oversharing, least you find yourself blocked by your friends.
For this app, we find the iOS version way better and more user-friendly than the Android version. They are so different they actually look like completely different apps, and it has the tendency to shut itself off on Android. One of my friends actually bought an iPhone just to be able to use this app properly.
Price: Free
Rate: ☆☆☆
For wine snobs
Next Glass
This recently released program can demystify beer and wine for you. Build a taste profile by rating drinks you’ve tried, just like other apps can do. Where it sets itself apart from other apps is that you can scan a label of a wine bottle, and get all information you need about it. This is really handy when you find yourself gobsmacked at Jenny Lou's or April Gourmet after finding your favorite bottle has sold out.
After you've submitted your first five scores, the app will predict how much you will like the next glass you're about to drink. The only downside to this app is that the people from this company are a little snobby, and don't include Asian wines. Boo. Hence our low rating. If you're also a snobby wine drinker who only touches American or European wines, you'll like this app.
Price: Free
Rate: ☆
Delectable
This is my favorite wine app. Even though it’s a little slow to upload your photos (it can take 15 minutes for it to appear), and the app is sometimes blocked for no reason, its ability to identify wines is superb. It happens to me (too) often: wandering through the shelves and deliberating chaotically between two wines. It's the perfect time to scan those wines and get reviews and tasting notes.
This is the most popular app for those in the wine industry – think top sommeliers, winemakers, and wine pros. You can follow some of their favorite picks too, and make a wish list.
Price: Free
Rate: ☆☆☆☆
Vivino
This one is my favorite wine app, with over 9 million registered users. You take a photo of the label, then it finds the wine in your database, you get the reviews, rankings, and pricing. After you taste it, you can review and rate it, then share your thoughts to Facebook.
This app is faster than Delectable, but the pricing worries me a little sometimes when I see that my favorite wine is twice the price in China than it would be elsewhere. Their website is also interesting and has a lot of great, boozy content.
Price: Free
Rate: ☆☆☆ (The reason it's not four stars is only that sometimes the app is unstable)
To wrap up, better get on these apps to up your drinking game, and help remind yourself which your favorite tipples are. Don't drink and drive, and check here for tips on dealing with a hangover. Cheers!
More stories by this author here.
Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
Instagram: @flyingfigure
Photos: El Nido, the devlopers
