Indianapolis is probably not the next Silicon Valley. We can admit that, right? As much as Parks and Recreation may make you (read: me) hope, no weirdly-named, vaguely-defined “internet company” will be building their new state-of-the-art campus here. I don’t think that bothers Hoosiers much, nor does it deter us from being creative and innovative forces in our own rights throughout our state and country.
Just ask Devin Kitterman and Andrew Herrick, two Indianapolis-area software developers and the creators behind TappedIn, a new app that gives users up-to-date information on their area bars’ and breweries’ beer menus.
TappedIn, which is built off of check-in data from the popular Untappd app, comes more from a desire to create an app Kitterman and Herrick both wanted to use, rather than a desire to be the next big thing.
“We just wanted to create an app for us,” Kitterman tells me. “It was just something we worked on in our free time, and something that we knew we’d want to use.”
Untappd, for those not familiar, is an app where users “check in” and rate the beers they drink, share photos of their drinks, and through Foursquare add the location where they’re partaking. It also provides the option for the user to “find” beers nearby, but Kitterman and Herrick thought they could do one better.
Using data made available from Untappd, the two built an app that builds real-time beer menus at breweries and “beer-forward” bars around you. Having a hard time picturing it? Imagine traveling to a new city, or spending an afternoon out in your home town, and wanting to find a bar with a good local or craft selection. Whip out your iPhone (don’t worry Android users – your app is in development now), pull up TappedIn, and find a tap and bottle list desirable to you.
How does TappedIn work? It’s actually rather simple: taking the Untappd check-ins, the app quickly design menus off of beers that are geotagged via Untappd’s Foursquare feature. If a beer goes five days without being checked in at a location, it gets pulled off of TappedIn, insuring that the menu is up to date. TappedIn then pulls the data from Untappd every hour, for those seeking out tappings of seasonals or special one-offs. Also included in a beer’s listing is the option to “mark as seen,” indicating to other users that the beer is still listed, and “mark as blown,” showing other users that the keg has run its course. This helps keep in check the hard working bar and brewery staff, who can also upload their current menus as they go.
It doesn’t stop there.
Kitterman and Herrick have built into the app the ability to search for beers by style. Craving a Belgian strong ale or coffee porter? You can look for those beers by selecting a location then sort by style function. Or by brewery. Or ABV. Or even the last date it was checked in (who wants a stale ale?).
Are you a fan of a specific beer? Do you want know when a bar near you has tapped some Zombie Dust? TappedIn also has a subscription feature, where the app will notify you when a beer you follow is checked into for the first time.
As with all new apps, there have been some bumps in the road – Herrick expressed his happiness with me holding this story off until after the Guild’s Winterfest, because the sheer number of check-ins from the 6,000+ attendees would have inundated the two programmers who are still working on updates to make the app more user-friendly. Future updates will include a tutorial that points to important features for new users, along with more sort features, making it easier for you, the beer fan, to find what tastes good to you.
Perhaps one of the better features of TappedIn is one Kitterman and Herrick have to constantly manage themselves: the two are constantly checking the app for locations added to make sure these “friendly neighborhood” corporations don’t make their way in.
“We wanted to focus on ‘beer-forward’ bars. Bars who care about the beer that they serve. Not bars where good craft beer isn’t at least part of their focus,” Herrick notes. And he’s right – pull up TappedIn on your phone, and notice the lack of Applebee’s, TGIF’s, or large corporate “college”/sports bars. That’s because of the hard work the two put into TappedIn (on top of their full-time jobs) to make sure it’s the most useful tool to you, the craft beer drinker.
Again – TappedIn is not some get-rich-quick scheme Kitterman and Herrick are using to secure eight figures worth of funding before ever putting in a day of work (although, the two admit it wouldn’t be a bad thing). No, the app comes from a place of creativity and love for good beer, which is what makes all of the American craft beer so awesome in the first place, right?
TappedIn is currently available for free download in the Apple App Store, with an Android version currently in the works.
Clara H.
Amazing concept! What a tool for craft beer lovers everywhere!!
Larry Fleming
Love the concept and have the app! However, the article says lack of Applebees, which popped up in an MSM as a location of a beer I’m following, but the location (Whiskey Business) I’m at every day, isn’t listed and I have to check in on Untapped. They have a very good good selection of craft beers and promote them weekly on Twitter and Facebook. PLEASE add them to the far-Eastside of Indy (McCordsville area).
Devin Kitterman
Larry,
Thanks for downloading the app! We have added Whiskey Business to the list for you!
Cheers,
Devin