The Mass Brewers Guild Mobile App Turns One Year Old

Dear Craft Beer Fans: 

Can you believe it’s been a year already?! 

Our mobile application, “Mass Craft Beer,” turns one this September, and we could not be happier with the amount of participation and feedback that we’ve had with the program so far. 

To date, there are more than 8k craft beer lovers who use our passport program, and are actively visiting breweries in Massachusetts. By visiting your neighborhood breweries, you are supporting small business owners who employ locals, drive travel and tourism to the state, and help to revitalize downtown communities. 

We hope you are drinking in all that the Massachusetts craft beer scene has to offer and are enjoying the adventure as you travel to different nooks and crannies of the state. 

If you’ve had the program on your phone since its inception you may be receiving a notice that your stamps are going to expire. 

What does that mean? 
Craft beer fans have exactly one year to visit 100 breweries and become “Beer Trail Conquerors” – 365 days after the date of your first brewery stamp, the slate wipes clean and points and badges start from zero. 

Why do we do this? 
To keep the passport program competitive, every year the MBG will create a big prize for Beer Trail Conquerors to climb to. This year it’s the opportunity to win a craft beer dinner with Jim Koch, from Boston Beer Co., Dan Kenary from Harpoon Brewing Co., and MBG president Rob Burns from Night Shift Brewing Co. 

Will users lose their stamps, check-ins or favorites lists?  
Stamps will remain in the user’s profile so they can keep a list of bragging rights of where they’ve been. However, they will appear in the expired tab under “My Stamps.” This is so that when you re-visit a brewery you can re-collect the stamp, earn points for it, and re-climb the leaderboard.

Your check-ins, reviews, and favorites list will remain in-tact. Your bio and photo will also remain on the MBG website if you’ve achieved Beer Trail Commander status. 

The goal of the MBG passport program is to encourage patrons to continue to visit breweries year after year and see what new offerings are available in their tap rooms. As new breweries continue to open their doors there will be plenty of tap rooms to explore and craft beer to enjoy. 

We will continue to add new badges and prizes to the program in the coming months to keep the excitement going for veteran users. 

Cheers, 
Katie Stinchon
MBG Executive Director 

Your Guide to #MABeer is Here!

Mass Brewers Guild Launches New Mobile Application & Beer Trail Map Available for download on iPhone and Android

Attention craft beer lovers - your next #MABeer is closer than you think. The Mass Brewers Guild, the state’s nonprofit organization that works to protect and promote the interests of craft brewers, has launched “Mass Craft Beer,” a new mobile application and beer trail map.

The free app, now available in iTunes and Google Play stores, includes every visit-able brewery across the Commonwealth in its passport program. Users can now carry their passport on their phone to tour, taste, check-in and never miss another stamp.

Features include: finding breweries near you via your geo location, check-in to breweries you visit and add them to your passport, earn rewards and merchandise by collecting stamps, get the latest event news with links to purchase tickets, create your own brewery tours with an interactive brewery map and directory, save your favorite beers to purchase later, and more. 

Mass Craft Beer launches just in time for the Mass Fermentational, the organization’s upcoming beer festival and fundraiser set to take place on Saturday, Sept. 16 on Worcester Common. The festival tab within the app holds the event map, food vendor information, parking details, the list of participating breweries and where to find them, along with what they are pouring at the event.

“Massachusetts needed a beer trail map that could evolve and change as quickly as its craft beer scene,” says Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Mass Brewers Guild. “Consumers have been asking for an updated map of breweries, and brewers wanted a guide that could help drive traffic to their doorstep. This new mobile application does both.” To date there are 120 breweries across the Commonwealth with more than 30 in-planning slated to open before the close of 2017.

Paying homage to Massachusetts’ rich colonial history, app adventurers can earn ranks (private to major general) as they travel and explore MA craft breweries. Incremental badges are earned after visiting five breweries, and regions can be conquered after checking into 15 or more breweries from that part of the state. Collect all of the regional badges to earn the Beer Trail Commander Badge and a Mass Brewers Guild Prize pack which includes a pint glass, T-shirt and your name glorified on the Mass Brewers Guild website. Collect 100 stamps or more and have your name entered to win a beer dinner with Sam Adams’ Jim Koch, Harpoon’s Dan Kenary, and Night Shift’s Rob Burns. Five entries will win. The runner up will receive a private guided beer tour from City Brew Bus with 10 friends.

“Visiting our breweries is the best way to support the craft beer community in Massachusetts,” says Stinchon. “Breweries employ locals, drive traffic and tourism to the state and pour world-class craft beer to thirsty locals and travelers. We hope this new program helps craft beer lovers find their next favorite beer.”

The mobile application was developed by Brewers Marketing, and made possible thanks to the generous support of the Mass Brew Bros who assisted with data collection, Fat Basset Design who created all of the badge artwork, and to New England Label for financial support. Funds raised through the Mass Brewers Guild’s festivals, Power Beer Fest and the Mass Fermentational will help to launch and maintain this program.

For more information about the Mass Brewers Guild, visit MassBrewersGuild.org.

About the Mass Brewers Guild:
The Mass Brewers Guild is the state’s nonprofit organization and trade association that works to protect and promote the interests of craft brewers across the Commonwealth. Founded in 2007, by a group of committed and passionate brewers, the association is membership based, and open to all Massachusetts breweries licensed by the Federal Tax and Trade Bureau and the Commonwealth’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.