An app to help beer lovers navigate local breweries is now available for Apple and Android devices, thanks to a team of beer enthusiasts and developers. Josh DeLozier, John Gignac and John Knight developed Beer Hop OK to support and encourage craft brewing in Oklahoma.
“We took what Ment Apparel was doing with Beer Hop Magazine and put it in people’s pocket 24/7,” DeLozier said. “The app gives them a list of approximately 75 breweries and brew pubs statewide, and it has up-to-the-minute information of what’s on tap.”
Users complete a very short profile in the app before accessing the features, which are designed around proximity. Breweries are listed from closest to farthest away, and clicking on one takes users to the brewery’s list of current offerings in the taproom.
“We collected initial information from their social media feeds and websites to populate the app, but now we’ll stay in regular communication with them to ensure accurate information,” DeLozier said. “In addition to the beer menu, we’ll have information about weekly and special events like trivia nights and festivals.”
The app includes only places that brew beer, so popular spots like Flix Brewhouse, Belle Isle Brewery and Bricktown Brewery (on Sheridan) will be available, but Bricktown Brewery locations that do not brew will not be on the app. DeLozier said they are working to include distilleries as well, but no release date has been announced.
“We’ll take advertising for the app, too,” he said. “We’ll include special announcements like a craft brewers festival as well as banner ads for breweries or beer-specific merchandise from manufacturers and suppliers.”
The app will not include a rating function. “We sat down with brewers, and they were not interested in another rating system; there are already plenty on the market. We want to promote local beer, not spend time policing user comments. We do, however, foresee a function to allow users to post pictures.”
Oklahoma Craft Beer Week
The annual statewide craft beer week is underway, and the Oklahoma Craft Brewers Association (CBAO) has all the information you need to make the most of this event. Executive director Tabbi Burwell said this year the organization has arranged Beer Week details day-to-day on the web calendar.
“If you click on the Events tab at craftbeerok.org, you’ll be taken to a daily calendar that lists what each participating brewery is doing that day,” Burwell said. “It includes information like activities and specials, as well as beer launches, including the Trail Mix beers.”
Trail Mix is the name given to the special beer each brewery is producing for Oklahoma Craft Beer Week. With the help of sponsors like Hopsteiner, BSG (a grain supplier) and Ment Apparel, participating breweries were given a deep discount on Cascade hops, grain donations to smaller breweries and design services (Ment) to promote the event.
“We asked each brewery to make a beer with Cascade hop and Pilsner malt,” Burwell said. “Beyond that, they could do what they wanted with the style, ingredients, etc. Nothing’s Left in Tulsa opted for a margarita-lime gose called Oceanfront Property in Oklahoma, and Vanessa House in Auto Alley made a dry-hopped Pilsner. Each brewery puts the Trail Mix variation on tap through the week.”
Oklahoma Craft Beer Week runs through May 22, and 43 Oklahoma breweries are participating. One dollar from the sale of each Trail Mix beer goes to support the CBAO.