BREW NEWS: BeerPickr helps users establish which beer they want and where they can get it; Bend brewers find inspiration on the trail.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
A Portland-based startup is aiming to be the guide for picky beer drinkers.
BeerPickr helps users establish which beer they want and where they can get it, the Portland Business Journal reports.
The duo [David Stockman and Josh Caldwell] are releasing a beta version of the Web app, which will work in a mobile browser, on Friday afternoon. Eventually, the team will build native apps. To start, the app will focus on tap lists among 10 Sellwood neighborhood establishments. Stockman hopes 100 spots will use the app regularly during the month-long beta. While many other apps crowdsource the information, Stockman wants to use more reliable sources.
“We have two big assumptions we need to test,” Stockman said. “Do people want to search for this and can we get this to people who want to search for beers. And, do establishments want to post tap lists online, do they want access to the people and push it on their social channels and do they want to pay for that?”
The company is hoping that businesses will see its service as a marketing tool.
Bend brewers find inspiration on the trail
Oregon Natural Desert Association is partnering with Beers Made by Walking for the second-straight year, aiming to inspire beermakers by the sights, sounds and smells of nature.
From the Bend Bulletin:
Cam O’Connor, a brewer at Bend’s Crux Fermentation Project, participated in the first Central Oregon walk of the year — Beers Made by Walking helps organize hikes in Washington, Colorado, North Carolina and several areas of Oregon — a roughly 3-mile jaunt Wednesday along the Scout Camp Trail, part of the Deschutes Canyon Area proposed wilderness area near Crooked River Ranch. Led by Oregon Natural Desert Association’s Central Oregon wilderness coordinator Gena Goodman-Campbell, O’Connor and a motley crew of journalists, beer geeks and outdoor enthusiasts trekked into the Deschutes River Canyon where the Deschutes and Whychus Creek meet. O’Connor found the hike awe-inspiring and was excited to get to the drawing board for his Beers Made by Walking brew.
“A lot of the wild herbs and plants (on the trail), we can find a lot of those commercially,” said O’Connor, whose beer, along with the two other Central Oregon Beers Made by Walking brews — and possibly others from around the Pacific Northwest — will be unveiled in the fall at a tasting party.
