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International Beer day on Social Media

That’s right beer lovers, August 5 will now and forevermore be known as International Beer Day. If you thought all your hops loving had to take place offline, think again. International Beer Day started in 2007 when Jesse Avshalomov persuaded his local bar to celebrate. The following year, the site’s celebratory mission had spread to England and South Africa. The site now encourages beer lovers to plan their own events or join a group. We’ve decided to celebrate responsibly as well — at least during work hours — by compiling the best web apps for beer lovers. Some allow you to check in at bars and post beer brags to your friends. Others host educational forums and home brewing tips for the serious ale aficionado. All in all, these apps
provide great opportunities to hone your beer knowledge and celebrate the day properly.



According to these sites, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere.

1. Untappd




Although Untappd revolves around strong mobile app activity, its web presence is just as engaging. A feed called "The Pub" lists where and what beer fans are drinking. Users are free to check in to bars and rate beers to contribute to a trending beer list.


2. BrewGene




BrewGene allows you to archive beers alongside ratings and tasting notes. Based on your ratings, the site will suggest new beers to try. You can also add friends to check on their ale activity.


3. Taplister




Taplister helps fans find their favorite craft brews locally. Search major cities and brew hubs by bar or brew and discover which watering holes have run dry. Also feel free to tweet Taplister when beers come on or off tap to keep the community updated.


4. Pintley




Similar to BrewGene, this site also hosts forums to which many beer fans have contributed, for example, "Beer in Italy" and "Home Brewing Disasters."


5. BeerCloud




BeerCloud acts as a repository for all of your beer bookmarks. Rate brews, save favorites, write tasting notes, map nearby retailers and create your own beer lists. It's perfect for the organized beer lover, however rare he or she may be.


6. RateBeer


Recognized as one of the top resources for beer information, ratings and reviews, RateBeer hosts a community for users that spans 60 countries. The site encourages user to help populate its many brew resources.


7. The Full Pint


A comprehensive resource for beer industry news, The Full Pint encourages breweries and distributors to keep fans up-to-date. Furthermore, search hundreds of beers by type and filter news by brewery.


8. BeerAdvocate


Based on its namesake magazine, BeerAdvocate's homepage hosts a live forum feed comprised of helpful brew advice and recommendations. Contribute to the community by awarding a letter grade to the latest beer you've sampled. More than 61,100 beer reviews already exist in the expansive database.

QR Codes on Oxfam Clothes Reveal Celebrities

Oxfam added a digital twist to one of its stores in London earlier this year — one to make high-end fashion stores envious. Take a smartphone picture of the QR codes attached to the tags on Oxfam’s items, and you’ll see videos of celebrities telling the stories behind their former pieces that were on sale. The store, called the Oxfam Curiosity Shop, was a pop-up shop this past spring within London’s Selfridges department store. It garnered all manner of celebrity clothing donations and some hand-picked vintage styles.



Proceeds from the sales go toward supporting Oxfam‘s charitable efforts. Big-name celebrities including Annie Lennox, Colin Firth, Helen Mirren and Kate Moss, donated pretty impressive clothing.

The shop paired with tech company Tales of Things to attach QR codes to every item. Potential buyers could scan the codes with their phones or with an RFID reader in the store. After scanning, a short video launched of a star explaining what the article of clothing means to them or where the money will go.

For example, scanning a code on a dress donated by Annie Lennox reveals that she wore it to Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday party.