Untappd - how to read beer ratings and why to log them
You reach for a new beer in a pub, scan the label with your phone and in a second see its rating, hundreds of reviews and tasting notes from people around the world. Welcome to Untappd, the most popular beer app in the world, which turned drinking beer into a social experience and a personal journal. For some it is a brilliant tool for discovering and remembering beers, for others a needless gadget that distracts from the drinking itself. But what actually is Untappd, how to read its ratings and why log what you drink at all? Understanding how it works and how to approach the ratings sensibly lets you get the most out of it, without going crazy over the points. Here is a practical guide to Untappd: how it works, how to read ratings and badges, why to keep a beer journal and how to use community ratings wisely.
What Untappd is
Let us start with the basics. Untappd is a geosocial networking service and mobile app that lets users check in, that is record, as they drink beer, and share these check-ins and their location with friends. It is a combination of three things: a personal beer journal, a social network and a database of ratings. In practice, every time you drink a beer, you can check it in within the app, rating it and noting your impressions, and the app gathers it all in your history. Untappd has become the standard among beer lovers, especially craft ones, because it combines fun, discovery and community in one place. It is a tool that turns drinking beer into a conscious, recorded experience. Understanding this triple nature - journal, community, ratings database - is the key to how to use it. Each of these dimensions has its value, which we will get to shortly.
How a check-in works
The heart of Untappd is the so-called check-in. A check-in is the term for recording or rating a beer. Making one, you can add plenty of information: a photo, tasting notes, a rating, the serving style, friends, the location or place of purchase and the flavour profile. In other words, a check-in lets you say what you are drinking, where you are drinking it and how you rate it. It is the basic action in the app, around which everything else revolves. You can check a beer in quickly, with just a rating, or extensively, with a full description and a photo. Every check-in goes into your history, building a personal journal of everything you have drunk. It is a simple but powerful tool for remembering beers that would otherwise quickly blur in memory. The check-in is the foundation of the whole Untappd experience, combining noting, rating and sharing in one gesture.
How to read ratings
The most important feature for many is the ratings, so it is worth knowing how to read them. Users rate individual beers based on how much they like them, on a scale of one to five stars, adding their own tasting notes. The ratings of all users for a given beer aggregate into a composite rating, visible publicly for each beer in the database. It is this averaged rating that appears when you scan or search for a beer. How to read it sensibly? A rating above four stars is usually a very good beer, around three and a half is solid, and below three can be average or specific. It is worth also looking at the number of ratings: a beer with thousands of ratings gives a more reliable picture than one with a few. The composite rating is a useful signpost, but not a verdict - treat it as a clue, not the final truth about whether a beer will taste good to you.
Badges and gamification
Untappd is famous for its element of gamification, which makes logging beers addictive. As you check in different beers, you earn badges. Badges split into local, beer, venue and special ones. Beer badges are earned for the number of unique beers, for the country or region of origin of the beer, for its style or for various actions, like checking in the same beer several times in a row. Venue badges are earned for checking in at different places, like breweries, restaurants or festivals. This badge system turns discovering beer into a game, motivating you to try new styles, regions and places. For many users, collecting badges is an added thrill that drives exploration of the beer world. Gamification makes logging beers not a chore but a pleasant game. It is a clever way to encourage conscious, varied drinking, rather than returning again and again to the same thing.
Why log what you drink
Let us get to the heart of it: why log the beers you drink at all? The main value is memory. Untappd lets you track what you have already tried and what you thought of it, by checking a beer in and rating it. It solves a real problem: without logging, beers quickly blur in memory, and after a year you do not remember whether a given beer tasted good. Thanks to the journal you will never accidentally buy something that did not suit you, and you will always recall the name of a beer you loved. It is also a way to consciously track your own flavour development and discover which styles you like most. Logging turns passive drinking into a conscious experience you learn from. It is exactly the same idea as keeping a home beer tasting - noting impressions deepens the pleasure and the knowledge. A beer journal is an investment in your own taste.
Social features and discovery
Untappd is not only a journal but also a powerful tool for discovery and a community. The app lets you rate the beers you drink, earn badges, share photos, browse tap lists from nearby venues, see what friends are drinking, comment on their check-ins and ask the app for suggestions of similar drinks. The last is especially valuable: based on your taste, Untappd can recommend beers that will probably taste good to you. You can also find nearby breweries, bars and pubs with live tap menus, which is invaluable when travelling or in an unfamiliar city. The social dimension lets you follow friends and discover beers through their recommendations. These features make Untappd not just a notebook but a guide to the beer world. For someone who likes discovering new beers, this tool opens the door to endless exploration based on real data and community.
How to approach ratings sensibly
Here we must make an important caveat, so as not to go crazy over the points. The ratings on Untappd are useful, but they are community ratings, not an objective truth about quality. Taste is subjective, so a highly rated beer may not suit you, and a low-rated one may delight you. First, popular styles, like heavily hopped IPAs, usually have higher ratings, because the active community likes them, which does not mean they are objectively better than a subtle lager. Second, ratings can be inflated for rare, fashionable beers. Third, your taste may differ from the average. That is why you should treat ratings as one of the signposts, not the only criterion. The most important thing is your own palate, not the number of stars. Untappd works best when you use it for discovery and logging, not for blindly trusting the points. A sensible distance from the ratings is the key to making the app serve you rather than rule you.
Is it worth it and for whom
Finally, an honest assessment: is Untappd for everyone? It depends on what you are looking for. If you like discovering new beers, remembering what tasted good and approaching drinking consciously, Untappd is a great tool that genuinely enriches the beer adventure. If you value community and sharing, the social dimension is added. On the other hand, if you prefer drinking without a phone and do not want to turn every beer into a task to record, you need not use it - you can enjoy beer perfectly well without an app. Untappd is not an obligation but an option that gives some a lot and bothers others. It is worth trying and judging for yourself whether logging deepens your pleasure or disturbs it. The most important thing is for the app to serve your joy in beer, not take it away. For a conscious, curious drinker it is usually a valuable tool worth trying.
The essentials in brief
Let us gather it up. Untappd is an app combining a personal beer journal, a social network and a ratings database. The heart is the check-in, recording a beer with a rating, notes and a photo. Ratings on a one-to-five-star scale aggregate into a composite rating - read it with the number of ratings and treat it as a signpost, not a verdict. The badge system and gamification make logging addictive. The main value of logging is memory: you track what you tried and what you thought of it, and develop your own taste. Social features and suggestions help discover new beers. Approach the ratings sensibly, because they are community ratings, not an objective truth, and your palate counts most. Now you know how to read Untappd and why to log beer, so the app enriches your beer adventure.
Whatever the app, you can note every beer in GustoNote - the style, brewery, rating and impressions. Over time you will build your own journal of flavours and discover which styles and breweries hit your taste best.