The tool rates and locates more than 8,300 Cask Marque accredited pubs, over 1,500 beers and 250 brewers. It provides information on tasting notes, special deals, and Wi-Fi hotspots, and can be used on both iPhone and Android smartphones.
Users can track pubs they have visited, and beers they have tried, before rating them and reviewing them for other users.
The upgrades allow users to:
- Organise their pub visits on the virtual map between those pubs which they have visited and those still on the wish list.
- Log on to different phones or devices and see their ale trail so no data is ever lost when they upgrade phones.
- Report any technical issues or non-displaying of certificates via the pub details page.
- Beer festivals are now displayed on a map making it easy to find a beer festival nearby.
- Scan bottled beer bar codes to read the Cyclops description, (a method of describing a beer’s smell and taste).
Paul Nunny, Cask Marque director, felt the investment was paying dividends. “We have a target of 100,000 uses a month by the year end. This upgrade will further engage cask ale drinkers and deliver more people to Cask Marque accredited pubs.
“A recent survey showed that 64% of 21 to 44-year-old cask ale drinkers recognise the Cask Marque plaque. This is a higher percentage than other age groups because of the CaskFinder app,” he said.
Currently, the app is used more than 50,000 times a month, and is gaining 1,300 users per week. To download the app go to www.cask-marque.co.uk/app, or visit the iTunes App store or Google Play Store.