The Beer Up Here - Alaskan Beer App - And Ben Kerosky's Last Anchorage Stand - iPhone 5c

The Beer Up Here is an iPhone app that allows folks to track down all the Alaska breweries, their beers, and the places that serve them.  Two guys from Eagle River put it together  - one a beer fanatic and the other a software guy.  If you're looking for a place to get a good local beer, this app will tell you where they are available, how they are made,  
and what's on tap that day.  I was impressed.  

Joe Tranquilla

At Wednesday night's Alaska Apple Users Group (AAUG) Joe Tranquilla sounded pretty obsessive in all the details that he has in the app, plus serious photos.  Anyone looking for places to drink Alaskan beers or just to know what all is available, should check out this app.  As he explained, they keep things constantly updated.



Here's The Beer Up Here blog's latest post (Sept. 7, 2013):

"We just added the 300th beer to the app! The Broken Tooth Beg, Yarrow or Steal – a saison with hand-picked Alaskan yarrow and juniper berries. Our initial release included 255 beers. So we’ve added 45 beers in the 35 days the app has been live. That’s an average of more than one beer a day. If you buy the app, you get all those beers and a growing database for the price of a beer. Thanks for the support!"

Someone asked about the cost of the app.  It's $4.99.  He said he gets about $3.50 for each one bought and Apple keeps the rest.  Also says he gets his check about every six weeks, though Apple says they pay monthly.  If they hold the money on 1 million apps for an average of three weeks, they could pick up a nice amount of interest every month.  I bet they get more than my credit union is offering. 

The second half of the meeting was a presentation by UAA grad and long time Apple representative in Anchorage - Ben Kerosky.  Ben's leaving tomorrow by car for Seattle where he takes on a new job which will include visiting Apple outlets around the Seattle area.  (J and I will follow him a few days later down the highway.) 

Ben's last hurrah at AAUG was a presentation on the new iPhones 5c and 5s.  He had a 5c that he demonstrated with.  I still have a dumb phone, but I attend

Ben Kerosky and Apple 5c Demo

these meetings  so I at least know what others are spending their money on and figuring out if anything does things I need bad enough to spend the money on. 

One nice feature I didn't know about is a Do Not Disturb button that lets you shut off the phone when you don't want to hear from others - like during the night. 

It does allow, he said, someone who calls twice in a row to break through the barrier, so he suggested you only let friends do this.  And I'd be careful which friends. 

He also answered one of the questions I had about the 5s' new fingerprint id.  You can have up to five different people and you can also use a pass code as a back up. 

Ben has been one of the youngest folks to attend on a regular basis and he does it as part of his job.  I suspect with the younger crowd, all they friends give them the info that the older crowd gets at these meetings.  We're going to miss Ben, he's been a great resource at the AAUG and at Best Buy. 

The Alaska Apple User Group meets on the (as of this month) second Wednesday of the month at the BP Energy Center.  You can check the AAUG website too.  They have some spectacular iPhone Photography winners for 2013.  These are really fantastic images.