New York State Brewers Association Debuts Official New York Craft Beer App

"New York Craft Beer" Official App Debuts from New York State Brewers Association!

New York — New York is an incredible innovation hub renowned for spearheading industries with cutting-edge initiatives. The New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA) follows suit with the debut of its state-of-the-art New York Craft Beer iOS/Android app. 326 craft breweries currently operate across the state — the most NYS breweries since Prohibition — with a $4 billion economic impact ranking 4th highest in the country. The NYSBA launches the first app of its kind with a hyper-localized focus on the substantive craft brewery growth throughout the state. The New York Craft Beer app is now available for download in the iTunes store.

A one-stop mobile location for New York State breweries and beers, the New York Craft Beer app captures the spirit of entrepreneurship and ingenuity taking shape in all corners of the state. NYSBA is at the forefront of educating consumers in real-time as New York State breweries open at an unprecedented rate. The New York Craft Beer app serves as an industry leader delivering essential brewery information to craft beer aficionados with an easy-to-navigate mobile interface. The app helps bolster local economies with its incentives program encouraging consumers to discover and visit local breweries across the state.

The cornerstone of the New York Craft Beer app is the rewards-based Passport program. By visiting New York State breweries and checking in on the app once onsite, consumers earn points to be redeemed in the app’s store. Show your love of New York State craft beer and get exclusive rewards, including deep discounts at breweries, t-shirts, regional NYS posters featuring original artwork by local designers, plaques and more. The Passport is valid for 1-year from the time of users’ first passport stamp.

The New York Craft Beer app is the go-to source for all things New York State craft beer with the following features:

*Map of every brewery in New York State (the only app with this feature!)*Beer and brewery rating system*Up-to-date brewery info including beers on tap, events and hours *Organize your own brewery tours*Label scanning tool for beer style suggestions (scan macro or out of state beers, the app suggests similar NYS beers)*Recommend beers to friends*New York State Craft Brewers Festival event dates*Photobooth and social media integration*Craft beer educational tools and style guide*Stay in the know on New York State brewing news

“As the number of breweries in New York State continues to grow, we wanted to create an exciting app with a Passport program to reward users based on the number of breweries they visit throughout the state,” says Paul Leone, Executive Director of the New York State Brewers Association. “It was also essential to make it easy for users to locate every brewery, either through a statewide map, regional maps, or simply by locating the breweries ‘nearby’, no matter where they are in the state.”

“I like many of the features of the app, but there are two things I love,” comments Chris Ericson, Lake Placid Pub & Brewery. “The first is that this app is controlled and monitored by the New York breweries themselves, meaning the info is first-hand, accurate, and up-to-date. The second thing I love is the ‘Nearby Breweries’ feature, so no matter where I travel in NY, I am one button away from knowing the closest breweries to my location. The app is well laid out, and easy to use, and I am already using it almost every day.”

New York State’s thriving beer scene is now one of the countries most exciting destinations for premier craft brews. With so many new breweries popping up around the state and thousands of new beers to taste, the NYSBA makes it easy for beer lovers to unearth their favorite new releases and brewpubs. The New York Craft Beer app is free and awaits craft beer enthusiasts to take full advantage of its features.

About the New York State Brewers Association
The NYSBA was cofounded in 2003 by David Katleski of Empire Brewing Company to serve as a promotional and legislative proponent for New York State breweries, microbreweries, brewpubs and brewing affiliated businesses. The growth of the Craft Beer segment continues to be strong and New York State’s share of that growth has exceeded that of breweries on the national level.

In 2013, the NYSBA appointed Paul Leone as its first ever Executive Director as well as a new Board of Directors with revitalized energy and expertise. With this added level of managerial experience, the NYSBA is working diligently to rival other State’s associations and guilds and bring self-sustainability, and profitability to an already strong and vital organization.