OCB Launches New Handheld Beer Locator Mobile App

TORONTO, ON – (November 2010) – OCB Beer Locator – Finding your favourite Ontario Craft Beer is now swift and simple with a smart phone. Ontario Craft Brewers have developed two versions of a new mobile application – one touch-screen for the iPhone and another generic one for any GPS-enabled handheld device. The app, which can be downloaded free of charge, will help consumers find the nearest retail store that sells specific OCB brands.

“This technology will make holiday beer shopping more convenient. If you’re waiting for a seasonal favourite like Muskoka’s Harvest Ale to hit the shelves,” says Gary McMullen, Chair of Ontario Craft Brewers and President of Muskoka Cottage Brewery, “now you can search your smart phone by brand and it’ll point you to where to find it at the retail location nearest you.”

Developed in conjunction with The Learning Edge, the new app is designed to make finding OCB beer easy through a menu which lists beer sorted alphabetically by brands or by breweries. A Blackberry version of the app will be available later this Fall, and the OCB will continue to make enhancements to all versions through future releases. The OCB is looking forward to receiving feedback on this initial version from craft beer lovers who know and follow Ontario’s small brewing industry.

Basic functions include:

• Choose a beer brand to get more detailed information or specific tasting notes;
• The Find Beer button locates stores selling the beer;
• A map shows the retailers closest to you who are carrying your selected brand. Zoom out to see more locations;
• Select a retail location on the map to get street address details for that store;
• The Finder’s location appears as a blue disk. Red pins indicate the LCBO and green pins indicate The Beer Store.

Search for a holiday specialty like Heritage Brewing’s Blackcurrant Rye Lager and the app will give you a product code, take you to a map of the nearest retail locations selling that offering, and display tasting notes: Deep rich burgundy in colour. Flavours of blackcurrant dominate this dry complex tasting lager. Enjoy the fruity aroma through to the lingering finish.

“Ontario Craft Beer is closer to your fingertips – and your lips – than ever before,” says McMullen. “With over 150 brands to choose from, consumers can discover a world of quality and flavour with the quick touch of a screen.”

Ontario Craft Brewers: Discover the Difference
The Ontario Craft Brewers is an association of more than 25 small brewers dedicated to making great tasting, high quality beer in Ontario. The 25 members of the Ontario Craft Brewers brew their beers locally using fresh, all natural ingredients in communities throughout Ontario – from the Ottawa Valley to Waterloo and Niagara to Muskoka. Handcrafting over 150 premium beers, Ontario Craft Brewers employ about 600 people in Ontario, accounting for over 20 per cent of the overall brewing employment in the province. Ontario’s Craft Brewers’ share has more than doubled since 2002, going from slightly less than two per cent to approximately five per cent of the beer volume sold in Ontario and continues to be the fastest growing segment within the LCBO’s beer category. The OCB’s long term vision is to make Ontario a North American Centre of Excellence for Craft Brewing. Please discover responsibly.

For more information about the Ontario Craft Brewers, visit www.ontariocraftbrewers.com.