BERLIN — Shore Craft Beer, working with the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC) and funding from the Rural Maryland Council, has created a state-of-the-art app to help users interact with local breweries on the shore.
The new app was first released in beta form at the Love on Tap festival Feb. 29 in Ocean City, resulting in the highest number of downloads of the Shore Craft Beer App ever. Then, the coronavirus struck and closed breweries and bars. During this time, Shore Craft Beer worked with OCDC and app developer 5th Floor Inc. out of Baltimore to add marketing and user functionality given COVID realities in the marketplace.
Now, Shore Craft Beer with OCDC is launching the Mission Possible campaign to bring attention to the craft brewing industry on the Eastern Shore of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. A film challenging craft beer partners was commissioned, signs for partners printed and an entire month of prizes planned for app users and businesses.
Shore Craft Beer will be delivering signs to breweries and craft beer related businesses that users can scan to download the App.
“The brewing industry is struggling during COVID. We want to highlight the breweries here on the shore and let people know that they can experience these breweries and buy their beer in many different ways” said Ann McGinnis Hillyer, CEO of Shore Craft Beer. “The State of Maryland has done a lot to help breweries and we want to promote that.”
Maryland has allowed the shipping of local craft beer during the COVID crisis thanks to an executive order by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and many breweries have taken advantage of this opportunity to get local craft beer into the hands of buyers safely. Additionally, the Comptroller of Maryland announced the relaxation of rules regarding limits of the amount of craft beer sold directly from the brewery. Take-out and delivery options have become popular and now outdoor drinking options are expanding across the state and the shore.
The new Shore Craft Beer App helps users find local craft beer near them. It allows users to check in at a brewery just by buying and trying their beer and not necessarily by visiting the brewery personally. It allows users to check into virtual events and keep track of all the beer they have tried. In addition, the app pulls each brewery’s list of beers from Untappd so that a user can find the most popular beers easily.
Challenges are listed and breweries are adding prizes to be awarded to winners of each challenge. The Gallery of Champions celebrates all winners, both on the app and the ShoreCraftBeer.com website.
“We will be introducing new discounts, new prizes, and many exciting virtual experiences for App users” said Anne Neely, director of Shore Craft Beer.
McGinnis Hillyer added, “With the world-class craft beer here on the shore, the world-class beauty of our towns and natural resources, and with this app, we can all work together to ensure that the Shore is recognized as a top craft beer destination. This mission is possible.”
To kick off the Mission Possible launch, Shore Craft Beer is awarding one “beercation” each week throughout the month of September through the app. The first week’s prize is from the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel, which is offering a two-night stay and Shore Craft Beer is adding a gift certificate to Odyssea Watersports. The second week’s prize is from the The Princess Royale, which is offering the two-night stay for the second week. This beercation includes a $25 gift certificate to Longboard Cafe.
All a user has to do to be entered in the random drawing is download and log into the Shore Craft Beer App. App users should share that they downloaded the app on the Shore Craft Beer Facebook page as well as liking and sharing the Facebook page. Additional pop-up prizes will be awarded to fans of the Shore Craft Beer Facebook page.