Perfect Pint

[ROBCamra]

Has anyone tried using http://www.perfectpint.co.uk/ ?

The idea is that when a new beer is put on the bar the pub updates Perfect Pint and you can then see what is on the bar at any pub you're going to.

The Baum keeps theirs up to date, however most pubs are very selective.

e.g. Most JDWs say they have Ruddles and GK Abbot on, well I could have told you that!! :muppet:

Even The Welly in Brum only admits to about 8 on currently, which is unlikely.

It would be fantastic if it was up to date, but at the moment it just doesn't work as they have to rely on other people to input the data.

If pubs really made an effort it would be great to be able to search for a beer you want to try and see if anyone in your area is stocking it. :cheers:

[Brewguru]

I had a look round on this the other day - as you say it is up to the pub to keep it up to date, mostly it seemed to list the permanent beers (as in the JDWs) with any info on guest ales missing. I find the pubs that post their own information on their websites, FB or twitter tend to be more accurate.

A useful site for those few pubs who will keep it up to date but I mostly found pubs that stocked Tribute, Doom Bar or Butcombe round these parts (to be fair that is true for 90% of cask ale in the South West).

[Gann]

Yes, I've had it on my iphone for 8 months now but have almost given up using it...

Like a lot of this type of App it is built around a solid idea but falls down because it relies on regular data updates and these just don't happen.

"The Baum keeps theirs up to date, however most pubs are very selective."
Actually no, most pubs don't bother. When the app was originated the designers included the permanent beers or house ales for their initial pub inputs but any rotating guests have to be updated by the pub.
Hence the reason why all JDW outlets only show the GK stuff and for all the local pubs close to me the shown beers have not changed in all the time the app has been taking up memory space on my phone..

So in conclusion, unless you are very lucky and your local contributes to the data update of the app (like those of you who utilize the Baum,) this app is next to useless.

The only reason I keep it is in case I am in a strange area and have not done the research on PuG first, then it is useful to check if a nearby pub at least stocks real ale and what the permanent offerings are.

[Al 10000]

I would rather it be a surprise when going into a new pub,that way you never know what you are going to see on the bar.

I have been in some nice looking pubs and once inside there are no real ales on,that is a surprise,on the other hand i have been in some pubs with daft names and was expecting fizzy beers to be on the bar, then to my surprise i see some really nice real ales on the bar.

This is what i enjoy about pub crawling,never knowing what i will get in the next pub.

[Mobyduck]

I would rather it be a surprise when going into a new pub,that way you never know what you are going to see on the bar.

I have been in some nice looking pubs and once inside there are no real ales on,that is a surprise,on the other hand i have been in some pubs with daft names and was expecting fizzy beers to be on the bar, then to my surprise i see some really nice real ales on the bar.

This is what i enjoy about pub crawling,never knowing what i will get in the next pub.
I know we all have different outlooks when visiting new pubs, but I personally don't want to waste time visiting pubs that offer no real ale.My mission is discovering for want of a better phrase hidden gem's (for some unknown reason this phrase annoys me) , to me a good pub includes good beer to my taste as well as as being a nice place to be.

[trainman]

...for want of a better phrase hidden gem's (for some unknown reason this phrase annoys me) ,.
Referral to the apostrophe police will indicate what annoys about that phrase Mobyduck :whistle:, but I concur with the sentiment - too little time to spend visiting unworthies; there are only so many pints I can drink in my life, so I may as well try not to waste any...

[Al 10000]

I know we all have different outlooks when visiting new pubs, but I personally don't want to waste time visiting pubs that offer no real ale.My mission is discovering for want of a better phrase hidden gem's (for some unknown reason this phrase annoys me) , to me a good pub includes good beer to my taste as well as as being a nice place to be.

How will you find an hidden jem if you only go in pubs that you have already looked into to see if any real ales are available,by means of reviews or pub guides or on the internet.

I do sometimes find hidden jems because when i visit an area i try and do all pubs in that area,so i dont miss any pubs in that area.

I do understand what you are both saying about wanting to only do good pubs with decent beer on the bar,but to find unknown pubs you have to do some leg work and take the good with the bad.

I am a real ale drinker and have done so since 1980,but i also like going in different pubs and if no real ale is on so be it.

[Mobyduck]

How will you find an hidden jem if you only go in pubs that you have already looked into to see if any real ales are available,by means of reviews or pub guides or on the internet.

I do sometimes find hidden jems because when i visit an area i try and do all pubs in that area,so i dont miss any pubs in that area.

I do understand what you are both saying about wanting to only do good pubs with decent beer on the bar,but to find unknown pubs you have to do some leg work and take the good with the bad.

I am a real ale drinker and have done so since 1980,but i also like going in different pubs and if no real ale is on so be it.
All fair comments and you certainly have done some leg work over the years. There is nothing I enjoy more than finding a new pub I didn't know about that turns out to be a winner, I do indeed seek them out , but if I walk into a pub and its evident its not a good place to be I'm not going to hang around suffering a half of Fosters or Doom Bar when the next pub down the road may be the real deal, but that's me, I think you do a good job visiting pubs good or bad Al, and I'm sure you enjoy it, but when a day trip to London, for example, costs me approximately £60.00 all in , travel ,beer ,and food , I tend to be a bit choosy.

[rpadam]

All fair comments and you certainly have done some leg work over the years. There is nothing I enjoy more than finding a new pub I didn't know about that turns out to be a winner, I do indeed seek them out , but if I walk into a pub and its evident its not a good place to be I'm not going to hang around suffering a half of Fosters or Doom Bar when the next pub down the road may be the real deal, but that's me, I think you do a good job visiting pubs good or bad Al, and I'm sure you enjoy it, but when a day trip to London, for example, costs me approximately £60.00 all in , travel ,beer ,and food , I tend to be a bit choosy.
When visiting a new town, I always like to try at least one place that isn't on a list of recommendations but which just catches the eye when walking past. On a recent brief stop in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Free Trade (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/30404/) caught my attention - albeit just to double-check that it had actually served its final pint a few years ago and could be safely marked as closed. As you can see, this wasn't actually the case and I'm glad that I plucked up the courage to venture in.

[aleandhearty]

Finally got round to checking out the site. Wakefield only had 22 listings, three of which were clubs! Although some had their permanent beers listed, (outdated at that) many did not. Not very impressed.

[Beer Doctor]

Gentlemen,

Long-time sporadic lurker and just happened to stumble upon this thread. I'm one of the Perfect Pint developers, so I figured I'd explain a few things and answer questions, if you have any.

Yes, you are perfectly right, Rob – it is only as good as its content. A project like this is always going to be very long-term, as one needs to build up a presence and reliability to get ‘over the hump’ of initial reluctance. Once over that hump, I think it will take off on its own. A concept like PP is something people have been wanting for quite a long time, the problem is implementation. Like any technological startup, there is initial scepticism, especially since many (but not all!) similar endeavours have failed and/or teeter on sustainability. On the other hand, there are areas where PP has really taken off and in these places, the pubs as well as locals are very enthusiastic (surprising even my usual cynical self).

The tricky bit is getting there for as many areas as we can. The potential is there but, ultimately, it comes down to staying power, quality of the product and visibility.

In terms of staying power, we know we’ll have to be here for years and that’s exactly what we plan to do. As I said, the clusters we have are showing that the concept works; it’s just about expanding it. And for that, we need to give it the chance to do so.

The quality of the product – the first iPhone version was a start and we got a lot out of pub and user feedback out of it. I’m currently testing the new iPhone version as well as the Android app. These will be vastly improved and, Android release especially, will give us a substantially increased mobile user base. In terms of content, we have finished the first stage of getting the ‘Always Ons’. I know, there’s only so many Greene King IPAs one needs to see around them, but think of it as a foundation for the next step. ;) For the last couple of months, our focus has been getting pubs on board, so that is where we are heading now and this should noticeably increase guest content in the areas we’re targeting.

In terms of visibility, that is partly marketing and partly participation – after all, it was designed as a social app and website. There are areas we target directly but for others, from what I have observed, the places where it really took off are places where users took an active interest – they liked the idea when one pub was using it and so told the landlord of another pub about it and they got in touch with us. Most landlords/ladies seem quite keen on the idea (as it does simplify their life a bit), so that sort of ‘pub crawl spread’ seems to be working quite well.

Or, in the case of aleandhearty, if you find we are missing important pubs – do send us an email with the names and we’ll put them in. There’s eight of us working on this full time, so whilst we’re working, at times, rather eccentric hours to make sure we’re up-to-date, we do get a lot of input and feedback from users. The new versions are predominantly based on user feedback, for instance.

I know it is tricky – I myself use many an app where I think “yeah, this is great… but it would be better if they did this or that”. But, being on the other side now, I realise telepathy rarely works, so unless we know of a problem/deficiency, there’s little we can do to fix it. Also, when we do find out about it, there is development time needed to improve things. Some seemingly minor fixes can take weeks. This I’ve learnt the hard way. Some platforms in particular are a nightmare to work with at times. Which is why it will take a while to get it where we want it to be.

Either way, I’m glad some of you have tried the app. In many ways, this sort of frustrated feedback, especially from people who would be using the app on a daily basis, is best. And I know there are frustrations, which is what led me to jumping on board this project in the first place. And I think you know I can’t say “tomorrow, it’ll all be there”. But I also know that, when it works, it is exactly what I hoped it would be. Hopefully, within a year or so, with the steps we are now taking, we’ll be at a stage where, I think, most of us would want something like this to be.

Finally, if you do have any specific feedback, please do let us know (email, call or feedback form on the website), as I can’t understate just how good user feedback has been so far.

Anyway, since there is a topic for this, I just thought I’d explain a few things ‘straight from the source’.

[ROBCamra]

Thanks for the insight. You'll get plenty of sympathy from Dave & Conrad (the Admins & Developer) on this site about some of your difficulties.

As I mentioned earlier The Baum (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/55901/) has been using it for a little while. They also announce each new beer on Twitter.

I believe it was mentioned to the guys at Flying Horse Hotel (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/19928/) and they now use it as well as Twitter.

It does need dedication from the pub if they serve 7 changing guest ales as The Baum do, as some only last a couple of hours.

I think that Simon (landlord at The Baum) will continue to use it as long as he thinks it's worthwhile.

If it doesn't move forwards and doesn't increase footfall then he'll probably stop.

I suspect this is true of all users of most sites though.

Best of luck with it guys. :cheers: