Glasgow according to Untappd users

Untappd is a social media app that is most easily described as “Foursquare for beer”. If that doesn’t mean anything to you either, Untappd involves using a smartphone to check in whenever you drink a beer at a particular location. Fun? Maybe. Useful? Possibly not very much, unless you use it to stalk your friends. Or you’re already a ticker and use it to track your drinking instead of your old notebook.

This is the sort of data that is just fun on an individual level, but starts to become interesting as it accumulates. And there’s now enough data that we can start playing with it.

When we started plotting these checkins on a Google Map for Glasgow Beer Week in 2011, Untappd was still very new and there weren’t many users in the city, but we were confident that the number would grow. And it has. In 2012, the first full year of mapping the checkins, there were just over 10,000 checkins in and around Glasgow from a total of 326 unique users. The most dedicated were:

Glasgow’s top Untappd users
UserNumber of checkins
gimrie593
Stewart572
Netclectic485
robsterowski365
AdamSh327
weetabixface321
chriscjchegs317
glasgow_red226
RingRabbit224
tombie213
stephdrinksstuff204
WeeAl197
emmar191
GJDunbar178
werewegian177
alasdairwclark162
elvislution158
tiggtag150
FleshersHaugh148
BeerBore5000137
marty80116
willmill111
el.loserio104
dunc_williams97
axdain97
stumac8489
Sibon84
KieranFurie83
montusama82
hardtoignore79

From over 10,000 checkins there were 1959 unique beers. Now there are of course some massive caveats meaning that analysis of this data cannot mean very much. It is representative of Untappd users and not beer drinkers as a whole. And the dataset of 10,000 is not that huge in the grand scheme of things. It would be nice to know how many beers in total are downed yearly in Glasgow, just to point out how insignificant we are. Let’s take individual beers first of all.

Most popular beers
BeerNumber of checkins
Tennent's Lager126
Fyne Ales Jarl119
Guinness Draught115
West St Mungo101
BrewDog 5 A.M. Saint94
Williams Bros Scottish Joker I.P.A.75
BrewDog Punk IPA75
West Munich Red73
Harviestoun Brewery Bitter & Twisted59
Fyne Ales Avalanche57
Caledonian Brewery Deuchars IPA55
West Hefeweizen51
Belhaven IPA46
Belhaven Best46
BrewDog Tokyo*45
Cobra Beer Partnership Cobra Premium44
BrewDog Dead Pony Club43
Black Isle Brewery Blonde41
Thornbridge Jaipur41
BrewDog / Mikkeller I Hardcore You38
Fyne Ales Hurricane Jack38
BrewDog Libertine Black Ale37
Williams Bros Caesar Augustus36
BrewDog Paradox Jura35
Harviestoun Brewery Natural Blonde33
The Kelburn Brewing Company Goldihops33
Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Lager32
Orkney Brewery Dark Island32
The Kelburn Brewing Company Cart Noir31
Nøgne Ø Pale Ale31
Fyne Ales Zombier31
BrewDog Jack Hammer31
Stewart Brewing (Scotland) Edinburgh No.330
BrewDog Hardcore IPA29
Cromarty Brewing Co Red Rocker28
BrewDog Zeitgeist28
Williams Bros Blackball28
Fyne Ales Rune28
Cromarty Brewing Co Happy Chappy27
Williams Bros Double Joker DIPA27
Coors Brewing Company Blue Moon Belgian White27
The Kelburn Brewing Company Jaguar27
Williams Bros Draught27
Fyne Ales Vital Spark27
Hawkshead Windermere Pale26
Williams Brothers Brewing Company Birds and Bees26
Harviestoun Brewery Schiehallion26
Tempest Brewing Co A Face With No Name25
Budweiser Budvar Premium Dark Lager25
Williams Bros Profanity Stout25

What’s immediately noticeable here is that, despite the Untappd demographic being weighted against it, Tennent’s Lager still manages to come top, showing how heavily it dominates Glasgow drinking. A strong showing for Fyne Jarl too, and there’s a lot of Guinness being consumed. But I don’t see any other mass-market beers on the list, no Fosters or Carlsberg. For the breweries themselves, adding up all their checkins, these were the most popular from a total of 665 unique breweries:

Most popular breweries
BreweryNumber of checkins
BrewDog962
Fyne Ales565
Williams Bros527
WEST Brewery295
The Kelburn Brewing Company210
Tempest Brewing Co191
Mikkeller165
Tennent Caledonian Brewery163
Harviestoun Brewery161
Houston137
Guinness129
Magic Rock Brewing126
Tryst117
Orkney Brewery (Sinclair Breweries)112
The Kernel Brewery101
Stone Brewing Co.99
Cairngorm Brewery Co.96
Dark Star Brewing Co88
Summer Wine Brewery80
Hawkshead77
Evil Twin Brewing73
Isle of Arran Brewery Co.71
Stewart Brewing 70
Belhaven Brewery (Greene King)69
Strathaven Ales69
Cromarty Brewing Co.66
Flying Dog Brewery66
Caledonian Brewery (Heineken UK)65
Inveralmond Brewery59



Look at that! Mikkeller ahead of Tennent’s! Tennent’s clearly benefits in the first table from having one flagship product, whereas Mikkeller’s checkins are spread over a selection of different beers. This is also true of Guinness and, to an extent, WEST.

And, now, the most popular places to drink the beers – here are the top scorers out of 530 unique venues.

Most popular venues
VenueNumber of checkins
Brewdog Bar1693
The State Bar811
Blackfriars528
Inn Deep495
The Three Judges486
Bruadar296
The Bon Accord280
The Laurieston Bar226
The Counting House (Wetherspoon)225
Drum & Monkey159
The Hengler's Circus (Wetherspoon)143
WEST Bar, Brewery & Restaurant141
The Curler's Rest130
The Society Room (Wetherspoon)103
The Sir John Moore (Wetherspoon)99
Clockwork Beer Co?92
The Pot Still91
Sir John Stirling Maxwell (Wetherspoon)84
The 7880
Brel74
The Good Spirits Co.67
The Camperdown Place (Wetherspoon)64
Tennents Bar63
Glasgow61
newlands56
Jackson's Doghouse54
The Esquire House (Wetherspoon)52
The Three Craws52
The Lab49
The Edward Wylie (Wetherspoon)48

The extreme lead achieved by the Brewdog bar is due to a combination of it being attractive to the same demographic as are using Untappd, and it being a very ticky place where one visit might lead to checkins on half a dozen beers or more. But look at the strong showing for Inn Deep. The place has only been open for four months and it’s number four on the list. Extrapolate the figures over a whole year and it would be a clear second, with around 200 checkins between it and Brewdog.

The State Bar is ahead of both the Bon Accord and the Three Judges, which surprised me until I remembered it’s a regular haunt of two of the most active users.

That the most popular beers only reach the low hundreds out of 10,000 checkins shows that there is a massive “long tail”, with hundreds of beers having one solitary checkin:

Least popular beers
BeerNumber of checkins
Rudgate Brewery Brewdolf1
Bear Republic Brewing Co. Big Bear Black Stout1
Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace1
Cairngorm Brewery Co. White Lady1
AleSmith Brewing Company Old Numbskull1
Tiny Rebel Brewing Co Baby's Got A Temper1
Coopers Brewery Limited Original Pale Ale1
The Kernel Brewery Imperial Brown Stout London 18581
Harbour Brewing Co Double IPA No. 31
Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales Blame A Lost Hen1
The Potton Brewery Co The Village Bike1
John Crabbie & Co Black Reserve1
Pictish Brewing Company Siren1
Familienbrauerei Jacob Dunkles Weissbier1
Mikkeller Dim Sum Beer1
Mikkeller Black Hole Barrel Aged Peat Whiskey1
Evil Twin Brewing Sønderho Hipster Ale1
JW Lees and Co Coronation Street1
Gaymers Cider Company (C&C Group plc) Blackthorn Cider1
Brauerei Schlenkerla Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche1
WEST Brewery Winterfest1
Kiuchi Brewery Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout1
Houston Houston Killellan Bitter1
Grupo Cruzcampo Cruzcampo Pilsener1
Batemans Victory Ale1
Privatbrauerei Nordbräu Eisbock1
Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale1
Burton Bridge Brewery Golden Flame1
Goose Island Beer Co. (AB-InBev) Christmas Ale (2012)1
Green Jack Brewing Company Trawlerboys1
WEST Brewery Weihnachtsbier 20121
Shepherd Neame Rudolph's reward1
Fuller, Smith & Turner 18451
Robinsons Elbow1
Bend Brewing Co. Outback X1
Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus Radler Zäpfle1
Salopian Brewery Conundrum1
Belhaven Brewery (Greene King) Scottish Lager1
The Potton Brewery Co Fallen Angel1
BrewDog Scotch Ale1
Old Bear Brewery Estivator1
Black Hole Brewery Starry Night1
Bruadar House Lager1
Burton Bridge Brewery Santi-Freeze1
Cotleigh Brewery Ltd. Red Nose Reinbeer1
Lake Placid Pub & Brewery Highlander Scottish Ale1
Orchard Pig Mint And Lime1
Dark Star Brewing Co Espresso1
Hoppin Frog Brewery Silk Porter1
Greene King Ruddles Best1
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company Wildcat IPA1
Mikkeller Vikings Revenge1
Stewart Brewing Three Wise Men1
Lancaster Brewery Decathlon Gold1
Jennings Brewery Cocker Hoop1
Whittingtons A Winters Tail1
Traquair House Brewery Jacobite Ale1
Shepherd Neame Master Brew Kentish Ale1
Titanic Brewery Advent Ale1
Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus Eis Zapfle1
Brouwerij Lindemans Faro1
Leeds Brewery Monsoon1
Habeco (Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company) Bia Ha Noi1
To Øl Black Ball1
Clockwork Beer Co. Thunder & Lightning1
Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn Schneider Weisse Mein Grünes (TAP4)1
Redwillow Brewery Fathomless1
Ayr Brewing Company Doctor Hornbook1
The Coach House Brewing Co Ostlers Summer Pale1
Bavaricum Wiehenstephaner1
Itchen Valley Brewery Dana1
Harbour Brewing Co Porter No. 61
Nethergate Brewery Frank Incensed1
RCH Brewery Pitchfork Rebellious Bitter1
Oakleaf Reindeer's Delight1
Burton Bridge Brewery Thomas Sykes Barleywine1
Tryst Double Chocolate Stout1
Brouwerij van Hoegaarden (ABInBev) Verboden Vrucht / Fruit Defendu (Forbidden Fruit)1
Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn Georg Schneider's Wiesen Edel-Weisse1
Gaymers Cider Company (C&C Group plc) Addlestones1
Black Isle Brewery Chilli Porter 1
Stone Brewing Co. Old Guardian1
The Kernel Brewery India Pale Ale Citra Chinook1
Bowman Brewery Swift One1
Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V. Pacifico Clara1
kralovsky pivovar Krusovice Imperial1
Pictish Brewing Company Pictish Porter1
Brasserie Cantillon Classic Gueuze (2012)1
Joseph Holt Maplemoon1
Sheppy's Raspberry Cider1
Dark Star Brewing Co. Critical Mass1
Brodie's Brewery Citra For Breakfast1
sachsische braukunst Vollbier1
Hydes Racey Rudolph1
Brouwerij Lindemans Pêche (Pêcheresse)1
Brauhaus Faust Schwarzviertler Dunkel1
The Kernel Brewery Pale Ale CSCS1
Blue Monkey Brewery Fat Ape1
Box Steam Brewery Tunnel Vision1
Adnams Southwold Gunhill1


And the least popular breweries:
Least popular breweries
BreweryNumber of checkins
Brauerei Aying 1
Wylam1
Brouwerij De Koninck (Duvel Moortgat)1
Bavaria Brouwerij1
York Brewery Company Limited 1
Otley Brewery1
Staatliches Hofbräuhaus München1
Boon Rawd Brewery1
Kona Brewing Company 1
Blakemere1
Brauerei Veltins1
Trent Navigation Brewery1
Orchard Pig1
Grupo Cruzcampo1
Lancaster Brewery1
The Coach House Brewing Co1
Sheppy's1
Privatbrauerei Nordbräu1
Bruadar1
Lake Placid Pub & Brewery1
sachsische braukunst1
Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Company1
Whittingtons1
Traquair House Brewery1
Habeco (Hanoi Alcohol Beer and Beverage Company)1
Bavaricum1
Brauhaus Faust1
Towles1
Bend Brewing Co.1
Thistly Cross1

Comments

  1. Woohoo! Do I win a prize for being on top??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting stats. Might be a stupid question - but as an untappd user can I ask how you went about gathering and mapping this data? Would be interesting to look into my own area's activity. Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous: I used the Untappd API (https://untappd.com/api/). You can build a query to filter the checkins by latitude and longitude. Then I used a script to parse the response and store the results, and another to work out the most popular beers, etc. There are now Untappd libraries for PHP and Ruby languages to make getting the data easier.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very good and easy ideas to decorate the garden really.
    Thanks
    Glasgow garden designers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ha ha Found this by chance. Nice to see the State Bar and Jarl high on the list. One thing I'd say about my own use of untappd - I don't generally check in a beer twice in the same session and some beers I no longer check in because I'm positive I've checked them in before. Hence my untappd total at the moment of 467 beers of which 322 are unique.

    Thanks for the stats. Werewegian.

    ReplyDelete

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