10 beers for $10: New app a hit for craft brewery lovers

A Queensland couple has launched a new app supporting the state’s booming brewery industry by offering beer at a bargain prices.

Ten beers for $10 at Queensland’s best craft breweries – it sounds too good to be true, but that’s the bargain being promised by a Cairns couple’s new business.

Amberlyn Baines and Ben Carbis have just launched website and app Craftapped Australia in the Sunshine State, following a popular subscription model from the US.

The app has customers sign up for $10 a month or $99 for a year, and each month they receive 10 beer credits to use at any of the 70 participating breweries and distilleries from Cairns to the Gold Coast, and across NSW.

“Our members are getting 10 schooners or 10 drinks each month for their $10, the venues are getting all this new foot traffic, they’re getting great exposure, the free marketing for very little cost and it’s extremely low risk for them and then we get the membership fee,” Mr Carbis said.

Craftapped founder Amberlyn Baines, is offering subscribers 10 schooners a month for $10 at selected breweries around the state. Picture: Lachie Millard

After launching the app in Queensland in December, Ms Baines said breweries were excited to be involved.

“It’s a really good incentive to get people through the door and we’re even seeing people travel pretty far to use it,” she said.

Parched Brewery in Brisbane’s West End signed up to the platform in January this year and instantly saw new customers coming through.

“We signed up on the Wednesday and over that first weekend we had four or five different groups coming in so it was immediate which was great,” Parched founder Carl Hallion said, with customers simply required to show staff the app on their phone to redeem their one free drink per venue each month.

“For us it’s a really effective way of marketing the venue because it’s targeted and it really hits its market and it’s pretty low cost for us as well.”

Mr Hallion said not only was it driving customers to the venue, but they were also happy to spend up big when they arrived, bringing in friends, buying food and/or multiple rounds of beers, and then posting on their socials to help with further exposure.

Brews News beer industry advocate Matt Kirkegaard said the deal represented “unbeatable value” for drinkers and would also help the countless Queensland breweries battle the rising costs of ingredients, power and government excises.

“It’s a really tough time for breweries at the moment, and this looks like it’s a program that’s a win-win for breweries and beer drinkers,” Mr Kirkegaard said.