Chris Shanahan: Cascade’s nifty iPhone app

Cascade Brewing, part of the Foster’s Group, recently released a nifty, free iPhone app, The Brewer’s Nose.

While the app helps users link with other beer lovers via a Facebook site, the real appeal is access to a database of 600 beers.

The database describes alcohol, bitterness, sweetness and fullness, provides a brief, reliable tasting note and offers food-matching suggestions.

You access the database by tapping in key words – or, far, far cooler, by touching the “scan” button and letting the iPhone read the barcode on the bottle or stubby in your hand.

It worked quickly and well in our tests, provided, of course, the beer was in the database.

The database isn’t nearly as Foster’s-biased as you might think. It features a good range of competitor and craft brews, but falls short on exotic imports. Presumably this will change over time.