Bottoms up! The Oregon Brewers Festival is coming up soon—Thursday, July 28 to Sunday, July 31, to be exact—which means that this weekend Portland will be hosting and celebrating a plethora of craft brews from all over the country. And while you’re tottering tipsily around the festival grounds at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, you can get information on all of the 86 brews by scanning Microsoft Tags.
Let’s say you’re at the festival and you remember a beer’s name but not the brewery (or the opposite). Perhaps you have a strong desire to know a beer’s Original Gravity? Or you want to check the alcohol by volume to know exactly how much you’re consuming. Then again, maybe you’d simply be content to know where you can go get your next pint. Well, Tag has you covered. Festival organizers have made this year’s hoppy gathering, now in its 24th year, a more interactive one by dotting the beer serving stations with Tag barcodes so that attendees can get the information they need and it’s all just a scan away.
You can also let your friends and fellow microbrew enthusiasts know what you think of the drink selection. In addition to a plethora of brew data, the Tags will also allow you to rate and comment on each beer you sample and will even do you the favor of instantly posting your opinions to Facebook if you’d like.
Once you toss a few back and start to forget what you thought of the first few beers you tried, no need to get belligerent. Tag’s got your back there, too. When the festivities are all said and done and your glass is empty, you can have all of your ratings and comments emailed to you in a convenient, consolidated list. That way, you’ll be able to remind yourself later which beers you should go out and pick up a six pack of or order a round of at the pub.
So while you’re out at the Oregon Brewers Festival this weekend, make sure you remember to raise a glass and toast to Tags. And if you can think of any other tasty ways to use Tags, let us know with your comments below or on Facebook and Twitter.