Time flies when you've built the world's largest social networking platform for craft beer. Where were you eleven years ago? We were just getting ready to launch! 

Back in the summer of 2010, Untappd Founder Greg Avola first talked with his business partner, Tim Mather, about an idea to create a social space for those who loved craft beer. At the time, Foursquare dominated with people checking in places where they traveled. And BeerAdvocate had become a top publication with craft beer fans for rating beer. 

So Avola and Mather thought: What industries are inherently social but have no current real-time component to their experience? Well, craft beer. And how can we elevate how people collect and rate the beers they drink? Well...

Avola and Mather literally worked straight for twenty-four hours on their vision to create an app that provided a social space for lovers of craft beer. That first prototype of Untappd launched as a private beta in September of 2010. 

Without features like photo uploads, ratings, or even a moderation platform, that first version was kind of like wort—just a raw base of bubbling potential ready to be brewed into something magical.

Here we are eleven years later and, oh my, how things have changed. 

"It's incredible how much the app and community has grown since I joined," says Kyle Roderick, Untappd's Executive VP of Product who joined the team in 2016. Although, he's been on the Untappd app since its infancy in 2011. "I'll never tire of hearing stories from the community on how Untappd kickstarted their journey into craft beer. I've heard how Untappd keeps friends and family connected through their check-ins and discovery of new beers they want to share."

It's fitting that an app that has changed so many craft beer fans' drinking experience has itself seen many iterations. Summing up the past eleven years is tough. But if you had to boil it down to one word? "Adaptation," says Roderick. "Beer, and other related beverages, are at an all time high for new styles. There are more breweries now than ever. We're constantly watching emerging trends, adding new styles, and trying to keep Untappd as up to date with community preferences and industry changes as possible. We've also worked to keep our app up to date with the latest features our community expects of a search, discovery, and social networking app."

Almost ironically, 2021 has been a year of firsts for Untappd…

...the first time we hit over one billion check-ins. Remember when @khurtlwilliams won our Billionth Check-In Photo Contest with this incredible shot?

….the first time we launched Dark Mode, giving folks a chance to search, rate, and check-in beers in darker hours without scrolling through a blindingly bright app. 

… And the first time we're releasing the Untappd 11th Anniversary badge. 

With the official anniversary happening on Oct. 22nd, 2021, we wanted to do something special. So we're doing what we do best: Offering up a brand new badge! 

The "Untappd 11th Anniversary" badge celebrates 4,015 days, 96,360 hours, 5,781,600 minutes, and 346,896,000 seconds of checking in fantastic beers, rating your favorite pints, taking photos of your all-time top drinks, and unlocking your best badges. 

Earning this new badge is pretty simple: Just check-in any one (1) beer from Oct. 22nd - Oct. 24th, 2021. That's it! 

In addition to a brand new badge, we're also celebrating with a fresh new look in our store and a fresh new discount code. Take 11% off of the redesigned Untappd store with the code "11CANDLES" through the month of October. 

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All in all, "the future is bright!," says Roderick. "We're looking forward to more excitement, more growth, and even more folks making their way through their beer journey through Untappd from beer drinkers to badge seekers." 

So we hope you'll join us in raising a can, bottle, growler, crowler, glass, mug, stein, or teku: Here's to another decade-plus of uniting a global community of Untappd users and beer lovers. 

Cheers to the check-in!