All About Untappd Badges (2023)

Within the Untappd app, users unlock badges for reaching certain milestones. For example, one could “check-in” a Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA badge by Sierra Nevada from now until April to earn the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA badge, a Funky Buddha Breakfast of Champions during the month of March to earn the Breakfast of Champions: Maple Bacon Coffee Porter badge, or one of three beers from Left Hand Brewing Co. until Mar. 20th to earn Left Hand's Dry Irish Stout Nitro, Milk Stout Nitro, or Stouts & Shenanigans badge. Beer drinkers are constantly seeking these new badges.

“Badges are like the virtual rewards of the Untappd app,” says Aubrey Price, Enterprise Marketing Account Manager at Untappd.

Users check in specific beers or at specific breweries to receive a badge. The more beer and taprooms an Untappd user explores, the more badges they’ll uncover and earn, with friends often competing against each other to see who can earn more.

“Untappd badges are like Pokémon Go for beer fans; they’re cool digital beer collectibles,” says Harrison Hickok, Business Development Manager at Oznr and host of Untappd’s Drinking Socially podcast, which focuses on ways to unlock various Untappd badges. “It’s a treasure hunt inside Untappd that’s already happening.”

While badges can’t technically be bartered, they’re earned, stored, and displayed within a consumer’s profile, showing beers they’ve consumed, challenges they’ve accomplished, and places they’ve visited. Pardon the pun, but they’re almost like “badges of honor” for those participating in the Untappd virtual world.

Since Untappd badges are like a game constantly in progress, leveraging one means your business taps into a specific subset of craft beer culture that constantly engages with one another. And with over 15,000 badges inventoried or currently in play on Untappd, there’s always a new challenge for dedicated craft beer drinkers to achieve.

Untappd badges are a new, innovative approach to advertising. Instead of a more traditional digital ad, badges allow businesses to unobtrusively display a new beer or initiative within the framework of the Untappd ecosystem.

“A badge engages users more than a pop-up ad or banner, or something else that can stand out in a bad way,” says Hickok. “Badges seamlessly land in front of a user in the app and Untappd users love badges.”

People that engage with the Untappd app are a dedicated community who care about craft beer and want to earn badges. According to Hickok, people often travel far distances just to earn a badge.

“If people are willing to travel states away to get a badge and all you’re asking as a brewery is to go down to the grocery store and get a beer [to check-in], it's a pretty easy sell,” says Hickok. “It’s important businesses know, especially if they have no idea what [a] badge is, that this is a part of the Untappd culture. Badges are pretty unique to Untappd and the community. They’re what people freak out about the most. And you can be a part of that without waving [a] banner in someone's face and saying, buy my beer.”

According to Price, businesses with sponsored badges typically see a 50 to 100 percent increase in check-ins and make Untappd’s Global Trending lists during their promotion periods.

Global and social awareness are two important advantages for businesses.

“Badges are great at building global brand awareness and exposure for new beer releases and flagship beers,” says Price. And since the badge will also be featured on the Untappd blog and across social media, it’s just another tool to build up your social following. Plus, depending on the brewery and the location, badges can actually help bring a lot more foot traffic through the front door as well.

Hickok continues, saying, “A billboard is a billboard, you can’t deny that; but if you show up in this fun game already happening, introduce a new level to that game, or find a new way to play, it’s like you’re making your brand fun and showing you understand the value of the Untappd user experience.”

In essence, badges are a fun, creative advertising avenue that are easy to set up. It’s a win-win for everyone.

To earn a badge through Untappd, users must complete certain tasks. The app has many different activation triggers, with some more complex than others.

“Most are beer, period,” says Hickok. Generally, the popular requirement for earning a badge is simply for an Untappd user to check in one specific beer during an allotted amount of time. For example, right now you can earn Funky Buddha's Breakfast of Champions: Maple Bacon Coffee Porter badge by checking in one Maple Bacon Coffee Porter beer between Feb. 20, 2023, and Mar. 20, 2023. 

Here are some of the other common criteria businesses can leverage:

But, that’s not all badges can be. Checking in one or two beers is really just the starting point.

“If you have a larger call-to-action or bigger campaign that the brewery is a part of—recycle more, get outside more, visit local businesses more—you can use the badge to help make that happen,” says Hickok.

A great example of the creative criteria for check-ins includes the current EC2021 Champion Badge Passport. To celebrate the European Championship 2021, Bier&zO set up a series of three badges, each with their own criteria, to earn from June 11, 2021, to July 11, 2021. By unlocking these badges, users will receive a 20 percent discount on their next order at Bier&zO. On top of that, 10 lucky winners who unlock all the badges will win exclusive ‘Uiltje’s All Time Oranje Legends’ beer boxes.

You can really get as creative as you like. If you’re looking to learn more about the criteria your business can set up, from the standard to the unique, be sure to connect directly with Aubrey Price (aubrey@untappd.com) or Harrison Hickok (harrison@untappd.com).

Starting to think that a badge might be a great way for you to advertise your next beer launch or campaign? Then it’s important to understand the different types of badges that Untappd offers. Generally, Untappd badges fall into three buckets.

As a brewery, business, or bar, the sponsored and local badges will be the two types of badges you can leverage to build your own loyal community of craft beer drinkers.

As an extra added layer to the Untappd badge game, some badges allow users to “level up.”

Put simply, this means that the level of the badge will increase after a certain number of check-ins. Traditionally, once someone drinks and checks in five beers, that will unlock a new level on a badge. The levels increase all the way up to 100, meaning someone could potentially drink 500 beers to achieve the highest level of a badge. This can be applied to a list of beers, a list of beers at a specific venue, or even a list of breweries required to unlock a badge.

“Leveling up incentivizes the user to continue drinking that brand’s liquids to earn more tokens or stamps on their badge history,” says Price. “Ultimately, leveling up encourages users to not just drink one beer, but multiple beers of your brand.”

Being able to level up a badge adds another tool into your marketing arsenal.

It’s all well and great to describe badges but it’s even better to see the ones live and in action from some of the country's top breweries. According to Price and Hickok, here are a few examples of popular Untappd badges and what made them so successful.

Oskar Blues Enter the Weasel

Oskar Blues Enter the Weasel - To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Dale’s Pale Ale, Oskar Blues released limited edition 16oz cans of the pale ale featuring unique illustrations by the artist McBess. The three cans lined up side-by-side to create a mural that depicted Oskar Blues’ journey from mountain town brewpub to craft beer pioneer. To help recognize this milestone, Oskar Blues created a whole set of badges that, if unlocked, earned the user different amounts of points. Once a consumer earned enough, they could redeem the points for a chance to win custom merch from Oskar Blues.

“This was the first multi-badge campaign we ever did, and it was a huge campaign,” says Hickok. “It was cool because it was like a mini treasure hunt with our badges that could unlock actual rewards outside of Untappd.”

Goose Island Road to the Harvest

Goose Island Road to the Harvest - Developed to help Goose Island promote a variety of beers in its portfolio, the Road to the Harvest badge actually included a series of badges unlocked by a series of beers. By achieving each level of the different badges in this campaign, an Untappd user would earn a certain amount of points. Once they earned enough points, the consumer could redeem them for one of many prizes available from Goose Island. The ultimate prize was the chance to win a trip out to the Yakima Valley to visit Goose Island’s hop farms during the harvest.

“This badge was great because as you unlocked badges along the way you were entered to win a raffle. It was this whole awesome experience,” says Hickok.

Dogfish Head Off-Centered Ale Trail

Dogfish Head Off-Centered Ale Trail - Events that require multiple venues to check-in are another great way to utilize badges. Think beer weeks or ale trails.

“From a business perspective, if you’re some kind of guild or organization like a beer week or ale trail, we can take over your specific market, let's say a 50-mile radius, where any user that checks in within that area would receive your ale trail or beer week badge,” says Price. “A badge like this helps bring the community together.”

For example, a few years ago Dogfish Head joined forces with Atlas Obscura to curate the Dogfish Head Off-Centered All Trails badge. Craft beer fans and adventurous pathfinders could check in Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA, Flesh & Blood IPA, and SeaQuench Ale on one of these obscure, off-centered spots to earn a variety of badges.

New Belgium #VoteVoodoo

New Belgium #VoteVoodoo - This is a creative example of New Belgium utilizing Untappd badges to make a business decision in a very unobtrusive way. The #VoteVoodoo contest asked actual Untappd consumers to vote for which beer they thought New Belgium should brew next in their Voodoo Ranger IPA series. New Belgium turned the winner—Hop Avenger IPA—into a badge. By collecting all three Hop Avenger badges, the user could enter to win some serious Voodoo Ranger swag.

“This was an interactive badge,” says Hickok. “It was a great example of a business asking users to do something without feeling [intrusive]. New Belgium gave people a badge in hopes that they’d help them figure out which beer to make next.”

Funky Buddha One Million Times The Funk Badge

Funky Buddha One Million Times The Funk Badge - This is a great example of a brewery using a badge to celebrate a certain milestone. In 2019, Funky Buddha reached its one millionth Untappd check-in. To encourage even more people to join their own craft beer community and reach new heights of liquid enlightenment, Funky Buddha created a badge.

“The Funky Buddha badge was very successful and a fun one to run,” says Price. “Most badges are for a certain release or flagship beer, so this was a rare [example of something different].”

Lagunitas The Waldos’ Special Ale Badge

Lagunitas The Waldos’ Special Ale Badge - Lagunitas brews this super dank beer for true treasure hunters. Dedicated to the spirit of those always seeking and never giving up, Waldos Special Ale is a highly limited release that Lagunitas launched every April. To help celebrate the yearly launch Lagunitas put together a series of three badges for Untappd treasure hunters to unlock. Price cites this badge as a great example of “leveling up,” noting the three badges associated with the beer allowed the user could level up, “incentivizing people to drink not just one beer by the brewery, but multiple beers,” says Price.

For a fun, new, creative way to spread the word around your next beer release, flagship beer, anniversary, beer week, ale trail, or anything else, consider an Untappd badge.

To learn more, reach out directly to Aubrey Price (aubrey@untappd.com) or Harrison Hickok (harrison@untappd.com)!