Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming – Craft Beer on Demand

Now is an amazing time to be a Bostonian. The Public Gardens are in bloom. Sailboats are back on the Charles. We can get craft beer delivered to our doorsteps, and soon we’ll be having our first ever major music festival, right in the heart of downtown, complete with its very own beer garden and The National as headliners. Life is good.

If you just did a double take at “we can get craft beer delivered to our doorsteps,” you’re probably not the only one. The ingenious smartphone app that makes this possible has only been in existence since early March, and has only been available to a few (150 people had access) in private alpha mode. But you’re in luck, because Drizly is now open to the Boston public, enabling beer, liquor, and wine dissemination to Somerville, Newton, Watertown, and Cambridge within an hour.

, Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming – Craft Beer on DemandAs you can probably imagine, the wiz kids behind Drizly are locals (in fact, they are all Boston College grads). Justin Robinson, Nick Rellas, and Spencer Frazier noticed around finals time that a certain business need wasn’t being met, and decided to use their computer science and finance backgrounds for the greater good. They lawyered up, were informed that if they could make this work in Boston they could make it anywhere (thanks, blue laws), and voila – an app was born, using Gordon’s Fine Wine and Liquors locations as a pilot delivery infrastructure.

Obviously, there’s a huge market for this kind of thing. Boston is home to more than 60 colleges and universities, so you do the math on how many students that is. And the interest from vendors is equally high (reps were lined up to talk shop with the three at a liquor trade show in October where Smirnoff, Miller, and Bacardi were in attendance). If all goes well, Drizly will be expanding its reach and its offerings, which are updated by Justin on a daily basis and currently include Pretty Things, Smuttynose, Magic Hat, and Harpoon.

, Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming – Craft Beer on DemandThere are already a couple of neat features baked into the app, like removal of the $5 delivery fee when you add sponsored items or use social media codes, promotional tie-ins such as mason jars and branded wine crates, and the ability to track your order. The app also includes more serious measures, such as advanced ID detection technology used by delivery drivers and a $20 penalty/account closure when you try to use a fake license (sorry, under-aged kiddos).

Craft brewers often have a tough time getting their beers to fans, and Drizly offers an enormous opportunity for local businesses. If a brewer sells to a store that delivers through Drizly, their reach will expand considerably. When you factor in the savings of having drinks delivered from outside the city where prices are lower, and the benefit of having an alternative to drunk driving when party supplies run low, Bostonians have a lot to be excited about.

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