BrewGene vs PubPass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BrewGene
Discover and rate beers with a vast database of over 250,000 options. Get personalized recommendations based on your ratings and explore local bar menus. Share your beer journey with friends and track your tasting notes.
- Comprehensive beer tracking
- Personalized recommendation engine
- Bar and restaurant beer menus
- Beer finder and location mapping
- Social sharing with Beer Buddies
- Tasting notes and watch lists
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BrewGene is for beer lovers. With more than 250,000 beers on record, it’s easy to find and rate what you’re drinking. The more you rate, the better the recommendation engine will do at serving up new beers you’ll love. Share your favorite brews with Beer Buddies, view beer menus and check in to local bars and restaurants, and access tons of bar and brewer data. Here’s all the great stuff you get with BrewGene: BEER TRACKING The core of BrewGene is an easy-to-use and comprehensive beer tracking feature. Rate and tag what beers you're drinking, where you're having them, and how much you like them. You can also write detailed tasting notes, and create a 'watch list' of rare or favorite beers. Now, you'll never forget that great beer you tried last week, and you'll never accidentally order a bad beer twice. RECOMMENDATION ENGINE BrewGene will analyze your beer preferences and actually be able to predict whether or not you'll like a beer you've never tried before. You get a whole personalized list of new beers to try, and you'll never be disappointed by a random beer order again. BAR LOCATIONS + ENHANCED MENUS BrewGene has maps and beer menus galore. Use our 'beer finder' to locate places to purchase any hard-to-find favorite beer. Each location has a beer menu that is updated based on user activity. Even better, menus are integrated with your rating/recommendation data so you know exactly which beers to order when you walk into a bar. SHARE YOUR ACTIVITY If you're the type of person who likes to post pictures or talk about your favorite beers, we've hooked up BrewGene to Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. We've also built a Beer Buddy system that allows you and your friends to easily see each other's tasting notes, beer activity, and offer personalized beer recommendations. For instance, if you need to get your buddy some beer for their birthday, you can search and see their favorite beers.
PubPass
Discover and explore local and national craft beer bars and breweries. Access exclusive deals on beer, such as discounted prices and buy-one-get-one offers, at participating locations. Simply show the app to redeem your savings and digitally stamp your progress.
- Discover bars and breweries
- Exclusive beer deals
- Digital passport stamping
- Nationwide participating locations
- Save on craft beer
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PubPass is America's favorite craft beer passport. It’s the best way to explore great bars & breweries around town and across the country. As a member you’ll have access to beer deals such as $1 beers and 'buy one get one' (BOGO) beers not just in your home city, but at all participating PubPass locations. Simply show the app to your bartender or server to redeem. The best part? The deal will be available again in 30 days. Here's how it works: VISIT A BAR OR BREWERY: Great bars and breweries will appear on your map. SHOW THE APP: Show the app to your bartender or server and they’ll digitally stamp the page. SCORE DEALS ON BEER: Each spot will have a great selection of craft beers available with a special deal for PubPassers. *Deals may vary by city due to state regulations. Click app support for details.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PubPass at 4.9 against BrewGene's 4.0. PubPass also leads on ratings volume (1.7K vs 75) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). BrewGene's advantage is review sentiment (82% vs 52%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PubPass holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PubPass has 1.7K ratings behind it against 75, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of BrewGene's written reviews are positive against 52% of PubPass's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
BrewGene ships an update every 6 weeks, PubPass every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BrewGene | PubPass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (75 ratings) | 4.9 (1.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.4% of reviews — better | 51.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 75 | 1.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 113 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | The Beer Genome LLC | PubPass |
Customer experience
BrewGene
PubPass
User reviews
BrewGene
From 75 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 Extensive beer database with comprehensive coverage
- ⭐ Easy rating and review system for beers tried
- 👥 Social features to compare with friends' ratings
- 🎯 Accurate recommendation algorithm based on ratings
- 📝 Ability to add personal tasting notes
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⏱️ Slow search and loading times
- ❌ Cannot delete or edit cellar entries
- 🔤 Special characters display as question marks
- 📸 Picture loading and sharing issues
PubPass
From 1.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent value with BOGO and 30-day reset
- 👍 Great for socializing and making new friends
- 👍 Wonderful way to explore new neighborhoods and spots
- 👍 Useful for finding cool breweries and bars when traveling
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes and freezes on various iOS versions
- 🐛 App not working or unavailable in certain locations
- 🐛 Login and account issues, unable to access account
Bugs and requests
BrewGene
Reported bugs
11 issues- App crashes on startup with newer iOS versions
- Special characters (apostrophes, quotation marks) display as question marks
- Keyboard remains visible during duplicate check, blocking progression
- Database connection errors when adding new beers
- Pictures fail to load or display incorrectly
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- Facebook sharing posts wrong beer image
- Slow search performance and database queries
- App becomes incompatible with future iOS updates
- Crashes when attempting to add new beers
- Tasting notes don't persist properly
- Unable to edit profile information
Requested features
12 requests- Barcode scanner for quick beer lookup
- Edit/delete functionality for entries
- Data backup and export to CSV
- Offline access to personal cellar
- Location-based alerts for nearby beers
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- Ability to report incorrect images or duplicate entries
- Better search algorithm with exact name matching
- French language support
- Improved photo upload and management
- Beer information details (IBUs, gravity, etc.)
- Private personal notes separate from public reviews
- Better brewery location information display
PubPass
Reported bugs
3 issues- App freezes on map screen
- App crashes on launch or login screen
- Unresponsive buttons and navigation
Requested features
2 requests- Expand to more locations, especially in Illinois and the Pacific Northwest
- Fix compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
In-app purchases
BrewGene
No in-app purchases
PubPass
No in-app purchases









