These days it is easier than ever before to be a true beer aficionado. Those well educated fans of malt, hops, barley and wheat know that a good beer is just as complex and layered as a fine wine. And thanks to the explosion in popularity of the microbrew, there are now just as many varieties of beer as there are wines available in this country. Yet how do you fully enjoy such a glut of options? Thanks to mobile technology there are a whole host of apps designed to celebrate beer and give you the most enjoyment out of every ale, pilsner, stout and hefeweizen on the market. Here are just a few of the great iPhone apps out there for beer enthusiasts.

First off you’ve got to get a gimmicky app, just because it’s great fun. It’s called iBeer, and basically it turns your iPhone screen into a pint of beer. You can shake it around to watch the suds swirl, and then tip it back to chug your favorite. You can set it to several different beer types, and the sound effects are fantastic. You can’t go wrong with that burp that comes with the empty glass. Does this have a purpose? Not really. But sometimes you want a beer and one is nowhere to be found. Luckily, your iPhone is there to help curb those cravings with some good clean fun.

If you are fairly new to the world of beer appreciation, check out Gallagher’s Beer Guide. This inexpensive iPhone app will help you learn all about the different categories of beer, through a detailed description and examples of each type. It will also make suggestions for pairings during tastings, as well as make recommendations for some of the best labels in each category. Once you feel ready to graduate to a more full-bodied app, check out iBeers Pro. The app will run you just under $3.00, but it will be your go-to resource for all beer brands. The app has well over 2,500 beer varieties listed, from breweries all over the world. If you’re tired of your standard beer choices and want to expand your palate, this is the resource for you.

Some people want a solid beer resource, but just refuse to pay for apps on general principle. So check out BeerCloud and get the best of both worlds. It’s not going to give you the magnitude of data that some of the paid apps will, but it’s a great way to search for a beer you want to learn more about, or to figure out what you should drink based on the meal you are preparing. It also has a GPS locator that can track down the closest retail store that carries a beer you are craving. This is perfect for those who aren’t interested in knowing every single beer on the market, but merely want to enjoy the best of the best.

Every beer enthusiast understands the flip side of this passion, and that is a whole mess of extra calories. They don’t call it the ‘beer belly’ by accident. Regular beer consumption can pack on the pounds in a hurry. But what if you need to watch your weight yet don’t want to kiss your sweet frothy beverages goodbye? Check out the Drink Fit app. Just search for any of the more than 1,600 drinks in the Drink Fit database, and you’ll get a full nutritional breakdown, including calories, fat and those ever tempting carbs. This will help you make lighter choices when the need arises. You can also use a feature called “My Night” to track what those hours spent at that San Diego Brew Pub did to your dietary goals. It may be information you don’t always want to see, but that makes it all the more necessary.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this guest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.