Howard County Tourism & Promotion has invited the public to “Tap the App” this summer and experience the burgeoning craft beer scene.

Howard County Tourism & Promotion has announced its partnership with locally-owned and operated tech firm TownSprout in the development of its new HowardOnTap craft beer trail app, with graphics created by Maryland-based Octavo Designs.

The HowardOnTap app is free to download on your iPhone and has all the necessary information on area breweries, brew pubs, ale houses and more. Visit all the Trail Stops and be awarded with an official HowardOnTap souvenir glass, plus become eligible to win gift certificates and prizes from participating locations.

The app tracks your progress and lets you know when you’ve completed the trail. Once completed, you can travel the trail again for another cool souvenir. Integration with Facebook and Twitter makes sharing the journey easy and fun.

Booking hotel rooms, rides with Uber or taxis, and even tours are all easily done using the Rooms, Rides and Tours features of the app. The trail can be traveled over time or all at once with participating tour and travel partners.

According to the Brewers Association (BA), a national organization that promotes independent brewers, craft beer is outperforming domestic and imported beer sales. BA states that there are 51 craft breweries in Maryland, with another 18 (or so) in the planning. Three of these new breweries will open in Howard County, soon giving the county a total of nine breweries; today, there are four breweries in Howard County, three of which are featured on HowardOnTap.

The Trail also includes unique restaurants that carry their own locally-produced beer and breweries located in nearby Baltimore and Frederick counties. As of now there are seven trail stops, but that number is expected to grow.

The Trail Stops

  • The Ale House, Columbia
  • Ellicott Mills Brewing Co., Ellicott City
  • Heavy Seas, Halethorpe
  • Jailbreak Brewing Co., Laurel
  • Rams Head Tavern, Historic Savage Mill
  • Red Shedman Farm Brewery & Hop Yard, Mt. Airy
  • Victoria Gastro Pub, Columbia

“For tourism, introducing HowardOnTap is an exciting next step in the digital marketing of our destination to tech savvy 21st-century travelers, who rely on their ‘iEverythings,’” said Rachelina Bonacci, CEO of Howard County Tourism and Promotion. “Kudos to Amanda Hof (of the tourism staff), who pitched the HowardOnTap app concept to the Tourism Team just a year ago. For this project to go from Amanda’s ‘wish list’ to her ‘to do list’ to people’s phones is fabulous. We invite the world to ‘tap the app.’”

HowardOnTap wants craft beer connoisseurs to enjoy responsibly and features listings for area taxi cab companies and Uber, which is offering new subscribers $20 off their first HowardOnTap ride. Download Uber at get.uber.com/go/HOCO and use code HOCO to take advantage of this offer.

Download HowardOnTap for free on the App Store.