The Idea
What if pouring beer became a game?
Beer Story started with a bold vision:
Create a self-serving beer system that allows customers to pour their own drinks, track their consumption, compete with friends, and turn a regular pub night into an interactive experience.
The original business model focused on renting the system to pubs worldwide with maintenance included. Later, the concept evolved toward monetization through advertising displayed on large leaderboard screens.
This wasn’t just a software idea.
It was a full hardware + software ecosystem.
What We Built
Beer Story became one of our most technically diverse projects.
The system combined:
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Modified self-serving beer taps
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Custom flow measurement hardware
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RFID tags and personalized RFID cards
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POS terminal integration
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Desktop application
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Web application
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Large-screen leaderboard display
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Centralized database with real-time updates
Customers could:
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Use anonymous RFID tags
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Register and receive personalized RFID cards
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Create teams (with custom logos printed on cards)
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Track their beer consumption in liters
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Compete on live leaderboards
Bartenders could instantly:
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Swipe a card
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See how much beer was poured
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Calculate the correct charge
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Monitor beer flow per tap
All data was synchronized and processed in real time.
Architecture & Tech
This project required coordination between embedded hardware and modern software systems.
Desktop: WinForms, WPF, C#
Backend: ASP.NET, Web API 2, MVC, Entity Framework
Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Databases: MS SQL Server, SQLite3, PostgreSQL, Memcached
Hardware & Prototyping: Arduino C, C
A custom flow-measurement solution was engineered to accurately measure poured quantities — critical for billing precision and system trust.
The Team
A compact but multidisciplinary team:
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Backend / Desktop Developer
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Frontend Developer
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UX/UI Designer
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Electronic Engineer
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QA Specialist
Additional contributors were involved during specific development phases.
Results
Within 3 months, we delivered a fully functioning prototype.
The system was installed in Beer Story Pub for a planned 6-month test run.
During early usage, minor bugs were identified and resolved quickly. The system stabilized and performed reliably under real-world conditions.
The concept attracted significant attention and interest.
During testing, we also identified powerful expansion opportunities:
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Global tournaments between pubs
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A social network for beer lovers
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Video conferencing between venues
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Sponsor membership systems
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Advanced gamification features
Unfortunately, the project paused due to funding constraints before securing certifications and scaling capital.
However:
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The full system still exists
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The infrastructure works
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The architecture is sound
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The concept remains viable
With the right investment and execution strategy, this system could still scale globally.
Why This Project Matters
Beer Story demonstrates:
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Complex hardware-software integration
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Real-time data processing
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Gamification architecture
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POS integration
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RFID identity systems
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IoT prototyping
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Rapid MVP delivery
It’s one of the most technically layered and multidisciplinary systems we’ve built.
And definitely one of the most fun.