What I learned at YC Startup school
medium.com
medium.com
I love craft beer. I've quick-rated more craft beers in the last couple years on beeradvocate than I should admit (..150+). But even I would have trouble getting psyched about the app. The landing page looks nice but it doesn't really give me a quick idea of how I gift someone a craft beer. In the first 10 seconds I had no idea if I give them a credit to use later or I see them check-in somewhere and I then gift them the beer while they're at the bar.
PG's suggestion to add coffee is interesting but you also have to think about when and why people get coffee. Oftentimes it's in a rush before work rather than your goal of sharing life's moments over a nice craft beer.
Ditto on what the Gowalla folks said, there's just too much friction right now.
I would seriously consider adding something like coffee or tea though (depending on how the beer part is implemented). By focusing on beer, you are 1) limiting who will be able to use the app (some people just don't drink), and 2) limiting the time of the day people can use your app (after work hours). If you add something like coffee, then more people can use the app more often. It's a multiplier.