• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 15, 2009

How many times have you found yourself walking around wondering, "Where can I get a Guinness?" Okay, probably never. But for connoisseurs of the famous Irish stout, Guinness has launched a GPS-powered iPhone app for locating the nearest pub across the U.S. with the brand on tap.

Guinness has introduced the app in connection with the 250th anniversary of founder Arthur Guinness' signing of the 9,000-year lease on St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin on Sept 24.

In addition to the "Locate a Pint" feature, the Guinness Pub Finder app also includes a manual with the six steps for creating a perfect pint and extras such as animated screensavers, a countdown clock to the "Arthur's Day" celebration and a news feed with updates related to the event.

It also offers content from DrinkiQ, a site that provides alcohol-related information to promote responsible drinking. The description of the Guinness app in the App Store says users must be at least 17 to download it. But of course, there's nothing to stop anyone younger from doing so.

State alcoholic beverage laws, however, block the app's pub-finding feature in a dozen states including Alaska, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Probably because of similar restrictions, it appears that few alcohol brands have released iPhone apps. Anheuser-Busch in March introduced a similar location-based app to Guinness' pointing users to the nearest bars and restaurants serving Budweiser American Ale.

While such promotional apps are typically free, the Guinness app goes for $1.99, which should further limit its appeal to all but the most devoted fans of that strong, dark brew. But it does include a virtual ruler for making sure the head is up to Guinness standards.