Building a Beer Catalog Refactor

I have been working on a refactor of an older beer catalog application that started as a small ASP.NET MVC project. The original app was simple and useful, but it felt like a good candidate for a more modern architecture.

The first step was to understand what the app actually did. I mapped the existing features, the data model, and the goals for the future version. That helped me avoid jumping straight into a rewrite without a clear direction.

The plan is now focused on a few clear ideas:

• a mobile-first experience for day-to-day use
• a modern frontend and backend split
• a simple API that can support future growth
• a path to deployment on AWS

The first milestone was a working starter setup. I created a new React frontend, an ASP.NET Core backend, a PostgreSQL-backed data layer, and a Docker-based local environment so the project can be run consistently.

That part of the work was not glamorous, but it mattered. A project like this needs a solid foundation before the interesting features start to arrive.

The next steps are to add more meaningful product features and keep documenting the build in public. That is the part I am most interested in, because the process is as valuable as the finished app.