ST. PAUL, Minn. – O'Gara's Bar and Grill is used to serving up fun, but recently it served as KARE 11's laboratory.
Our experiment: Do three popular Breathalyzer apps that connect to your smartphone actually work.
Internet ads claim the apps warn you when you no longer can legally drive. So we enlisted the help of five local celebrities to see if that claim is actually true.
"I have the world's highest tolerance for a guy that doesn't drink," said KFAN radio personality Cory Cove.
Cove, along with Chris Hawkey are on The Power Trip morning show on KFAN. Chris Carr, "Maverick" and Kia make up "Chris Carr & Company" on K102's morning show. All of them, along with the Dakota County Sheriff's Office helped with the controlled drinking experiment.
Chief Deputy Tim Leslie with the Dakota County Sheriff's Office was skeptical but curious.
"I can't hardly wait," said Leslie after he was asked if he was interested in hearing the results.
We wanted to get people as close to the legal limit, .08 as possible, and then see what the Breathalyzers read.
"So today, drink like you guys normally would," Captain Pat Enderlein told the volunteers. "At some point, we may expedite you a little bit if you're not drinking quickly enough or we may slow you down. We don't want you throwing up today."
With peanuts and pretzels at their fingertips the drinking began. And for about two hours, they all downed drinks, from beer to mixed drinks to shots.
"I can feel my cheeks getting a little rosy," described Kia as the drinking continued.
"I've got a buzz, I would say," added Hawkey.
Lt. Don Marose with the Minnesota State Patrol was present too. He's an expert on the impacts of alcohol.
"They're starting to take pictures. And they're more than willing to come talk to us which they weren't too willing when they first got here," said Marose.
Each volunteer tested Breathometer, Alcohoot, and BACtrack. The devices, bought by KARE 11, ranged in price from about $50 to around $100. Overall, this first test showed no big surprises, everyone was under the legal limit.
But as the drinks began to build the results seemed to split.
BACtrack had Carr at .08, the legal limit. And that was pretty close to the sheriff's official Breathalyzer, which was just under that at .076.
His radio partner, Maverick had similar results. When we tested him, Breathometer had him at .10, which is over the limit.That's pretty much what deputies got him at too. Their reading was .108.
"That's smoking," Maverick said with a smile.
Breathometer and BACtrack were not entirely accurate on all of the tests, but did warn the volunteers when they got close to the limit.
But as shots like Root Beer Barrels and Lemon Drops pushed people over the legal limit, we discovered one app was consistently way off.
"I feel like I'd have a tough time walking to my car, let alone driving," said Hawkey when he stepped up to the Breathalyzer.
Deputies said Chris Hawkey was over the legal limit at .088, but Alcohoot had him at .064.
"That's quite a difference. According to this I could drive," said Hawkey.
Alcohoot was the most expensive of the three apps. So could it have been a fluke?
We tried again, this time with Cove. The app said he was at .054.
"No chance. That's way off. There's no way," thought Cove.
He thought right, according to the deputy's Breathalyzer. It had Cove at .084.
In fact, in 4 out of 5 tests Alcohoot failed to warn the volunteers, even though the official reading showed they were over the limit.
"If it reads lower than you really are, that's a problem," said Leslie. "I'm less concerned if it's over, but that's still a concern."
So to sum up, Breathometer and BACtrack, usually warned the celebrity drinkers when they got close to the limit, but Alcohoot did not.
In an email, an Alcohoot spokesperson told KARE 11 they were "surprised by the results" because they "were inconsistent" with other "independent tests" where their product performed well. And they told us they would "continue to analyze" the product to ensure accuracy.
All three companies told KARE 11 their apps should not be used to tell people if they are okay to drive.
In fact, a spokesperson with Breathometer said if you're using the device to figure out if you should drive, then you shouldn't be driving. The companies said it's more about knowing your alcohol levels.
Chief Deputy Leslie warned none of the readings from the apps mean much if you are pulled over or worse, you hurt someone.
"The stuff we use is proven, it's recognized in court. We really don't care much about what you're using," said Leslie.
And he told people if you're drinking, don't drive.
By the way, no one drove home in the controlled drinking experiment. KARE 11 paid for cabs and the tab for all of our volunteers.
