Does proximity to a brewery affect your beer ratings?

Sounds about right.

 

Are we talking by way the crow flies or driving distance?

All I was trying to do was offer some easy explanation for why that category was dreadfully low (and I hate North Dakotian beer)

 

Slightly off topic, but I've lived pretty close to flossmore for a while and have never had anything from them or been there. Have I been missing out?

 

Yeah plus bells, surly, New glarus, dark horse, pipeworks, revolution and half acre to name a few.

 

Try a one year old Darklord vs. a "fresh" one.

Just a thought.

 

Its good, worth the trip, its no half acre or pipeworks, but good.

 

Hell no. My taste buds don't know where my beer comes from.

 

If a brewery is good (pizza boy) I may be a bit of a homer but if they weren't putting out good beers I wouldn't be a homer. I won't name breweries but there are a few I don't go to or buy beer from because they offer mediocre product at the same price as everyone else and the fact that I live close has zero affect on that point of view.

 

No way. I had some sharty breweries in my hood that gets no love from me.

 

I think the thing that readers are not taking into account is under what circumstances a drinker is more likely to buy a drink that he or she knows they are more likely to enjoy.

The stats show that average ratings for beers are a little lower when ratings are submitted at or near the brewery.

When someone is at a brewery or brewpub, they are more likely to try beers simply because they are there - regardless of ratings or style preferences. Purchasing caution is low. In addition, the AVERAGE brewpub might not be putting out as good a product as Wirestone Falker yadda yadda.

Once you get out of the brewery vicinity, most beer ratings are going to be for bottled product. Buyers are leaning more towards things like their style preferences and ratings with their purchases. Here we see a little extra love for the home state and this decreases the further out you get. This is where we see a little bias.

At the other end of the scale, the average buyer purchases way more domestics than imports. When someone goes for that import, it is because it is something they really want... they are more sure that they are going to like it before they buy (and then rate) it. Purchasing caution is high.

 

Oh yeah, there really isn't much good/hyped beer coming from "the middle" (whatever that means) . We only have:

Surly
Minneapolis Town Hall
New Glarus
Central Waters
Toppling Goliath
Boulevard
Perennial
Schlafly
Three Floyds
Revolution
Half Acre
Pipeworks
Goose Island
Upland
Bell's
Founders
Prairie
Avery
Nebraska
Odell
Great Divide
Oskar Blues

plus many more smaller breweries.

 

and in doing that you shit on a huge part of the country.

 

Someone's a little too sensitive. Most of those breweries (ie. all of Michigan, Colorado, Indiana, eastern Wisconsin) do not actually qualify for the distance specified for a lot of the east coast or west coast, myself included. You really want to stand behind that list, minus CO and MI? My statement was giving a joke of an explanation to why the 750-1250 mile range had scores considerably lower than any other. I think you must have heard, I HATE ALL BEER BETWEEN CALIFORNIA AND PENNSYLVANIA!

 

Haha, give me a fuckin break.

I apologize to the following:

Sincerely,
Ben

 

Um, yeah they qualify. Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado are middle of the country. It's at least 1000 miles to Denver from anywhere on the west coast. Indiana and Michigan might be less than 750 miles from Delaware but those states can easily fall outside that limit for much of the east coast. And even without Colorado and Michigan, I'd stand behind that list. The east coast doesn't even have that much in the way of beer considering how many people actually live there.

 

You conveniently cut out half of WI, most of IL, and most of Colorado, plus most of Texas, which has a growing craft scene.

 

I can feel myself wanting to support the local brews very much. It's not even a subconscious bias. Unfortunately, the area's two main breweries opened less than 3 years ago, and they're still...well...trying to find their footing. The product is not that great. So even my bias has to take a back seat to my taste buds.

 

Ok guy, you win. Contgrats. Next time I'll thoroughly research my point before making a shot-in-the-dark argument to explaining a peculiar poll result.

 

It is 14 miles from my house to the Genesee Brewery. Genny is the cheapest beer on the market ($ 14.98/ 30 pack) and is an old school adjunct lager with above average IBUs (for the style) that is easy drinking, thirst quenching with enough bitterness to make me think this is a beer that everyone's Grandpa could have drank. For all these reasons I love Genny and drink boatloads of it every week.

 

I conveniently pictured for you, the region I was talking about, conveniently. It's just not worth arguing anymore over a point I never really stood behind to begin with.