Is all fives a cardinal sin here?

I'm closing in on 1,000 reviews and have yet to give all 5's (a 4.83 has been my highest)... Maybe I'm too tough a grader or perhaps it's the fear that once you find a perfect five the elusive hunt is over... In any case I have no problem with people giving 5's... This site is all about love of beer and people finding a brew that is all 5's is awesome...

On a side note, I have a Westy 12 chilling in the fridge waiting for the pending birth of my second child (any day now)... Perhaps that will be the one...

 

I'm no stickler for rules, but I do think a PERFECT score should be stylistically accurate. Beers with different takes on the style, unique ingredients, etc., I think could come near perfect, but I couldn't personally rate them perfectly, even if I think those elements heighten the beer.

 

You're doing it wrong; its supposed to be consumed in the can. 5points because the can is cool and 16oz.

 

Definately NOT a sin.That's the beauty of reviewing, you get to tell your own assessment. I want every beer that I drink to come up fives. I have not found a beer yet that I've felt worthy of all fives, but I'm having fun looking for it.

 

My only caution would be to wait till you're reviewed (or at least, drank) a fair number (which is subjective in itself). Then you may have a better perspective of what a 5 really is. At one point in time in my life, I would have said a blue moon was a 5 because it was the best beer I'd ever had. See what I'm getting at?

Having said that, I have around 400 reviews and only one 5, but several very close (heady, hopslam, kate, etc). I agree with the above, a 5 should be a beer that cannot be improved any further. For me that beer was CBS (and probably KBS and westy 12 if I ever review them, I have drank them before). I have not had anything better and I can't even imagine anything being better.

The real question is, if you someday do have better beers, how do you rate them? Furthermore, do you go back and reduce the rating on the previous 5? Hmmmmmm dilemma...

Dope

PS - you should totally trade me a bottle of Big Gruesome. It sounds yummy.

 

Why? Does everything have to be a 5 to be enjoyable, and can there be only one?

As I responded earlier, I have 2 5s in my reviews, that doesn't mean I immediately discounted all the others I like.

 

If you hands down feel it is the best representation of that beer style then yeah I see no problems. I think I have a handful of 5's so long as you aren't giving out 5's on every other beer it's not an issue. I also whole heartedly endorse Big Gruesome. I can't get enough of that stuff which is a problem since I live in Indiana.

 

A perfect 5.0 beer means that the appearance, smell, taste, and mouthfeel are all stellar. The best tasting beer in the world with a world class nose and a perfect mouthfeel should not be a 5.0 overall if it also doesn't look like a 5.0.

I've only come across one beer in almost 1,200 reviews that deserved all 5.0s.

 

I see you haven't rated one of my 5s, and you gave the other a 4.78... not far off.

 

Not by any means... Even though I haven't found the perfect 5 yet, I would venture to guess that anything I've ranked over a 3.5 (give or take) would qualify as enjoyable and something I would gladly drink again (and do on a regular basis). I definately think there can be more than one out there, I'm just still looking for the first...

I'll anaolgoize to my view of dating / marriage (even though it will likely get me in trouble and is probably logically flawed)... You spend years dating to find a "perfect 5" that you'll spend the rest of your life with... I believe there are mutliple people out there for each of us to spend the rest of our lives with (i.e. - there can be more than one perfect 5), you just need to find one, but unfortunately people often unkowingly settle for less than a perfect 5 and end up divorced...

FYI - While I"m still looking for a perfect 5 in the beer world, I have found one in my wife / best friend...

 

If you think it's all 5's, give it all 5's. I probably won't agree, but they're opinions, not facts. I've rated over 1700 beers and have given one perfect score. Others have rated less and given far more scores. As the scoring is done by our own subjective scale and taste, there aren't many wrong ways to do it.

 

I tend to rate/score a beer by its style guidelines (based on BA and the BJCP in a "blend"), then I add my personal subjective score to the "Overall" category.

Sure, rating the first 4 categories can be subjective in many ways because of many personal interpretations, but it's worked for me in home-brew judging and based on experience with other tasters, and what I see in reviews, I think my palate has developed pretty well.

 

You guys that so rarely if ever rate a beer all fives should say what it is so I can seek it out.

(I know I could search through your reviews but I am lazy)

 

Here's my top 5. I'm about 700 reviews in the hole, but I don't know that any of them are going to displace.

04-25-2010 Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout
Goose Island Beer Co. American Double / Imperial Stout 14.00 5 +10.1%
02-20-2012 Adam From The Wood
Hair of the Dog Brewing Company / Brewery and Tasting Room Old Ale 12.00 4.9 +7.5%
03-16-2011 Imperial Smoked Porter
Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. American Porter 12.00 4.9 +13.4%
05-30-2011 Peg's G.O.O.D. Rare D.O.S.
Peg's Cantina & Brewpub American Double / Imperial Stout ? 4.9 +2.7%
03-13-2012 Pilot Series Passionfruit Dragonfruit Berliner
Cigar City Brewing Berliner Weissbier ? 4.9

 

Lente was my first 5.
Bourbon Country Vanilla is my highest rated stout 4.97

Cheers!

 

Weihenstephaner Korbinian and Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout.

 

In terms of peanut butter imperial stouts, I'd be surprised if this was better than Peanut Butter & -Bals (Black Tuesday + peanut butter . . . much less my impromptu blend and name for the beer at the barrel party aka 'your chocolate/my peanut butter imperial stout' = peanut butter & -bals + chocolate rain).

But I'd like to find out. . .

 

1400+ reviews and 2 5's. La Fin Du Monde and North Coast Old Stock Ale.

 

500+ reviews and have never given a 5 yet. Now, that doesnt mean I am right nor does it mean you are wrong..I just never found a beer that I thought was the best beer ever and also the best representation of the style. Now, if you were one of those idiots who has 2 reviews and gave it perfect 5, then Id say you are a moron.

My top 5:
03-10-2012 The Wanderer
The Bruery American Wild Ale 8.00 4.75 +10.2%
06-18-2011 Gnomegang
Brewery Ommegang Belgian Strong Pale Ale 9.50 4.65 +13.4%
02-19-2012 Melange No. 3
The Bruery American Strong Ale 15.50 4.6 +6%
08-03-2011 Batch 300
The Bruery Tripel 8.20 4.53 +15.3%
04-01-2012 Trappist Westvleteren 12
Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren) Quadrupel (Quad) 10.20 4.53 -2.6%

 

To me (at least) - all 5's = insurpassable in all regards, looks, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, price, etc ad nauseum. How can one know that any particular beer has these qualities without having tasted every beer, ever?