Bourbon County Stout: zero head, "5" for look?

According to common sense...and also beer reviewing recommendations:

appearance = 5%
The first step. note the beer's colour, carbonation, head and its retention -- not the label or appearance of the bottle.
[SOURCE]

To each their own though, I'm not one to bash ones style. To me that is a typical case of judging a book by it's cover. Sure it can add to the "experience" but it would surely never detract from it. I also do not take the bottle into consideration when grading.

 

I'm just curious where it says anywhere that appearance means a thick layer of head, especially on a high abv stout? Which "beautiful imperial stouts" have you had that pour which a thick dense head? I can't think of many near this abv, which leads me to believe that you haven't had many great imperial stouts. Maybe the problem here isn't that others are rating wrong as it seems that you are suggesting, but that you have a misconception of what the appearance is supposed to look like. With that being said, however you score is up to you. But you shouldn't imply that others are rating incorrectly when the majority of beers that fit this style pour exactly how the beer that you rated did

 

Why do people care so Much how others review? Some like to do it purely for fun or for their own personal record, and BA provides an easy database to access your reviews easily.

 

Took me a while to realize this. Reviewing is much more fun now... I do it like the top reviewer on BA and I couldn't care less.

 

Appearance is a mere 5% of the total score. Rate it accordingly. Don't cheat. Not to mention, overrating appearance of BCBS or any beer won't do much to inflate the total score either.

 

Poor technique with the coffee could be a cause. Oil will kill head retention.

 

I think it's more of a matter of people not wanting to give a beer they really enjoyed a low mark in any category.

Regarding appearance specifically, I more often come across beers that are beautiful but don't look very good than vice versa. When rating appearance, I try to take into account the style, glassware, and serving type. If it's served in a cylindrical glass on tap, I'm going to be a bit more lenient. I gave BCBS a 3 in appearance because it's a high abv bbal stout, so it's to be expected not to really have any head retention or lacing. When I'm judging something like a tripel or BSPA, though, I expect good lacing and retention. If I pour a tripel that has almost no head and no lacing, I'm going to give it a less than average score. I tend to rate appearance more by amount of head, retention, and lacing more than color or clarity.

 

I rate the "appearance" based on how appetizing the beer looks to me. If it's a big stout and doesn't pour with a head, I realize that this is a fairly common characteristic of the style and it doesn't bother me.

 

One of my favorite beers is Older Viscosity and as you probably know this beer gives as much head as a Nun, nonetheless, I think the color, the alcohol legs and the small rim deserved a 4.5. I guess when a beer is otherwise absolutely awesome, appearance takes a back seat.

 

what i don't get is why so many people worry about other peoples personal opinions & assessments? it is after all their opinion of what they paid for & poured, and it's their review they took their time to compose. nobody stops the next person from having their own opinion & review. it seems a bit hypocritical to question the opinions of others based on ones own opinion / interpretation. jmho.

 

i agree that reviews are worth talking about, but the place you're arguing from is your own bias. some people disagree that high ABV barrel aged beers need to have a big head.

re: your argument that brewers should be docked appearance points because of barrel aging for flavor/aroma, do you think someone who doesn't like oak or whiskey flavors should knock BCBS in the aroma/flavor scores, or just overall?

(i think it's up to the reviewer, but if you take "how good an X they brew when they try brewing an X," as the basis for appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel, then i would think "barrel aged stout" goes in for X with BA stouts, not just the style listed. as such, appearance would be reviewed "as a BA stout" just as taste and smell would be. bashing BCBS for smelling of oak would be like bashing supplication for being sour... but why is the head issue different?)

p.s. re: the appearance issue, i think that category is pretty subjective. i drop scores for bad retention and then raise them right back up because i like the color, sometimes.

 

Sounds like an ok saturday afternoon...where's the rest of the list?

 

Reviews drive ratings, ratings drive hype, hype ruins the trading forums, the trading forums ruin my day(s).