Brewery Goggles: Does the brewery affect your review?

Sometimes one does not enjoy what others do. There are several highly thought of breweries whose beers I do not care for.

 

Yea, but it is much more complex than just the beer. The vibe, the staff, the regulars we see on a weekly basis, our first visit, etc., etc.
There are 45 breweries within a 10 mile drive of my house. Our first visit to one of these, probably in 2005 (there were only 4 or 5 breweries at the time), and where our love of craft beer started, is still special for us, and we go at least once a week. We even stuck with them when the quality suffered due to cash flow challenges they had.

Then there are breweries like Sierra Nevada, or the Willy Wonka of breweries, the treatment, service, and beer were just great, in addition to they are very supportive for all the local breweries, offering lab services, and advise for brewers that are struggling with a brew.

 

I am sure this happens a lot, it all depends on the person. I am a big fan of my local guys, I support them as much as possible. With that said if they make a beer that stinks I will say it stinks. I feel that honest feedback is critical to breweries so they can adjust if something is bad. Everyone is different so my guess is a lot of this goes on.
Cheers

 

A footnote to my previous post.
As big as SN is, it is clear they are very much a part of the local craft beer community, and that is how they approached it from the time they chose Mills River for the new brewery.

Prior to opening they flew all the local brewers to Chico for a 4 day beer camp, and shipped the resulting brews back to the local breweries when it was ready. All on SN's nickle.

 

I'm biased, just not blinded. Of course a whole slew of variables effect my review but I still do my best to make it based solely on the taste and quality of what I'm drinking
But....I am self employed small business,my father was small business,my brother,and my wife for the most part also. So in my heart I just can't rip a small brewery to shreds, I freely admit it

 

Mmm... I do my best to assess each beer I drink by what's in the glass, not on the label. I've given bad scores to beers from breweries that I mostly revere because the beer was so far off style or just plain blah (see last year's SN Okto for a double example).

On the other hand, I sort of wonder if I hold some of these breweries to a higher level and expectation and that may sway my judgment -- but it's very forefront when I'm trying a new beer from an old stand-by that I'm focused on what's in front of me, not what I may have been wowed by a year or 10 past.

 

How is it a problem?

 

I’m sure this phenomenon isn’t quite what it was several years ago when the folks in the northeast were hyping up their local beers in an attempt (albeit seemingly effective) at jacking up the value of what was available to them.

I never traded because we have all the best examples of different beer styles right here, but I can understand how it affected folks in places where that isn’t the case.

 

I appreciate and enjoy good fresh beer, perhaps some of the trend is local state craft brewers negotiate contracts with distributors before retail ,one of the stipulations is it must remain under refrigeration in order to let the liquor store sell it- Meaning a higher guarantee of freshness-especially when it is dated a week ago-

 

Yes. I tend to feel that anything Tröegs brews is really good. The main reason I think I feel this way is because I worked there for a little bit and loved it. I thought it was a fun place to be at and as employees we were treated very well. I also like anything Pizza Boy puts out, probably because of the value of 6 pack of 16 oz cans for $12-18.

 

While I wouldn’t argue as it occurs quite a bit, I don’t think it’s universally true l and I am quite confident that I am not swayed by who made it. Not that I am an expert or higher and mightier than anyone else, but I have had beers I thought were awful from Hill Farmstead, The Bruery, Founders, Trillium... Unless you are looking at it from the standpoint that @beertunes mentioned. Expectations can be higher for something from a major operation with experience, success, and pedigree.

I think what happens more often than being influenced by major players is being influenced by location. There are a lot of people who blindly follow local breweries because it’s in their neighborhood, is has a great atmosphere, or they personally know the staff even if they are making clearly flawed beers. Obviously not every new/local brewery is awful, but many of them are and they continue to be successful and take away sales from places like Sierra Nevada and Anchor, or even large more regional places that have been around for decades like Great Lakes or Deschutes for example.

Along these lines, I would be the first to admit to style goggles though. I probably tend to overrate styles I like, or the way they are made. Like an imperial ipa with Mosaic or Citra. Also adjuncts or barreled beers. I love maple. And bourbon. Jackie O’s would be a great example. Their beers are very bourbon barrel forward. As a whiskey drinker that hits the spot for me, and I would tend to score higher.

 

I'd like to think that it doesn't affect the numbers I deliver; but the name of the brewer can create preconceived notions or expectations, for sure.

 

Concur, especially on the "style goggles"; although sometimes I'm tougher on my favorite styles. I'm brutal on Witbiers that aren't straight to the style. Sticky RIS's piss me off. Boozy saisons are irritating.

 

I enjoy beer from a few well-known breweries. I really try not to give bias to them. I have tried beer everyone has rated rather high. I thought the hype was higher than the beer rating. I recently tried King Sue. It was a good beer but not worthy of a 4.6 rating. Another beer I thought was terrible was the OG Dragon's Milk, high hype but garbage for a beer.

 

I feel like it's the exact opposite for many people. "I can get that any time off the shelf...it can't be that good - 2.5/5" That's opposed to "I had to trek 500 miles in the snow uphill both ways to get this beer made with cake batter and taco shells - 5/5!"

 

I'd say the longer I've been (seriously) drinking good beer, the less prone I am to the sway of the brewery* and what place it might have in my lizard-palate brain memory.
*Unless it's Half Acre. Then I'm screwed and will probably fanboi it up all day long.

 

I try not to let the brewery sway my ratings and I periodically do blind tastings to check.

 

I think it can set an expectation for a beer or a assumed quality (or lack there of) that can inflate of deflate a beer's perception. I don't think I let it influence me but who knows?

Get a bad beer from an accomplished brewery like Fremont for example, and maybe I rate it extra low as I'm disappointed with it because I expect good things from Fremont. Vice versa with a brewery I don't like or have been disappointed by, suddenly hits good on a beer, do I give them that extra 0.25 to their rating?

I think I've had enough beers and put enough ratings in that a brewery bias is very negligible.

 

Not everybody has the same taste in beer. I don't care for anything I've had from Russian River and only like a few beers from Alchemist. Sure there are plenty of Bud Light drinkers who feel the same way you do about their beloved brewery of choice.

 

Possibly, but only a small amount if it all. If anything, it could be the opposite in that I hold the brewery to a higher standard based upon prior high quality reviews. My rating is going to be more impacted by the environment and my own personal mood when drinking the beer. For example, last week, I was at a local bocce place for an event and had a couple of Pliny the Elder on tap. Based upon that night, I would have given the beer a five rating. It was amazing. However, my past review from the bottle is lower.