Phase Three Brewing (2019)

3.75 would be more or less where my "not a fan/mediocre" ratings would start, yeah. Not "this sucks," but definitely "I'm not buying this again."

(and yes, I know my rating system makes very little sense)

 

Yes below a 3 to me is basically this beer is terrible. Most craft beer from respectable breweries aren't going to drop below a 3.5 for me. Even if I don't like the style but it is a well executed beer, I will give it an average rating. I'm not giving it a 2 just because I'm not a huge saison fan

Seems more like "I thought this beer was going to be incredible but instead it's just ok".

Buying even one says he would drink it again which fits right into my "I guess I'd drink it?" rating haha

 

The problem with untappd is that nobody gives 1's or 2's and that's just the way it is. Ratings kind of begin with 2.5 to 3. I've given out only a couple 1's or 2's and they were completely undrinkable messes.

 

In my...defense? I don't really give out low scores because I generally feel bad doing so. The vast majority of my scores are either 4 or 4.25, because on a regular weekend I'm not willing to log anything much lower.

 

I’ve given 4 different mikerphone beers a rating of 2 or less haha

 

When a beer is oxidized I generally just don't rate. If a normally good beer is bad for quality issues I'd rather just reach out to the brewery and tell them shit is fucked and get replacements or money back.

I also simply don't drink a lot of low rated beers, so there is a bit of selection bias going on. I don't give low scores becuase I don't drink anything really below a 3.75 average unless it is something weird I just want to try.

 

Is it really a problem though? It may not make the most logical sense because our gut reaction may be that a 0-5 scale means that the "average" beer should be 2.5, but it's just not that way. Even the BA scores are on a 100 point scale but rarely is anything below a 70 used (or perhaps not much goes below 80). Same thing with wine ratings. It's just the way it is.

 

A 2 rating is like they forgot to add the yeast and a 1 rating is like they used recycled brown waste water that hadn't actually been recycled, but the hop profile was still nice despite the dysentery.

 

Funny enough one of the only 1's I gave is a beer that literally tasted unfermented. I think they really forgot to and I was drinking wort.

 

I guess that's where I differ. I called the most recent batch of Unwind Your Mind a "sweet mess" and a "lactose fest" in the Hop Butcher thread - I also gave that a 0.5 on Untappd. Maybe I'm too critical, or unfair, since people do love sweet IPAs.

 

I think it's fine, since a lot of people throw around 5s on Untappd for every single beer they drink. Your 0.5 just offsets that a little

 

I tried a Tropical District last night, and I thought it was great. As good as any milkshake I’ve had from Hop Butcher or anywhere else for that matter.

 

3 of the 4 that I rated below a 2 were stouts that tasted like sharpies smell. To bring it back to this thread, the 4th beer I rated 2/5 was the mikerphone/phase3 collar phases, stages, circles, and scenes.

 

Maybe its my background in marketing, but this thread is exactly why I take Untappd ratings with a grain of salt. With a 5 point (likert-type) scale, 2.5 IS average. That's just the way it is. I've given plenty of 1 and 2 star ratings.

But this is also why likert-type scales are considered flawed. They are used for simplicity and trend identification, as opposed to accurate ratings.

 

I'm sure I know way less about likert scales than you, but I'd say that Untappd is not one of those scales. Nowhere does it say that 2.5 is average, with 3 implying "I like it", 4 meaning "I really like it" and 5 meaning "I love it". There aren't any set parameters for each rating number that I'm aware of. However, I think it's pretty easy to get a sense of how most people use the scale, which tends to be along the lines of what some others have said (3.5 or so is often the cutoff line for where someone "likes" a beer or would buy it again). That's just my 2 cents.

On another note that is on topic, I had Tropical District, and thought it was pretty tasty. The draft pour I had was noticeably lacking carbonation, though...not sure if that came through with anyone else's cans or draft pours.

 

You are one of the reasons I sometimes feel bad about my "I'm rarely dipping below 4.0" ratings scheme.

 

I see your point about Untappd not clearly stating that, I guess I just assume its implied. I was about to use a Yelp comparison, until I thought harder about it. If a place has less than 3.5 stars, I won't take my chance on them. When by my logic, they are good or average. So, carry on.

 

I think both scales make sense, sort of like variable grading scales in school.

 

The easiest way to see that most don't use 2.5 average is to look at some of the worst breweries you've ever been to. None of them are going to be below a 3. Most not even below 3.5. 3.5 is the average shithole brewery rating... which says a lot because there are some really good ones that barely break 4.

 

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing that that's how people use those rating scales. I'm just saying that's fundamentally wrong. But maybe we can blame it on our educational system having a grading system from 100-60 being A-F.