What Exactly Is A 5.0 Beer Rating?

Agree . If it’s an obscure beer style and reasonably priced, I’m buying a single can/bottle every time without looking at any ratings/reviews.

 

. I honestly don’t know when the last time I’ve given out a lowest possibly “1” on any of the rating criteria. Even if something is pretty darn bad, I probably go as low as a 2, let me do some digging though...

 

Most of the beers that I found disgusting drain pours were either old or out of my style preferences. Ones my fault , the other I can’t fault the beer if I don’t understand the style. But giving a simple Budweiser’s or any other AAL under a two is pure bias.

 

If like a beer and the folks at the brewery are cool, I rate it a 5 to help push up the other bullshit scores

 

Over 2,000 beers here. No 5's, only 3 at 4.75 or higher and less than 30 at 4.5.

Top beers are Rochefort 10, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Rodenbach 2016 Vintage Ale (Barrel 201). Something like Duvel (virtual perfection) scores a 4.52 from me. I'd give it 100% approval, but it's not a 5 out of 5. I've noticed that virtually all beers now score between about 3.4 and 4.4 now, so many of my highest and lowest scores happened when I was relatively new to this. Part of it is that there are so many good beers out there, it's harder to stand out. Part of it is being more selective with what I drink (i.e. the session IPA from a local brewery with so-so quality history, doesn't even get tried now whereas years ago, I would've tried it and given it a standard 3.25 or something.)

A 5 just has to be perfect from every aspect, which is really hard to do in invigorating every sense above and beyond any peers (which include a lot of world class beers).

 

Last beer I rated where I gave out some “1s” was last March. It was a horrendous American lager from a craft brewer..way worse than most macro AALs.

 

Some are horrible, I’m thinking of Genesee Light tasted like it was brewed with metal shavings. Could see that getting a 2 or lower, but not mainstream flag ship AALs. There’s some really enjoyable AALs, if you rated to style why wouldn’t say Gansett or Bud or Miller get say a 4.75 rating? Just an example, as most rate to enjoyment not to style.

 

I forgot to add this but it was something I was thinking about as it’s raining out and the dog is snoring in front of the fire. Sorry it’s long.

This week I had Jade IPA from Foothills Brewing, and I also finished off a few cans of Budweiser I had in the back of the refrigerator. So based on preference there’s no doubt the Jade is a far more enjoyable beer to drink. If I was rating it formally I’d guess it might fall into that 4.25 range give or take a bit, it’s a very good ipa, but my minds not blown and it’s nowhere close to a 5 beer.

Now we switch over to the Budweiser. Ok so how to really proceed here and do it fairly? I don’t think here’s an AAL out there that I think is better, there’s lots I like and drink that are in the same boat equally enjoyed. So for an AAL brewed with an adjunct either corn or rice is it possible that’s it’s closer to a mythical 5 rating than the Jade which I think in more enjoyable to drink. It’s clean, it hits all the marks for style points, it’s very consistent, if there’s any flaws I fail to see it. Why shouldn’t Budweiser get a high say 4.75, hell maybe a 4.95. It’s an adjunct AAL, that’s the style.

That’s the conundrum with using rating systems, we’re human we tend to rate higher things we like better. But I should be rating the Jade to something, so exactly what is that? Style profiles from the Brewers association? Jade hits all the notes but I like Headhunter more, or SOS more, or Two Hearted Ale a bit more. But I can’t think of an AAL I’d bet money on I could say I think is better than a simple Budweiser. A dozen equally well liked, but none that are definitively better in any sense although they’re different. How could you make a simple AAL significantly better than Budweiser without changing the style altogether?

Thoughts on a rainy day.

 

I don’t like all them all as well, I think Rolling Rock is hideous, but palates are so very different, but I’d say mine is probably under developed compared to others on this site. I dislike Bud Light immensely as well.

 

I've only handed out one 5 and that was for Pliny the Elder. That was back in my first year of craft beer and I might not rate it a 5 anymore.I usually start out with a 3.5 as my average and rate above or below depending on the trait.

 

Agree completely. A 3.75 "average" for an adjunct lager seems generous, while for an IPA it seems stingy. I always try to rate within a style, rather than how much I like the beer keeping the 3.75 average. Also, I think my 3.75 rating comes from the fact that I think most of the beers on BeerAdvocate average around there, so I try to stay consistent with the community in terms of the rating. Obviously that changes depending on the style of beer.

 

I recently saw an NA beer review that someone had given all 5's to...

 

I've rated 5 AALS 4.0 or higher. I am not ashamed to have done that considering the style.

 

What you're probably tasting is acetaldehyde, so very close. Most people perceive it as a green apple flavor, but it can get nasty in higher than extreme trace amounts or if you are very sensitive. It is part of the classic "green beer" flavor profile. Interesting, if scary: many breweries in tropical countries still use formaldehyde as a preservative, as their beer may sit at ambient temps for weeks with no AC. I was actually able to pick it out in one beer when I was in India. A teaspoonful was enough, then I ordered something else.

 

Nothing wrong with that. My perspective is partially informed by being a BJCP judge, so I think about how well a beer conforms to the style guidelines. If you buy a particular style of beer it's reasonable to assume that you like that style, so if it's well made it should get a high score. On a BJCP scoresheet 20% of the total score is devoted to subjective opinion; it's not all mindless adherence to the specs. Though I sometimes tell other judges, "if the style guideline says it should taste like shit and your beer tastes like shit you have to give it a good score".

 

That's good. To say that you rate lower just because of the style is an admission of style bias getting into your rating process, and that should not be allowed to happen. There should be some AALs that get a 5.0.

 

This is the key that so many seem to ignore... sometimes me, as well. I need to reassess some of my AAL reviews... or just delete them.