Factual site additions

Do users on here really spend time adding beers just for beer karma points? I guess it’s possible. But if they do, why does it bother anyone here? Who cares if BA users care about earning make believe points on a beer website?

 

I appreciate you bringing this subject up @BigIronH , as touchy as it might be!

As many of you probably notice, I do add quite a few beers to the site. To echo the sentiments of @DIM @DrStiffington @sulldaddy , I believe adding content makes for a more robust and inherently better site. It’s disappointing to search for a beer on beeradvocate and not even come up with an entry for it (and sometimes the brewery as well, for that matter), only to find it pop up on other [unnamed] sites no problem.

With that being said, I typically will only add beers for my state/region, and will always cross-check the data- I want to be positive that the info I’m adding (and other BAs are seeing and relying on) is correct. Sometimes the ABV can vary (as we’ve all seen from different brewers from batch to batch), in the vein of what @cjgiant was saying. Furthermore, in most cases I’ve reviewed at least one of the brewery's offerings that I've added, even if you don’t see the review here on BA (refer to my confessions in the “should Poo-bahs review more beers” thread).

Regarding the lack of notes for beer entries, I am guilty of that in many instances and will work on being better about it in the future.

Overall, I appreciate all of you that take the time to add content, whether it be reviews, comments, beers, pictures, places, etc.- You all make beeradvocate a better place with each passing day, my friends!

Oh, and thanks for putting up with us
@slander

 

Keep in mind, just because someone doesn't review a beer or place right away doesn't mean that they weren't there, or didn't try the beer. Considering that when you add a place, it can take a day or two for it to be approved, sometimes you forget to come back to it in a timely fashion.

There have been times I was at a brewery enjoying a beer and check BA to see what others have thought, to find that it wasn't listed so I added it as a place holder with the full intention on coming back to it to review, only to forget for a while until I stumble across it again later.

 

Pro Tip: Don't add beers when drunk. Speling is hard

 

Very true.

 

"I haven't seen many mistakes on added beers, but I do think it's a waste when someone adds a beer two years before someone else rates/reviews it."

These opinions run CANtrary to my thinking. BA's real value is as an archival database. Beers are CANming and going at a furious rate in this day & age. Adding a beer to the database should be encouraged, not frowned upon.

I long ago stopped reviewing/rating beers on this site, but I CANtinue to and will CANtinue to add beers without a review or rating. That way, there is a historical record of this beer, regardless of when or even if it gets reviewed/rated.

It should be notes that the majority of beers that I add are not only spot-on for accuracy, but also include whatever Notes I CAN cull from the brewery's website/the vessel (CAN or bottle)/Untappd, as well as a picture.

Am I to understand that just because I choose NOT to review/rate any of these beers then I should cease & desist?!? Hmm.

 

I will add new beers from locals and do a quick rating on Untappd.

For BA, I will buy a Crowler and do a full review. I reckon that's a respectable thing to do.

 

I see a benefit to having breweries listed even if no beers or reviews are attached at the time of adding them. If they are in the database then they are findable when doing a brewery search of a city for when I'm planning a trip there. Additional data, beers and reviews, would be helpful, but not required.

I once thought about adding a bunch of Michigan breweries that weren't in the database. The Michigan Beer Guide, when it was still being published, had 30-40 breweries more in its list than were in the BA database, but I never got around to doing it.

That deficiency probably still exists. I have a more recent list from another source, so I'll try to reconcile it to the BA database and see where we stand. The Brewer's Guild list is also more inclusive than the BA database (I never reconciled the two, but not all breweries join the Guild), but it's published only annually, so it's old a day later.

 

I am one of the offenders of adding beers to a place recently where I saw they were flagships or regularly rotating and weren't on the site. I recently had to add multiple beers to the website for a single brewery based on notes I finally got around to posting from December.

I have seen the ups and downs of the website since joining 15+ years ago when RateBeer was really the only competition in town. Quite frankly, when untappd came on the scene, it seemed to significantly impact the userbase of BA. BA tried to respond by making participation in the website easier (i.e. not longer requiring written reviews to rate a beer, but simply permitting a rating, similar to untappd).

I think this is why you see people adding beers to places they have not been to before. I don't think people do it for internet points, but do it more for to help keep BA great! To help keep it updated! I agree that we need to make sure we have accurate information, but I also agree that there should be an option that, if you incorrectly add a duplicate place or beer, you have a period of time to delete the addition or request.

With that being said, I think Beer Karma is EXTEMELY important to the function of the website as it clearly helps to keep users engaged. While having inaccurate information may be frustrating, not having BA at all because user engagement is lost, would be 1,000x worse.

Next time you see some inaccurate information, simply add your edit as a member of the community then, in the words of the great (and wise) Charlie Papazian, "Relax, and have a homebrew."

Cheers!

 

Quick devil's advocate note. This site, I've always understood, is here to promote awareness and appreciation of beer and beer culture. There are some real benefits to BA of having a lot of beers in its database. One big benefit is search engine results. I've noticed when I search a beer in google or bing, BA is one of the top 3 references that come up. Someone not quite familiar with BA is likely to link into the site to check out a beer they search for. I think that's a real positive. If the beer is not in the database, they are likely to link to different site. Now if the data is not accurate, well...

 

I just saw this thread, so I’m a little late to the party. I’ve now added more than 250 beers to the database, my general rule of thumb is to stick to breweries I’m familiar with, add beers I’ve either already had or am planning to have and I always try to add notes because I think it’s important to let someone know if they’re coming here to check on the beer, the proper information ie which hops, what adjuncts, any info that I think is pertinent. Most of the time, I just copy and paste from the brewery’s IG page because you know that is going to be the most accurate source there is.

My other rule of thumb…if I’m not 100% sure on something, like the abv, or even the spelling, I don’t add the beer and if I’m not 100% sure on what’s in the beer (hops or adjuncts) I don’t add notes. Simple as that.

 

I just reviewed a beer from Tombstone and noticed the BA that added the beer did not review it, and I thought why go to the trouble and not give your thoughts?.

 

It narrows things down. If you start allowing things that are close to each other to show in a search, the search becomes muddy and difficult to wade through.

In my town there is Stone's Throw Brewing. In Arkansas there is a Stones Throw Brewing. There is a beer called Stones Throw from a brewery in ND. When I go to enter e new brew from my Stone's Throw, the first thing that always show up is the beer from ND. Then I've gotta scroll through until I find an entry from our ST brewery, then access their page. it's a bit of a PITA. But, what allowing a wider search allow? Burying the thing I'm looking for even deeper. Narrower/stricter is better in this scenario.

 

Maybe they have the beer, but haven't drank it yet? Maybe they don't review?

 

Valid points but my thinking is (and we all think differently) when I add a beer is when I sit down to review it and notice it is not added, then I add it.