AlexandraDen

ABOUT ME
Canadian, drank a Hefeweizen in like 2010 in University and never looked back. I loved fine gins and whisky as well, I discovered and adored Redbreast 12 before it was even written about in whisky books and only cost $21 (now costs $80 or more). Stopped drinking for 6 years out of an abundance of caution (I had a kidney stricture and surgery in 2007. It helped, but my pain resurfaced in 2012 and I was sick for almost a decade after that).

In 2022 I had a Guinness just for fun, my kidney was fine according to my blood work, and I enjoyed it so much it was off to the races. Getting back into beer but it has been a long time. My palate is not as mature as it once was and beer has changed! NEIPAs, what’s that? Why is there 5,000 shelves of it?

Friendly and happy go lucky, feel free to message me about anything, I love to talk and talk and talk bout almost anything and any topic!

MILESTONES
100th Beer — Chimay Red 750mL, Dubbel. 4.31

TRADING
Live in Southern Ontario and always willing to trade ANYTHING with anyone in Ontario! Since the LCBO is fairly typical, we have a lot of the same stuff but I’m sure we have tons in our cellars we can trade. Message me ANYtime! I’ve got a lot of good unique stuff and stuff from breweries not on store shelves!

My Rankings
1.75 and below/ 35% and below I haven’t had any beers here yet. A beer so bad or so skunked you want to puke, or you did puke. There is no question, this goes down the drain. Worst of all time.
2-2.25/40-45% F beers. Bad. Waste of money. Waste to drink. Worth pouring down the drain. Awful in any way. Multiple categories are so bad it’s almost as if they tried to fail it.
2.5/50% — A D- beer. This is it. Anything below is flat out terrible. Anything below is firmly in the ‘waste of money, awful drinking experience, almost worth pouring down the drain’. These beers are like Natty Ice, something you force yourself to drink when you’re 19 and want to get drunk. Beer that wasn’t brewed for taste, just a vessel to transfer alcohol.
2.75/55% — a D to D+ beer, this is a beer that is bad in every category. Most macros I’ve had tend to end up here. Likely ugly looking, with no aromas or cheesy skunky ones, with tastes that range from thin water that tastes like it’s just been dipped in by a yellow crayon, to something syrupy, cloying, and pungent. Approaching a line where you just not only regret the purchase, but regret even drinking it.
3/60% — This is a C- beer. I don’t have many beers here or below. This is where macros that are better than other macros end up. And where craft beer that is approaching ‘unenjoyable’ status end up. Issues in almost every category, these are beers that just aren’t worth the money.
3.25/65% — A solid C to C+ beer. Issues in one or more categories, it’s still drinkable and worth more than a typical macro but not by much. Approaching the line where I might have regretted buying it/spending the money on this beer. Still not necessarily a bad drink, just unexceptional and forgettable.
3.5/70% — A B- beer, this is a beer that is average in every way and might have one small issue in taste or smell. Still a decent beer, it’s an enjoyable experience and worth the money but might be one I wouldn’t revisit or buy again necessarily.
3.75/75% — My average, a solid B beer. Looks, smells, and tastes better than any macro and something I wouldn’t mind drinking again.
4/80% — An A- beer, most of my highly ranked beers are here. Highly enjoyable in one of the areas of smell or taste (or more), this is something I’d actively seek out again.
4.25/85% An A beer, these are beers that are exceptional in multiple categories and high benchmarks for their styles in my mind. I love these beers and they’re on top of my list for restocking, drinking, etc.
4.5/90% An A+ beer, this is a beer so good in every single category, so complex and delicious I’ve likely driven out of my way for many kilometres to a specific LCBO just to find it and buy tons for my cellar. These are beers for all time, not just benchmarks but the standout star of that particular style.
4.75-5/95-100% An A++ or S tier beer. This is a beer that is basically perfect in every category, an unforgettable experience, something that would be worth spending $20-30 on a single can. Currently, I have not ranked a beer that has reached 4.75 or higher, though some have come close at 4.7. These beers are so unbelievably amazing that you almost can’t even write the review. I look forward to finding a beer that fits here/revisiting old beers and putting them here once my palate continues to mature

Rankings Explained
My Median ranking is 3.75. Though my early purchases tended to be renowned international stuff that’s almost always super highly rated and enjoyed, I am branching out. 3.75 (or 75%) seems to be my benchmark of a beer that I enjoy. It’s good with no major detractions or issues. The rest of my beers either tend to be below or above that by 0.25 or so. If it’s a little below that, it had a few issues I didn’t like. If it’s a little above it, I loved it. I have not ranked a beer above 4.75 yet, still looking for that beer that is basically perfect for its style and amazing in every way. While my average and median is in the 70-75% range, higher than others, it does fit a curve nicely and avoids extremes. I hope this contextualizes my reviews and scores for you.