Mentoring Program

Sounds like a Jedi Master/Padawan arrangement. "Review good beer you must". JK.
'Only' 953 reviews? Bloody hell, that's loads more than I have and I've been a beer snob for over 13 years now. I sometimes think we get too caught up in ratings and compartmentalizing things to make it more convenient for us. It's like Dead Poets' Society where Robin Williams breaks down the chart for how great a poem is like it's fucking American Bandstand.
I am put off when I see someone not fully review a beer and just give it a score based on the .25 system, especially when they do loads of beers at once. And I'm not fond of reviews that are ambiguous like you'd find on RateBeer, only 3-4 sentences. So I can see where you're coming from and how you want 'new' BAs to contribute. I like reviewers that list all the aspects of a beer from appearance to overall. Reading their descriptions is more important than just browsing their scores.

 

This sort of thing probably already happens locally among our friends. It would be difficult to select eager padawan learners among all the rif-raf and douches that appear online. To make a emotional investment in teaching is work and I doubt a tons of folks care enough about random strangers without already having a connection or reputation on this site.

 

I'd probably get too Mr. Miyagi about the whole thing. "Up/Down, Side/Side, Beer on/Beer off"...
It'd probably be at least a year before I even let them have a beer, much less review one.

 

But what about Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-BA-BA-Select-Start?

 

"Reviewing While Gaming' is a PhD level course. Let's take it one step at a time. Plus, I'm not sure I'm even qualified to teach that one (at least, that's what my kids say).

 

I saw this thread earlier, but haven't had a chance to respond 'til now. And, since I'm sort of new(ish) here, I'll jump in with my 2 cents...​

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It is really only after my nearly 200 different brew tasting that I feel that I have developed a palate and a descriptive base on which to do a justified review. You'll have to admit that reading reviews of folks with a much lengthier tasting history can be a bit intimidating. I mean, the OP has over 900 friggin' reviews! Holy shit! Additionally, as a bit of a newbie, I have exactly wanted to avoid the uber-generalized review:​

Beer 1: 'Mmm...malty'​

Beer 2: 'Mmm...tastes like malt'​

Beer 3: 'Mmm...malt...and hops!'​

Further, I don't want to go the other extreme and review like a pretentious douche:​

'This devine ale pranced across my taste buds like a legion of bejeweled unicorns blowing silver trumpets of ​

phenolic rapture. Never hath a finer brew been wrought...'​

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It is my intention to go back and fill in my scores with what tasting notes I have, but (for me) it has taken a fair bit of drinking to feel that I can do a quality job of assessing a beer's characteristics...in all their beery glory.​

 

I can mentor aspiring tickers.

 

I thought it was only up up down down left right left right BA start.

 

I think part of the reviewing process is seeing how you progress as a reviewer of beer.I think you end up appreciating and developing your own personal approach to drinking beer by stumbling over yourself and gradually getting a better grasp of things.II've gotten into the habit recently of using the "had" scoring system because I was away from the site for awhile(work blocked it,no Internet at home and lack of free time in general)but before that I reviewed every beer that I tried.I still enjoy looking back at the old reviews.Hell,I actually referred to a beer's aroma as smelling like "Ghetto peach cobbler(cling peaches in syrup with biscuit dough on top)".Hate to think that a mentor might've snuffed that one out

 

No, there were two B-A's. And you only had to do "Select, Start" if you were in 2 player mode.

Sorry for the threadjack!

 

Nobody mentored Spider-Man on how to be a superhero, and he turned out just fine. Cyclops on the other hand had Professor X constantly breathing down his neck, and he's a certified nutcase. Mentoring is overrated.

 

Dude, tell the truth - how much beer do you drink a day? You review beers like a champ!

 

Probably too much.

 

I would be down for this mentoring...I've had probably over a thousand different beers, so far, and many more to go...I don't pick up on the crazy specified scents 'apricot, dried figs, moldy leather' on the nose like some seem to, I don't get the 'mouthfeel' aspect, chewy or whathaveyou....it's a majority tastebuds for me...so I'm much more likely to just do the 'had' vs a full review, bc, well...I don't know what else to say other than if I really liked it as a whole or not.

I love trying different beers, but, really don't pick up on much more than the obvious. For instance...drinking Clown Shoes' Galactica now...

I would describe it as a mediocre IPA, solid dark orange-ish color, 1/8 inch head that dissipates quickly, piney hops scent, and a medium lasting taste on my palate. Nothing special tastewise. B+.

And I could tell others that I've enjoyed more, others that I've enjoyed less. But, subjectively, I don't feel like the above warrants a full-blown 'review', when I can't describe it as verbose as seems to be the standard here on BA.

Either I like it, or I don't, and so...the 'had' rating seems to fit me more.

 

Please don't advise people to use the A:, S:, T:, M:, O: to begin each segment of a review. It's redundant, I should be able to tell what you are describing by the body of the review.

In order to review a beer properly, one has to develop their palate. From my experience, developing a palate is a personal journey that one has to take on themselves. I think there is value to what a new BA can learn from the more experienced, however I am not sold on the end for a program. There is a lot to learn from reading reviews alone and many BAs are rather receptive if you just reach out.

 

My point of view is ( and i don't post my reviews, i probably should but...) essentially we are "scoring/judging" a beer and im sure plenty of people wouldn't mind the possibility of being a beer judge in some capacity, A BJCP score sheet follows the A:, S:, T:, M:, O: formula ( yes, one should be able to figure it out, but keeping with a tried and true formula in this case isn't horrible).

But i totally agree with the palate development, ones own pace, and everyone will perceive different flavors or off flavors at different levels.

Read reviews, read style guidelines, and enjoy the journey.

 

However, BA rating guidelines do not follow BJCP guidelines and I dare say BJCP guidelines are not necessarily appropriate for rating beer on BA. I agree this is a tried and true format but I do not know that this is the most appropriate forum for BJCP guidelines.

I think this is a poor review. If we were to mentor, we should lead people towards quality review habits and not short cuts. A quality review is all about the body of the review, if we have to rely on shortcuts the review is obviously lacking.