Should we rank breweries?

I recently posted a request for the latest Beer Advocate's brewery ranking. The interest was born of a fun debate I was having with a family member. We learned from BA that they have not done a ranking in a while but they wondered whether they should relaunch the annual effort. Personally, I would refrain from going down that road, but I thought I would put the idea to the community in the form of a survey. I also list a few of the pros and cons to seed your considerations:

Cons

1. Ranking brewers runs counter to the culture of Craft Brewing which emphasizes skill and creativity over popularity. Budweiser is popular but is neither creative nor the result of brewing skill.
   
2. Rankings tend to skew craft beer consumer interests and this skewing results in a self-fulfilling cycle that undermines the opportunities for upstarts or local/regional brewers
3. Biases are too numerous and too compelling to really be able to make a reasonable and compelling list. For example, there are:
   • Survey demographics biases - the breweries that are in areas/states where there are more survey participants (because of the population centers of BA readers) will have an advantage
   • Distribution biases - almost by definition, craft brewers have distribution limitations and that limits their potential audience. Moreover, even if a craft brewer reaches a certain audience, the selection from that brewer may be limited to a certain style
   • Experiential bias - People tend to support positive experiences so if I liked my visit to a brewery or with the one style I tried, I am likely to rank the brewer highly as confirmation of my experience
     
   • Reversion to the Known bias - people are influenced by advertisements, PR events and other associations which have little to do with craft beer quality. The most popular craft brewery in my area is the preferred choice among young, urban, price conscious, high volume consumption partiers. I consider the brewer's output to be pedestrian at best.
     
   • Engagement bias - let's face it. there are many craft brew participants who are mildly attached to the movement. They usually choose a brewery and style and never venture beyond that point while others are active/educated in their search for great experiences
   • Price bias - for volume drinkers, paying $15-30 for a pint is a budget buster. A good portion of craft beer drinkers do not venture beyond grocery store brands and that limits experience - high price does not always equate to quality but voting based on price accessibility will likely skew us towards higher volume/efficiency minded craft brewers
   • Home team bias - everyone has a tendency for local pride. While I tend to seek out new-to-me brewers globally, my relatives fly the flag of their home town brewers
   • Expectation bias - some craft brew consumers just want something not too challenging but weightier than global brands; others like great efforts in classic styles; while others seek out brewers who live on the knife's edge of creativity and extremism.
   • Inflexibility bias - true students of craft beer expect the occasional drain pour even with preferred brewers b/c they respect the craft. They can rationalize that some efforts are outside their palate but still have a high regard for the brewer. Further, they understand that certain styles are best during certain seasons or are better for pairings than stand-alone or should be respected for their complexity etc. I imagine that many/most craft drinkers have already locked into their style and brewer and want to confirm the intelligence of their choice by voting accordingly.
     
   • and so on
4. Craft Brewers cater to certain palates. We all know that it is usually inappropriate to say a style or effort is "bad" or "good" because the brewer was not targeting our specific palate
5. Rankings may influence brewers to focus on economic matters over their craft. At what point does the marketing "genius" direct the brewer's choices in order to move up the rankings?

Pros

1. Rankings usually spur debate and debate can be a form of education and confidence building
2. Rankings may help guide new participants to venture into safe experiences and limit drain pours early on the development of their interests
3. Other positives?

So, in sum, I am not convinced a numerical ranking would serve us well. Personally, I think a tiered allocation would be more useful and more consistent with craft beer principles. For example, tiers that reflect excellence at style breadth and durability over time; excellence for core styles; excellence for a specific style; excellence for product development/experimentation and so on. I think that acknowledgements should advance the principles of CRAFT and not the tendency to promote popularity.

What are your thoughts?
Saverio

PS, yes, I do recognize my pro v con list above reflects my bias but feel free to add to the pro or con list

 

Wonderfully snarky. Unfortunately, not very helpful or informative. Let's keep it friendly.
Saverio

 

Actually, I consider this kind extended thought process fun and I enjoy getting a look at how other people think. So, this is me being "light". As you would guess, I prefer the heavier ales which include oak-casked, bourbon aged, high viscosity, ink black etc

Much appreciation for your post and insight!
Saverio

 

My thinking is that polls could end up being popularity lists driven by listed biases etc and that may drive bad behaviors by the business side of breweries as well as displace the opportunities for those breweries who choose to remain regional artisans. I see that happening in my state already.

Keep in mind, craft became a movement because the national/international brands lost sight of/ interest in low volume/high quality/high diversity beer consumers. We want to promote creative artisans and not timid, volume seekers.

Saverio

 

This would only be the case if we displayed the results with the ability to understand distribution constraints and regional biases and beer preferences etc. I am still a "definite no" on the idea though.

Saverio

 

a lot of great comments. I am surprised that "who cares, its fun" plus "yes" adds up to nearly 2/3rds of the responses. But, I also think I should have added a "who cares, I wouldn't use the results" as we had a lot of page views that did not vote. So much so, that, had a fraction voted, it may have really altered the results.

So, while "No" is the minority opinion, I am thinking it is possible that "who cares, I wouldn't use the results" could have been the runaway favorite. As I mentioned, I don't see how the list could be useful and definitely see how it could be counter-productive.

Saverio