Tickers?

Because an actual well-thought out review is more useful to me (and presumably others). You're right, there is nothing wrong with ticking for the sake of ticking. It's a free country and I say, good for ya! But it doesn't mean I have to care that you've been able to try 5,000 unique beers but have nothing to say or write that I can learn from. I find that the activities of "reviewers" are much, much, much more interesting, instructive and useful to me as someone who aspires to learn more about beer by tasting and reviewing as well as deciding if a particular beer is worth a percentenge of my limited paycheck or if I should hold off for another time. The people with 1,000+ "hads" do not help me in this regard, so I pretty much ignore them.. I don't judge them, but I do ignore them for the most part.

Cheers mate! Keep up the good work.

 

This site has made "ticking" a lot easier over the past few years by establishing the ability to add a quick rating. I won't "review" a beer unless I have had a full serving of it- and generally when I am rating I am either taking notes or sitting down with the right frame of mind to review it as I drink it.

I can be a "ticker" because I do use this site to keep a record of the beers I have tried and my general impression of each. I do this for my own records- because I find that if I don't keep track of them- I completely forget about ever trying the beers I find to be decent/average/mediocre...otherwise forgettable. Then when I order/buy it a second time because it looks interesting then when I crack it open I remember the experience.

 

I think your assessment is right on the mark. And now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, and there's no chance of going back to only full reviews. That was one aspect of this site that I preferred to alternatives. But, the decision is made.

 

But, they had to do it, to keep folks on the site. Honestly, I only started doing full-on reviews, because that's what was required here, at the time. If the "had" option existed at the time, almost certainly I would have never started reviewing. That said, I'm over 2300 reviews/hads here, and just hit 1000 unique entries on Untappd. I see them as different things. If I'm serious about it, I still take notes, and do a full review later. But, if I'm just out having beers with friends, I'll just do a quick Untappd entry, then, if I remember enter a had here. BTW, I'm much stricter here. My Untappd ratings are .25-.75 higher than my rating here. BA is serious, Untappd is mindless fun.

 

I would consider myself a ticker. I keep track of every beer that I've ever had and when given the option always choose something new over something I have had. My ticker tendencies started because I was collecting bottle caps. Now, I love trying new beers and comparing breweries based on my ratings. I always buy singles over 4 or 6 packs unless it's one of my favorites.

Now what I don't do is drink an exorbitant amount just to raise my numbers. It's not a race and no one will ever get/drink every beer they want to try.

 

I think we really have to start with answering the question by defining our terms. What is a 'ticker' for the purposes of the discussion? Is it someone who does go and seek out new and unusualy beers for the pleasure of trying something new? Or are we looking at someone who is only driving towards some kind of imaginary, constantly moving goal of sampling EVERY beer out there, even as a sip.
Then we really should define what counts as a sample. Is it a sip of someone else's at a fest? A 2-oz sample at that fest? does it need a full bottle/can/pint?

In some definitions, I guess I would be counted as a ticker, though I do not see myself as one. I am always on the lookout for new beers. I don't keep records, here or on untapped, I don't generally review - certainly not on here, but I have written a couple for a local blog on occasion, but over my almost 20 years of drinking craft beers, going to fests and tastings and so forth, I have probably sampled several thousand individual beers at least. Most of those would be at least the 2-oz pour at a fest, (that meaning, I almost never just take a sip of someone else's and call it tried - I would then go and get a full sample of my own if I was interested. I don't normally try beers of styles I know I don't care for - unless someone gives me a good reason to.

 

I think the part I bolded is critical. Is the point to see if you like something new or is the point just to have a large number of things tried.

I'm the sort of person who likes to order a different entree every time I go to the same restaurant because I want to try different thngs. If I haven't had them, I may be missing out, and so if it sounds good, I'll probably order it rather than what I've already had. Still. Sometimes I know exactly what I want because I've had it before. On the other hand, my wife is the type that if we've been there before, i can predict what she will order about 95% of the time, because she finds comfort in just getting the same thing she knows she likes rather than risk being disappointed on something new.

I wouldn't say I am ticking, though. I am not trying to demonstrate that I've had more variety than anyone else. I am just interested in trying new things. Frankly, when it comes to beer purchases my repeat purchases probably make up 80% of the total. But when I see a new seasonal or a new brewery, I'll try it, just to see if I like it.

 

I've pieced together what 'ticker' means, and I guess I think it all is about intent. I always want to try new beers. Anytime I go out of town, i alway seek out the local brewery or craft bar. And I would certainly love to try some of the top rated beers if I ever get the chance. That being said, I do so because I really want to try some of these great beers...but not because I'm trying to see who has the biggest "beer dick" out there. And based on what I see on this site..I don't have much to brag about anyhow

 

I love trying new things but would never drink something that I thought I would not like just to say that I did.

 

Never? I mean, as a rule I don't like pumpkin or coconut beers, and I wouldn't order one (except maybe as part of a taster flight), but I'll at least try a sip of them if someone offers or it's at a bottle share. Occasionally it turns out there's one I don't actually find disgusting. (Admittedly, this is a little different from trying it "just to say that I did". But, beers like Crime, Punishment, Ghost Scorpion, etc. might fall more in that category.)

 

I am open to most but would not intentionally order or pour something to "tick" it off if I feel it is something I am unlikely to like. Life is too short, there are too many things out there I suspect I will like and haven't had, and calories becoming too precious too waste. That doesn't deter me from trying somethings I may have not heard of but if it is a style or flavor that I have found unappealing, why bother?

 

Well said, and great example.

 

I have "ticker" tendencies...but I'd say "no." Don't ask my wife tho...

 

People have to realize that if you have so many different beers the reality of choice becomes at one point extremely small. You're either drinking items you find enjoyable on a regular basis cause you've tried so many and go with them because they deliver and you like them, or you branch out on your horizons in many different ways.

The second reality is that variety is the spice of life. I am not going to the same restaurant every day for the rest of my life (as someone used that analogy which is a great one). I having cravings for different things at different times. Menus also offer variety, as much as beer does. I want Mexican, Peruvian chicken, Mufalettas, Rib Eyes, lobster rolls, seafood, grilled oysters, raw oysters, beef bourguignon, kabob, tagines, dim sum, po sam, pork rolls, kalbi, Pho, Bahn Mi, whatever..

I was out of my local environment for the past few days, and had access to many new beers which I will never see in my area. So why would I turn down that opportunity? It kind of seems ridiculous to find myself 2500+ miles away from my home area and decide to not drink something new, or something I really enjoy that I can't get where I live. There is plenty of Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, where I was but I can get that where I reside. Cellarmaker and so forth not so much.

So where do you think I went drinking? Why would I turn down that experience if I had the choice?

It's kind of funny, the flipside to all this so called "ticker" mentality is the thread that pops up from time to that asks, so if you could have only one beer for life what would it be?

And while people always pipe up some beer they love, my feeling is just kill me now and put a bullet in my head, cause there is no way I am drinking the same dam beer every day for the rest of my life.

I have had plenty of great beer, but I am not drinking Heady Topper 4 days in a row. Believe me I've done it (actually longer as I polished off a case), but if I had to do that for the rest of life I'd be resenting it.

There's a big great world out there to explore folks, so quit making a big deal of how people want to enjoy it.

Seek out new experiences, but there's also plenty of good beer to go around too as well.

 

Thought this best quote sums up the gist of it all quite well. I will certainly drink to that. Cheers!

 

I'd say I'm more of a 'ticker' than not. Unless I really love a beer I won't usually try to seek it out again. And I mean really love. The only one I can think of at the moment is Stone Xocoveza. If I can get a new beer, I will.

 

I guess I'm a ticker by virtue of wanting to try new (to me) stuff all the time, to seek good beer. I generally don't have any qualms about picking up year-round stuff, although maybe my list doesn't quite reflect that. It was a sort-of resolution I made this year, but I haven't been doing very well. I really should transfer my notes to here one of these days, I have them down on Facebook (I like posting pics. It's easier than keeping empties). I also tick movies haha, but that's just so I know what I've seen so I don't watch things twice and think, "This is really familiar to me".

 

I used to be a ticker. I think we all go through that phase of wanting to try every beer out there.

At a new beer bar I definitely get that in me where I want to try all the beers I've heard about but haven't had yet but I think that comes with the territory.

That being said I now have my favorites and keep those stocked (for however long those last )