Changing Reviews and/or Ratings

Yup

 

Your taste buds will evolve over time.

 

Yep, I've done it a lot, actually. I also used to be waaay too lenient on my ratings – giving out 4.5s and 4.75s all the time. Now that I re-assess some of those earlier 'hads', I have averaged them out a little more, based off some of the beers that I tried that absolutely blew my taste buds away.

 

Every time I have a beer in a controlled reviewing environment, I look up my previous review after the current tasting and see if they differ. If there has been enough change one way or the other, I'll re-review but leave the text and score of my old review at the bottom of my new one.

 

Absolutely. I think it's important to change them as your opinion of the beer changes. Some of my earlier reviews of some beers are very different to what I think of them now as my tastes have changed or as I have become more accustomed to different styles of craft beer.

 

All the time. Maybe I was having an "off" day and something just didn't taste right to me at the time. It's always fair to reassess when you have more information (more times tasting it).

 

I do as well especially if it's a beer I get to try a second time and it happens to be pricier. It's nice to revisit especially if there are only a few reviews out. Like others have said tastes evolve. If people on here actually did this beer like Stone IPA wouldn't have a 94%.

Not sure if anyone out there averages especially if they have been cellaring to revisit.

 

I also never look at the beers score before I do a rating. If I were to see that the beer is a 96 before I try it then I expect too much from it

 

Sometimes yes sometimes no. Re reviews can go either way for myself, and sometimes remain the same too.

 

I revisit beers frequently, for many reasons.

So my BA ratings often reflect my average rating over several tastings.
When I notice my BA Rating starts to deviate significantly from my personal ratings, I change it.

I think its good for people update their ratings.

This is a live database. Most people care more about what the beer is like today, verses five years ago.

 

I don't write reviews, I'm not much of a writer my creativity is more musical not so much literature. That being said I will revisit my ratings for brews if I have changed my perspective on them, or if I've discovered that I've rated them to highly or to lowly. A person's palate and tastes change all the time and evolve, the more styles and brews I have tried and gotten into enjoying has expanded my palate for the better.

 

I do this a lot more now that I'm doing less ticking. I also look at my original review date, because I know I was constantly under average. Now I may be leaning the other way, so I am honing my rating "ability".

To each person, if they join this site early in their craft beer "career", it's like being a figure skating judge. You might think the Irish Dry Stout is the best you've had and give it a 5. Then the Russian Imperial Stout "skates" , and you realize you got nowhere to go but you know the Russian tastes, I mean "skates", better. Luckily here you can adjust your Irish Stout review.

Obviously it can work the other way-you don't want to rate too high because you don't know what's coming up, and decide later on it WAS that good. Since "precise" reviews came out, I can fine tune beers that I rated the same as others that I don't feel are equal.

I also do read what I said before and decide if I agree with it. I usually adjust my review stating the change and that it's from a different tasting. Since no one cares but me about most of my reviews, I find it useful. Maybe others do to.

 

Sure. This happens all the time.
I had a Stone Enjoy By 12/26/14 about 2 weeks ago and thought it was fantastic.
I hadn't been able to find any more bottles locally. Went out of town today for a work training. Was able to do some beer shopping on the lunch break. Found a whole shelf of Enjoy By 12/26/14's. Bought three bottles expecting the same amazing taste as two weeks ago...not the case at all. I wont go into the details here, but definitely not worthy of the same rating I gave it two weeks ago.
Recipes change, beers change over time(whether its 2 weeks or 2 years) and pallets change....so yes its perfectly expectable to change a previous rating.

 

Not often do I change my ratings because it was how I felt at the time, in saying that I often laugh at my old reviews.
If I think I got a bad bottle I'll often give it another go.

 

Nope. My reviews reflect how I feel about a beer at a given time. They're snapshots of experiences. For me, changing them would dilute not only the initial experience but also the newer one(s). That said, a post script might be added if an infection was present the first time, or something along those lines comes into question.

 

If I may make a suggestion, I notice you don't make note of freshness dates when you write reviews. In the beginning of the review, check for a bottled on or best by date and type it in. If there's no freshness date, type "No freshness date." It will not only let the people reading your review know how fresh the beer you're reviewing is so they can assess for themselves how valid your review is, but it's also mainly for your own reference like with your two Wookey Jacks. I'm willing to bet money that first Wookey Jack you had wasn't very fresh, but the second one was. Making note of that one simple detail can make a world of difference when looking back on your reviews.

 

I only re-rate if my score differs somewhat significantly.
Usually it is lower because my expectations have gotten higher with being exposed to better beers and I think brewers are putting out some better products.
My ratings are usually only higher when i respect the beer more. Could be more appreciation for the style, or that the beer is more representative of what the style should be. For instance, I gave Founders Breakfast stout a 2.75. I used to only really like IPAs but now stouts are one of my favorite brews, and I'm sure I would give it a much higher score. A couple years can change a lot.
I've also been reviewing a lot of beers that I only previously rated. In this scenario, the score might not change a whole lot, but for instance with Mad Elf which I reviewed recently, it did.

 

I do not think I have ever lowered a rating. My tastes change so I assume at that given moment in time it deserved that rating even if in my mind it does not now. On the other hand I will often raise ratings. I will especially do this for styles I have learned to appreciate more over time.