Does a state's reputation for beer influence ratings?

Assuming there is some kind of bias, I think it could go either way. I could see a VT resident voting their home-state beer a bit higher, and on the other hand I can see a CA resident comparing HFS to RR and voting RR higher for the same reason.

For me, a good beer is a good beer. There's some great beer in Massachusetts, but there's also a lot of shitty beer; same goes for every state.

 

You may be on to something, but I think I'm objective enough to rate beers on merit

Let me give you a comparison...I grew up in Buffalo, home of wings...that doesn't mean every place in Buffalo makes great wings, there were a few places in my old neighborhood that made terrible wings..I've traveled all over, I had some great wings in Southern Missisippi......I gave up being a geographical snob years ago, great beer can come from anywhere

 

I don't think so.
No disrespect to @richj1970 but I didn't know Alabama was worthy of anything other than decent college football teams until he sent me Straight to Ale bottles.
Same can be said about Florida (sorry @jhartley ). If you read an odd news article (Boy bites off his finger then gives sister a wet willie with it) then found out it took place in Florida, it would seem normal. But there's damn good beer to be had from that state!

 

The effect of State should be very small (if any) when compared to things with more major, and already demonstrated by research, effects such as Brewery name/reputation, style of beer, price of beer, and any advance reputation of the beer.

 

I don't think people are really judging a beer based on a state-per-state basis. Personally, I couldn't care less about the origin state (unless, of course, it's from Connecticut)

 

I think brewery bias is much more prevalent than state bias.

 

Agreed

 

With an average of somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 to 70 breweries per state it might be hard to sustain a state bias but people might rate a beer from their hometown or neighborhood higher. I think certain popular breweries tend to get higher ratings. I imagine if I fork over $30 or more for a bomber or have to drive across 2 states for a special beer I am really really going to want to like that beer.

 

Clearly difficulty in obtaining is the biggest factor in rating on this site. None of the top 50 can just be grabbed of any shelf where I live. Granted it may be easier in the state where it is brewed. Has always been strange that there are over 10000 ratings for KBS yet only 6000 for Founders Porter, a beer readily available. Is that because people feel the need to prove they had a highly ranked beer ? And since it was a bitch to obtain it must be fantastic? Pokemon. Pokemon.

 

Maybe. If anything I'd suspect more bias from the underdog states as they want to pretend that they're good enough, beer is tasty enough, and gosh darnit people need to like them more.

 

Possibly, but I don't think that really happens much if at all. At least I don't think I have ever seen an example of that. Anything is possible though.

I think most bias is attributed to a specific brewery, whether it is from a hard to obtain line of beers or extreme hype over their 'rarity' status. That is the type of bias I see the most. In those cases, I think the same people showing a bias toward one brewery, would be more likely to rate everything else lower rather than higher. This way it keeps their favorite above everyone else. Not to mention, "_________ brewery can never stand up to the high level of craftsmanship of my favorite brewery ___________."

 

Certainly. Our friends from Michigan, for example, are very vocal in their view of the quality of the beers from their state, and their scores and reviews reflect that. Whereas NW BAs think our local beers stand up against any, our scores tend to run lower. Brewery bias, hype, and homerism all come into it. Look how many people cheer for teams from their state, even though they might live closer to another team (Eau Claire WI is closer to Minneapolis than Green Bay, but I bet they're mostly Packer fans, for example).

 

I think there is a bias based on everything you see from the label.

Try a beer without knowing what it is and then judge it on it's merits. Problem is, we all usually pour our own beers and have expectations based on brewery, style or even state especially if we haven't tried any beers from that particular brewery yet.

 

Not for me, but some folks might have a bias.

 

I think the current overall ratings and/or the brewerys reputation would inflate ratings more than the state

 

Goodness does not lie within a border, just in the process and the quality that it produces.

 

ISO: beer from North Dakota that is identical to beer from Vermont

 

I think there is a ton of bias in ratings based on the brewery, label, country, region, etc.: why wouldn't there be bias when it comes to the state it's brewed in? It may be less of a factor than those previously mentioned, but I do believe it is still there.