What if beer ratings didn't exist?

If you are suggesting an imaginary world without hyped beers, then you'd need to eliminate more than ratings. Twitter, etc., would also have to go!

 

This. People can't chase and idolize a beer they've never heard about. Ratings and social media are a big part of that.

Without ratings, I think there would be a lot more arguments about who makes the best IPA right now.

 

You would first have to effect a change in human nature. Beer ratings have been around since before the invention of paper. The ancient Sumerians scribed their thoughts on wet clay tablets and no doubt someone complained about 'real beer' being adulterated by the addition of adjuncts like dates and honey.

 

It would make no difference to me. I follow certain people who have same tastes as me and if I'm unsure if I want to buy something I'll read their reviews. The 1-100 numbers do nothing for me. And actually, it just creates hype.

 

The ratings make no difference to me - I never look at them. It's the hype train that always leaves the station and visits these forums here on BA, and that is where the alert flags get raised to give me some guidance (if I like the hype).

 

I'd very much like to see the data to support the idea that the Cantillon ratings increased before the social media word of mouth gave it a certain mistique and desirability.

Similarly it is my understanding that Westvletern 12 was regarded as being one of the best beers in the world before the advent of social media. The difference between then and after the introduction of social media was that back then one had to be interested enough in beer to go buy the written materials being produced by folks like Michael Jackson.

 

As mentioned above you'd pretty much have to eliminate all social media. I peruse Instagram to see what people are drinking and see as "whales." I think this is slowly replacing ratings (maybe replace isn't the right word).

Then, there's the local element. People didn't start lining up for hours at Monkish because of ratings. The local hype spread, and was fueled by social media. You'd have to get rid of people in general.

 

Up until a few years ago, I drank a shitload of unknown beers without the benefit of ratings...those were good times

 

Ratings are simply one way of collecting evaluative judgments from several people so they can be quantified to produce numerical values.

Evaluative judgments existed and were communicated to others thousands of years before the development of statistical analyses and/or ratings scales.

 

You can't tell us that groupthink doesn't exist. It is documented throughout our entire society.

Ratings are not just a passive collection of data. Most people want to belong. If a beer is rated really highly but they don't like it for some reason there are a great many people that will give it the benefit of a doubt either thinking that they are missing something or wanting to be accepted with the crowd.

People do search out the "top beers". Most people don't want to admit that something they put effort into acquiring is bad so it likely will get boosted a little.

 

Peer pressure, or the perception of it, is a very strong influence because we all want to have some standing in the group to which we wish to belong. If I were new to craft beer I would be reluctant to post here unless I was pretty sure what I said would be well received.

 

Is Prima Pils as hard to get?

Rarity plays a large part in beer hype as well. Today, someone buys Hopslam and posts on social media and that store is out by the end of the day. Before social media, you'd have to call or text a friend what you found, and he/she may do the same with one other friend. it wouldn't snow ball as quickly as a post on social media with a couple hundred followers.

Now if brewers could brew enough of a beer to get every customer a bottle (ending rarity), the beer world might flip.

I'd also speculate that by Michael's high regards of Prima Pils, it got a lot more attention, but was more attainable then Westvleteren. While it may help substantiate Michael's reviews since folks could tangibly reflect on his notes with the same beer, it also develops a bigger aurora around the beers readers couldn't pick up at a corner shop. Is it really that good? Are each of those notes really that deep? Or balanced? Doesn't matter - they'll build it up in their minds and chase it until it becomes a reality.

Of course, with more folks trying Prima Pils come more ratings, which may drop the average - thus also arguing your point. I don't think ratings are a single factor that drives beer popularity contests though.

 

A significant impact I'm sure. I just don't see how we can speculate on matters of such depth. I still can't figure out why women find it so difficult to pass up a shoe store.