What if beer ratings didn't exist?

I would love it if actual numeric numbers did not exist, but also really enjoy reading and writing reviews. Just get rid of the numbers, lists, top 250, or whatever. Then read and understand the content of what people write. It would be like going back to how Rolling Stone use to review new albums (you know, back when they were good ).

 

I would venture a guess that it would vary depending upon the individual. I personally do not take great heed about beer ratings (i.e., a number). Most of the input that I pay attention to is qualitative. For example, I actually have verbal conversations with other beer drinkers and ask questions like:

· Have you had any ‘good’ beers lately?

· What do you think of brewery x?

· Etc.

Based upon these inputs, from people I have a personal relationship and trust, I will make future purchases.

Maybe I am not a good person to respond to this thread since I am ‘old school’?

Cheers!

 

I don't get it when people say "I never look at ratings." Why wouldn't you? It's just another data point. You don't have to treat it as gospel or anything. You can ignore it if you disagree with it.

For the people who say they never look at ratings, when you go on a road trip to another state, and want to buy some good local beer--how do you pick which beer to buy? Do you just grab random beer off the shelves?

Maybe it has to do with age/consumption levels. Back when I was 25 and drank a ton, I bought lots of stuff just to try it out. If you are drinking a lot, then a couple duds are no big deal, just part of the fun. But now, I drink 1 beer per day. Maybe 2. I'll be damned if I'm gonna just pick some random shit off the shelves and hope it's good. I gotta make every beer count!

 

Well that partially depends on why is a beer hard or easy to get?

Is it supply or demand based?

Is Trillium hard to get because of high demand or because there is low supply?

Is Prima Pils easy to get because of low demand or high supply?

Is demand for Trillium high because supply is low?

Is demand for Prima Pils low because supply is high?

 

I can honestly tell you, I don't look at a beers rating when I'm looking over a tap list. I do it the old fashion way. I ask for a sample. If I like it, I drink it, if I don't I make a mental note and never taste it again. However if it is fantastic, then I do look it up to learn more.

 

I don't have the stats to prove this, but there does seem to be a correlation between hard-to-get, rare beers and higher rating numbers. As my 8th grade science teacher would say, "correlation does NOT prove causation!" Digging through the top 250 beers, and so many of them are produced in small, limited batches. Often times, those are the same breweries that feature hour long lines or are from the "most difficult brewery to get to" (Hill Farmstead). In the top 5, you'd have to win TWO raffles with the odds of 1/5,000 for each separate lottery (according to the last thread on Toppling Goliath Serving Whales on Taps). That's pretty dang limited. Now that Heady Topper is on shelves? It's rating a little lower (it could also be that it's not the "it" beer anymore). Take Cantillon, what's their highest rated beer? Their annual release of Fou Foune.

There has been a recent thread asking if folks just seek out "good" beer anymore. There are a few posts where people say they pass on beer they know they can get regularly in order to get something limited. While that doesn't link them to rating that beer higher, it does show folks are flocking to hard-to-get beers. Those limited beers carry an arorua, whether their brewery buys into it, or not. If you told someone every day for a year that Julius was the best IPA in the world, and then finally gave them a glass, they might find it easy to agree based on previous experiences.

I sorta rambled there. My software froze at work so I just kept typing.

 

I believe the demand is low because the supply is old/Not Fresh. (Which don't get me Wrong, I like a 5 month old Pils) but a few fresh sixers really Sing.

 

I'd probably be buying a lot more mediocre beer.

 

Because we Americans are obsessed with material possessions, money, and being USA#1 more than other countries are. This is just a guess, not sure if there's data on which countries are the most materialistic etc.

 

I wasn't saying that group think might or might not be involved, rather that it is the group think created by social media, not the ratings themselves. So we want to bring group think in to it then it should also be recognized that it is in the social media which create any group think effect.

 

There is a difference between people are using beer ratings to make choices between beers and saying that ratings cause hype, lines, etc.

 

Actually there is a way to quantify it but one needs access to the existing data in ways that are not provided for on sites such as this. That's why it's an open question. That's also why I proposed that it is the effects of social media rather than the effects of ratings per se.

If you had Ratebeer, BA, Untapped, but without ratings or scoring systems there would still be "word of mouth" and social media effects. That has been demonstrated in contexts not involving ratings.

So perhaps what you want to discuss is the effects of sites such and other social media on the way people are choosing what to pursue and how they should pursue it. My point is that would still exist in the absence of ratings. Easy of communication is a mixed blessing.

 

Ratings might help if one is trying to decide between beer A and beer B. As such they are nice to have. Necessary no. I have had many a beer over the years before joining this community and liked most of them. I am also an old geezer.

 

I would drink more beer.

 

When I go to a store and find something new (for me) I look to the style, who made it and the freshness code. Ratings really don't enter into it because I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

All information is valuable though and I do find the written reviews of other BA members useful before I write one of my own.

 

That would be a great list to add to all the lists listed on this site!

 

Are you working for one of those sensationalist folks and just want us to do the heavy lifting in getting the data?

That would be a fun list just for kicks. I pulled that stat from a thread on here a few months back.

 

Consider some of those beer destinations. I suspect you didn't go to Belgium and try to get Westvleteren 12. :-) There are the equivalent of lines at the Abbey of St. Sixtus.

The monks have imposed a quite rigorous procedure on what you have to do to be allowed to buy one or two cases (at most). You have to call in advance to reserve your purchase and show up with a proof of identity (e.g., car license plate provided in advance, etc.) before being allowed to make a purchase. In addition you have to sign a document stating that you will not be reselling the beer.

Back in the day before the introduction of Social Media it was possible to just show up and buy as many cases as your car would hold. The changes in place today were made so that they could control and reduce the problems created by lines. They have not increased production much if at all, since, as they say, they are monks who brew, not brewers who happen be monks, so their goal is to have as much money coming in as is needed to support their monastery.

Yes folks love beer in other countries and have some great beers there. One possible difference is that beer is well integrated into the fabric of their lives and their society so good to great beer is taken as a given rather than a novelty and/or rarity.

 

I would suspect that a sort of 'homerism' would exist. Local regions and even towns would pride themselves on their products and traditions, and locals would agree (and disagree) on which beers are the best based on a variety of subjective -- and interesting -- factors. And most people would never think to consider such factors truly objective (as they never can be).

And this would, IMO, be a very healthy, fun, and good thing.

I also see that, even with the ratings systems we have, this same sort of dynamic is starting to emrge in the US (the way it has in Europe) as people start to ignore hype and rarity, and local brewers start to improve their craft.