Review help

Comparing beers: I try to avoid comparing one beer with another, but I will often compare a particular beer to another style. I'm not sure what most think, but in general I'd try to find ways to describe the beer without using another beer as a descriptor. It's easier than you might think.

Pre-review homework: Using the brewer's notes or previous reviews is not only fine, it likely will help a ton as you get a handle on doing reviews. I personally stay away from reading reviews because I like to figure things out myself, but that's a personal preference thing, not a right-or-wrong thing. I almost always look for brewer's notes if I can find them. Then if I'm having trouble describing a certain aroma or flavor note, I might scan through previous reviews to see if others have hit on that same note.

If you want to see how some of BA.com's best and brightest review brews, check out New Beer Sunday tomorrow. You'll find a range of reviewing styles that might help you figure out your own style. And if you've got a new beer to drink, join the NBS gang and post it! All are welcome.

Good luck!

 

Sure, write what you think and make any comparisons that make sense to you. If I review a beer and say it has the aroma of an alpine forest yet you think the same beer smells like old socks then say so. The only rule is being honest. I've been drinking good beer for more than 50 years and actually started taking notes more than 30 years ago. Thought I knew what I was doing until joining this Board and realizing that an actual review was more than a paragraph of thoughts. The basic guidelines are . . .

a) appearance, color, clarity, cap and lace
b) scent, aroma, smell
c) taste
d) texture, mouthfeel
e) overall which is simply a general impression

By all means search the brewer's website to see what they were trying to accomplish with the brew in question. At least that gives some idea of the hop scents (piney, citrus, floral) and malt flavors they were trying to create. And of course read the reviews by others. Some of the members who post here have extraordinarily tasting abilities and can find words to express their thoughts. They are the examples to follow but not copy because it isn't a competition and no one will hold it against you if your first efforts are a bit hesitant. What matters is swirl, sniff, taste, evaluate, then say what you think.

First person story, many years ago at the annual Bourbon festival in Bardstown, KY, (back when it was a relatively small affair) there was a tasting seminar where the speaker was swirling Bourbon in a tasting cup finding notes of "green blackberry leaves and cedar shavings" in the glass. On the back row a retired Master Distiller turned to another and said,"I don't know about you but I didn't put any of that shit in my whiskey".

 

The problem with looking at the Brewer's notes and other reviews before you write your review is that it sets your expectations of what you think you'll be tasting and you'll not be learning as much about your own tastes and enjoyment.

My suggestion would be to start off writing a few trial reviews based on your own sensory analysis (e.g., aromas ,flavors, etc.) and then look at such things as the brewer's description or some other reviews. As you look at those, ask yourself if that was what you were tasting, etc. My own experience with this approach convinces me that by doing it that way I could look at someone whose tastes were similar to mine and both learn more about what I actually had felt was there but couldn't describe and you'll learn that some reviewers have tastes similar enough that you can use them as a guide if you want to figure out what to buy next.

For example, up until a few years ago I more or less had to buy all my beer by the case because of a very old fashioned PA law. One day I walked into my favorite beer store and found a fresh case of the Boulevard Tank 7 Saison (Boulevard was new to PA at the time). So I had a dilemma. Pass the up the case while I went looking for a bar serving it to have a sample before spending the $60 bucks or so it would cost to buy a case. Meanwhile I'd be risking that someone else who knew the beer would buy it and I'd not see it again in the near future. So I came home and looked at the review comments made by a couple of folks I'd found that had tastes similar to mine and said more than the "It was good" sort of thing. They both liked the Tank 7, a lot. So next day I took the gamble and bought my first case of the Tank 7. Most all those gambles I've taken I won most every time.

So to this very day I don't just grab a beer I don't know off the shelf and find out for myself I like or don't like it, I check the reviews done by a few folks whose judgement I trust. Over the years I've been reviewing I win a lot more often than I lose and it has saved me lots of dollars.

So my bottom line is that practice makes better, so long as you figure out a way to get or give yourself feedback on which words you might have chosen to better describe your beer and which flavors are in that beer that you didn't notice at first.

Good luck and I'm thinking you'll enjoy the journey and find that the very act of reviewing will deepen your enjoyment when re-visting a beer but not taking the time to review it.

 

Don't pay too much attention to what others think about a beer. It is all about what you think. Your opinion.

 

+1 to @drtth 's sentiments on reading reviews and notes prior to reviewing.

My advice would be to start jotting down some notes on a beer prior to reading any body else's interpretation, and see how you compare. You don't have to line up exactly, but at least at this rate you can justify what makes up a particular note, versus trying to pick up the list of notes the brewer outlines. It'll help you develop your palate, and ability to differentiate notes, vs. being able to sift thru a flavor profile for the handful of outlined notes you should taste according to the brewer.

There is value in reading brewer's notes and other reviews on BA, both in terms of evaluating your reviews, and to see if a beer is worth picking up at the store if you aren't sure you want to spend the cash. I would just wait to view those reviews until after you have your notes jotted down, if possible.

As per comparing a particular beer within a style with another beer within that style: I think it's fine. In your two years, you've most likely consumed a good range and depth of beers. There were beers in there that had outstanding notes in one regard or another, so I'd use those as reference points for what differentiates a 4/5 versus a 5/5 in feel, or look, etc. My personal rating method is to compare a beer within the style's guidelines, and with other beers of that style. There are outstanding examples of both world class and terrible, bottom-of-the-barrel renditions of each beer style. It would be appropriate to pull those experiences into your review, as long as you're not directly comparing beers in your review (i.e. "It's not as hoppy as Two Hearted", "It doesn't have the head retention of Ten Fidy", etc.)

 

Since you are asking, I am guessing you want these reviews to be helpful to more than just yourself. With that in mind...

I'd say it's okay to compare beers to other beers (especially by the same brewer, if it makes sense), but not as the primary or only means of reviewing a beer. I occasionally add in a comment as a helper to those who might have had both beers on top of my actual description of what I am perceiving. The thing to keep in mind, people who might be looking at your review when trying to decide on a beer might not have had the comparison beer.

As for reading reviews beforehand - do whatever you think. I agree with @drtth and @Harrison8 that, for me, getting my own thoughts first before reading others is a starting point. Reading brewers' notes might cause me to alter some text or scores, especially if they are claiming to be shooting for something completely off from what I was perceiving (that doesn't happen too, too often). I read other reviews to see if they can help me better pinpoint those aspects I had trouble narrowing down or putting into words.

Anyhow, hope to start seeing some reviews from you in the future, especially if you do join in NBS as @Premo88 suggests.

 

It can seem a little intimidating at the beginning, but it's not a contest. Write what you feel.

I usually write my review without looking at any other documentation - except maybe what's written on the label. if the brewer's notes are convenient, I might look at those after writing my notes (and before posting my review) to see if there's something special about the beer that my palate might not have picked up.

The only time I look at other reviews is if there is an aroma or flavor that I can't place - hopefully someone else detected the same thing and identified it.

The only other suggestion I can give you is that when I write reviews about styles I'm unfamiliar with, I pull up the BJCP guidelines for that style (after writing my notes) so that my review, and especially my ratings, are based in reality and not on my inexperienced palate.

Good luck!

 

As has been said already, I usually taste said beer and formulate my thoughts and perceived flavors I am picking up prior to reading the brewer notes and other BA reviews. I do enjoy comparing mine to others though. Sometimes I am spot on with others and sometimes I'm tasting something quite different than others.

Have fun with it and in no time you'll have a large list of adjectives to use when reviewing beer

Cheers

 

Personally, I never read other reviews, or look at brewers notes before I review. I want to have as much of an open mind going in as I can. when I started, and didn't really have a vocabulary for it, I would write the review, then read a few others, looking for the words I wanted, then edit my review.

Of course you should compare a beer to others of the same style. IMHO, that's the whole point of it. Compare every IPA you drink to every other IPA you've had. But, don't compare across styles.