Taking a break from reviewing beers.

There probably isn't anything in my life,no matter how important that I haven't needed and did take a break from. Sometimes the break was an hour,sometimes a year but sometimes you just get burned out

 

Yes. For a while I was doing ratings only, but I've gone back to reviews.

I find that reviewing helps me continue to learn more about which beers I enjoy drinking and what I enjoy about them. I also find that if I invest the time in reviewing a new beer it saves me money. I'm basically cheap and don't like buying beers a second time that I just thought were OK the first time, especially when I can buy something I enjoy more instead. I find that I have a better memory for having already had a beer if I have done a review.

Reviewing also helps save me money since I can use the information from my reviews in deciding when to add a beer to my regular rotation and when I might want to replace one. E.g., I now have a rotation of a set of 5 German Style Pils beers that are all locally brewed. Typically at least one of the 5 is in my fridge and I can almost always find one of those 5 fresh. Similarly I've been able to save money on imported beers such as Saison Dupont by finding a couple of US brewed Saisons that I enjoy almost as much but that cost significantly less per bottle and are more readily available and fresher.

 

I only take a break from reviewing beers around the holidays. I go home and visit family. Work shuts down for a week around Christmas. It's nice to relax and just enjoy beers around that time. I usually raid the cellar and drink some stuff that has been sitting in there for a while.

 

As a disclaimer I prefer to review if able to because it helps to learn and remember more about the beer at hand and beer in general. A review is also a much greater contribution to the beer community- when looking for a new beer the text is much more important than a number of a review since I have my own unique palate and qualities I look for.

In short to answer your two questions. Yes to both.

My breaks have been more the result of lifestyle changes than being burnt out.

My review pace is much much slower. I racked up about 900 reviews between 2007-2011 and have done just over 100 since.

Now I have a young son and when I get the opportunity to try something new- I often don't have time to review it. My review times now are either after my son is in bed or on a rare date night with my husband.

Reviewing and experiencing new beers is a fun hobby but it certainly isn't one of the most important parts of my life.

 

I find reviewing to be it's own reward but no one is making me do it and if it became a burden that would be like work and we all know how tiring work can be. I did it for years before I wised up.

 

Always gotta tick.

 

I will review if I am at home drinking, or at a bar by myself (having one before heading home). If I am out with family and friends, I don't bother with it. If I have time I will throw in a rating, and a few words for myself.

 

This definitely happens to me, there are plenty of times that I'd much rather just sit down and drink a beer. But If I'm not going to review it, I don't even rate it on here.

Sometimes when I do get burnout, I'll buy a 4 pack of Guinness to take a break.

 

I don't blame you. Everything in moderation.
I've been a feeling a bit burned out on reviews, too. For me, though, I don't want to stop doing them entirely, I just feel like I need to improve or change somehow. My reviews are way too formulaic. I need to boost my creativity and vocabulary.

 

mine all read the same, advantage is when typing on my phone, Android does most of the work in guessing the next word(s). Major in English, I did not...

 

I've always been an advocate of providing honest, thorough reviews, especially as for a while I was co hosting the BA thread New Beer Sunday, which is dedicated to reviewing beer as a way to find better beer, and enjoy it better when you find it.

That said, I try a lot of new and different beers, and I can't possibly review them all without burning out. I used to carry a notebook to festivals back in the day, and that carried over to my early days here on BA. You can't keep that up without burnout, just as OP says. For me I review now about one out of every six beers I try and I try to make a time for it. Keeps me from burning out YMMV

And that said, I still think, perhaps more than ever, that honest and thoughtful reviews of beer is the best and most important thing we do here, and reviews are BA's best resource.

 

When I got into craft two years ago, I started reviewing all new-to-me beers which were most of them, trying every stout in distribution here. Last January I embraced the quest to try all styles, until I stalled at 100 - remaining are hard to find here. While trying all those new beers, mostly singles, I also bought bombers and packs of favorites discovered in the process, mostly BA stouts. Now I've got a cellar growing out of control, so I'm cutting down on reviews and drinking down my cellar. So a partial break.

 

We joined for similar reasons. I wanted to trade and review beer, and now I mostly focus on the latter.

I review every new beer I try. If I can't provide it a review, then I don't feel strong enough to assign it a rating. I have felt the way you've described. There was a couple month stretch towards the end of summer where I wasn't drinking much, and I was actively avoiding the new beers in my fridge - especially those I had traded to get. During that stretch, I took it nearly completely off from reviewing. I think I posted a review here and there when I tried something really enjoyable, but I didn't sit down every night to review a beer. At the end of those couple of months, I just kinda got the thirst back to review beers. There wasn't a magical moment, I just sat down one night after work and reviewed a beer. Then I did it again the next night, and before I knew it I was back into reviewing beers.

It's worth noting that I rarely revisited a beer during the height of my reviewing. Nowadays, I'll review a beer, and then enjoy a familiar one afterwards without feeling as though I should review it.

 

Oh yeah, I go in cycles all the time. Sometimes I review everything I have had in a month, others I just take some time off. The amount of beers I haven't reviewed here is probably double of what I have. Though I can't stand to just tick and rate something, I still don't think that gives any useful info to anybody but that individual. To be fair, I use to give a rating a long time ago, with no review. Though that was when ratings didn't count in the score years ago, and was specifically used as just a log, which I would try and update when I could. If I have the time and inclination I will write something down, and I do try to be somewhat comprehensive especially for local beers that don't have anything else. If I don't get around to a review initially, I will probably have it again in the future anyway and can get some thoughts down then.

Edit: I have been going at a pretty good pace lately. This usually happens for me towards the end of the year it seems. Once the new year starts, and I am off vacations, I tend to be in my break mode.

 

I've never really been into reviewing beers outside of the very beginning. I think I have something like 110 beers reviewed in 10 years and 90% of them is when I was new. I just enjoy the beer, now that I can post pics I might throw in a comment about what I'm drinking. I'm not a ticker either, it doesn't interist me all that much, I'm not into experimentation. I'm a lazy BA focused on a few styles that I like.

 

I don't think I've hit the point yet where I feel burnt out, but can definitely see how that could be a possibility. I find each review a learning experience, and practice in appreciating and recognizing all the different aspects of a beer. However, I usually try and not review more than 2 in a sitting (both for an enjoyment perspective, and a fair review perspective). I also just simply don't review if I don't feel like it; the goal is always to review new beer if possible, but if I'm not in the mood then I just won't review. I'd probably have a significant more number of reviews on here if I did. There will always be new beer flowing to review so I try to not get too caught up on a few I don't review. I still do enjoy it immensely.

 

Most of the time I just rate. But if I absolutely loved (or hated) the beer, I will review.

 

Drink more revisit's now and then.

Cheers!