How complex can your reviews be?

I believe some people have very discerning and trained palates that can differentiate subtle variations. I'm not one of those. I 'm lucky to tell the difference between tropical fruit of some kind and something that seems like citrus. I also believe that lots of people THINK they have those trained palates but in reality they delude themselves. I KNOW that because of blind tastes I have had them do. Then there are those reviews that are totally useless and serve only to (apparently) entertain the reviewer by comparing the beer to the way his wife shifts into third gear or some other meaningless BS.

 

I feel like my reviews span the gamut from “beer:good (or bad)” to [1000+ words waxing poetic about each drop of this heavenly liquid]. Maybe the latter balances out the former?

 

Over time, my palate and understanding of beer and my expression of my self have gotten better.
And yes, perhaps some folks just like to appear, "distinguished," but overall I trust what I read here on Beer Advocate.

 

I know that my palate is limited, and my sense of smell is even worse, so I try to keep it simple. Use broad terms, and generalities, unless a very specific attribute sticks out. An example: the use of the word "biscuit" in terms of malt flavors. I don't know that I remember malts tasting specifically like (American) biscuits. But, today I had a beer and the first scent was biscuit, and it definitely was on the tongue as well.

All the modern hops in the joosebombs just taste like generic, store brand froot loops to me, so that's what I say. Then, I go look at other reviews, and those folks are getting a half-dozen specific flavors from it? Shrug. Good on them.

 

Well, some folks do have expanded palates, and there is a small percentage of "supertasters", that can pick up every little nuance. Now, of the supertasters and well-developed palate folks, how many are actually writing reviews here?

I write reviews as way to remember what I've had, and secondarily, to note if I'd drink it again.

 

I don't think you're missing anything.

This topic comes up in the discussion threads every now & again. IMO, most of the lengthy and very descriptive reviews are products of overactive imaginations combined with the overuse of a thesaurus.

It's beer - it's not that complicated.

 

Some people are wordsmiths and good on them. I am not. I try to keep it as simple as I can. Shrugs.

 

Whatever it takes to (attempt to) accurately describe the experience to someone considering having that beer. Sometimes the light bulb(s) goes on, & I can get quite specific, and sometimes not. In some cases that is because of the beer, in others because of the circumstance .
*shrug* - just try......& hope it's helpful to the reader. In general, the more there are, the better the chances that it's useful.

fyi : What I try to do , in reading reviews, is to get the gist of the general sentiment. Then, if it seems quite variable, I look into other reviews , for known beers in common, with the reviewer of the beer in question. If someone has similar experience to mine, on the known beers, I give their opinion of the unknown more weight.
Soooo.... even if your reviews don't match those others you speak of, it will likely be a good match for somebody with similar tastes, so be helpful.

 

i am broadening my beer aroma and tasting vocabulary as i get more experience with different beers. Still, there are plenty of times when i must use generic terms, since i cannot distinguish anything more specific.

Also, there are plenty of descriptive terms i have no experience base with (e.g. cat piss, horse blanket.... never having owned either cats nor horses).

Before you can describe an aroma or taste as being like some fruit, or other thing, you have to have had some experience to know what that think smells or tastes like. Does a beer taste like papaya? IDK... what's a papaya taste like?

 

Yeah, cat pee is a little bit out of my strike zone as well, I guess. Yuck. I understand it's supposed to describe certain hop flavors and aromas, but it's lost on me.

I grew up on a farm, so I get the "horse blanket" thing, at least from an aroma standpoint, and it's not the worst way to describe some of the funk that brettanomyces can deliver, especially in a good saison. But I'm with the OP and others--I admire those who have a sophisticated enough palate to break down the various flavors and aromas like a mass spectrometer, but that isn't me.

So, long story short for the OP--don't sweat it. It's perfectly fine to keep it simple.

 

Well, I grew up on a farm, so "barn yard" I get!

 

Yeah, even "barnyard" and "horse blanket" seem a bit "much," at least based on the barnyard I grew up on.

 

OK. Assuming you've never actually had cat pee, if you've cleaned a litterbox, you have an idea of that sharp, amonia-ish scent. If you understand horse blanket (and, on a side note, I kind of pity folks who have never unsaddled a horse, and pulled the blanket off. It is a very distinct, and pleasant, sweaty aroma), and relate that to beer, then you can get how a cat pee scent in beer is not exactly equal to cat pee. it's really difficult for to try to explain, but, when one gets it, one gets it.

 

I think we need to balance our essay writing skills, and the precision of our taste perception and memory, with the use to which we expect our reviews to be put. I use them as buying guides, and I assume that any reviews I provide will be used by others in the same way. When I read a review I think ALL the important info can be put into the review in one hundred words, or fewer. I immediately discard any review and reviewer who over analyzes a beer or makes too long a review. Believe me, it isn't helpful, and no one cares, that you are able to taste three different types of oranges in one beer, or that you can write a short story instead of a review.

Especially as taste is part and parcel of both nose and mouth.

 

My reviews tend to sound a lot alike lately, and I keep them short. I like a vast majority of the beers I review because I usually only buy beers I'm pretty certain I'll like. Self-fulfilling prophesy I guess, so most of my scores are well over 4.

 

Ah. Got it. I suppose part of the issue is that when you grow up on a farm, you don't have a litter box for your cats, they live in the barn. And I've never owned an "inside" cat. But ammonia I can relate to for sure--for the same reason.

Now that I've "outed" myself as a hopeless hick . . .