How complex can your reviews be?

I grew up rural too, so a lot of descriptors like earthy, grain, dirt, etc are likely lost on city and suburban folks. Guidelines, suggestions, that's what they are.

 

I fell into the trap of trying to "over-describing" beer when I first started taking notes seriously, writing as much on the aroma and flavor as possible, even listing things that I had just kind of convinced myself were there but not perceived, based on what malts/hops were in it and sometimes what other people were saying. It was an unwise avenue to go down.

Now I tend to list the top five to eight things I can smell and/or taste, most of which I put myself first then do some research on the beer to see if other things become apparent to me (you know, that smell or taste you know but can't quite name?).

Describing body, mouthfeel, carbonation, etc. has just improved over time. I've emphasized being more precise with my language and eliminating certain descriptors from my vocabulary, like "smooth", as I feel personally they don't describe the experience as meaningfully and can come off as a bit lazy.

Something that I've taken to heart over the past few years is this:

"Enjoyment of beer does not demand some special tasting talent. All it requires is an open mind, an interest in beer, and an eagerness to find aromas and flavors without fear of mockery." M. Jackson

 

My reviews are generally concise; usually a paragraph. That's the kind I like to read (be it music, movies, beer or whatever) so that's what I try to write.

 

Not enough.

 

I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. I see all these exotics fruits being referenced on social media, reviews, etc.

Dragon fruit, papaya, passion fruit, etc. have these people actually had these? Never in my life have I had any of these fruits by themselves I can’t believe that many of the people who reference these have actually ate said fruits, maybe that’s just the cynic in me though.

 

While I try not to be too wordy when reviewing, sometimes it just depends on the beer. For example, if it's the first review, maybe add a little more detail. Or if it truly is complex and appealing. But if you are going to review something that already has 9000+ entries, what can you add that's interesting or unique?

FWIW, if a review has more paragraphs than a short story then I'm probably not reading it.

 

I'm sure plenty of people are blowing smoke but at least out here all of those fruits are available at the grocery store and sell so someone is eating them. I don't have a ton of exposure to them personally so I can't really parse the tropical fruit flavors as well as someone who eats them regularly but it doesn't appear that these fruits are super rare or anything. I've mentioned this before in a thread about specific fruit flavors, but I have a good friend that grew up with a lot of exposure to citrus and this mofo has specific detailed feelings about like 6 kinds of oranges and 5 or 6 kinds of limes. I don't have that kind of palate for citrus but as I explore the bounty of citrus out here my palate for citrus is evolving and now I sometimes pong on mandarin or tangerine instead of just "orange" in some beers.

I think its just a matter of exposure and experience. And probably a good percentage of people just tossing copy pasta from the beer description.

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing....it is an exposure thing. Here in CA we get lots of those fruits and I do eat them but more often as a fruit salad with everything mixed in so usually the best I can do is differentiate pineapple from "other tropical fruit", and I can do grapefruit from other citrus and I can maybe on a good day pick up berry, but don't depend on me to differentiate between gooseberry and boysenberry...I'm not sure how many reviewers actually are pretending to sound educated and discerning and how many honestly feel they are picking up these really subtle nuances, because to do so adds to their overall beer experience. If those flavor nuances are really all in their head because they want to believe they are, then I guess it is not wrong as long as it is not disingenuous and written with the intent to impress. I write my reviews for myself to help in future buying, and that is all, so I write what I want to remember about a beer.

 

I agree @unlikelyspiderperson the citrus is a good example too. It’s funny you mention it because every winter when the locals go out of season I dive into citrus. And yea there are definitely easy detectable variation amongst oranges, cara cara is one that sticks out and most people may know.

I guess going back to OPs details on reviewing if I sense orange in a beer I just lean towards calling it “orange colored citrus flavors.”

 

Whatever tasting skills that I possess were learned during a long career buying and selling wine. I find wine way more complex and layered than beer, but a great entry to knowing more about the beer in your hand. It is vey instructive to write down impressions and compare them through time. Some things change and some never do. Redolent of violets still moist from morning dew, maybe.....

 

" since brevity is the soul of wit," Shakespeare

 

I don't have as refined of a palate as others, but I also try not to get long winded. As long as you are stating the reasons why you are giving certain ratings, you do you.

 

The reviews I post today are very different from those I posted when I joined BA in 2015. I think they're a bit more sophisticated and educated. One reason is that I've reviewed a lot of beers and have a better understanding of the various styles. Like anything else, you improve with practice. Second, while I'm not a home brewer I've read about hops and grains and have a better appreciation of what I'm tasting than before. That said, I'm not good with smells and I tend to be overly influenced by mouth feel. Also, I can't discern many types of tropical fruits that some reviewers readily identify. What I describe as "ripe melon," others refer to as "mango" or "passion fruit" or "lychee." I think there's an element of arrogance in reviews, including mine.

 

A quote from Hamlet, Shakespeare's wordiest play (over 30,500 words), with 5 acts and 20 scenes. Brevity, indeed!

 

Not very, I can’t some up with nouns or adjectives to fill a sentence, I’d say I’m very basic. I could honestly do a thumbs up or down. Says a lot with no words needed. Maybe a sideways thumb for for average could go either way.

 

Irony, sweet irony.....

 

The way I see it, people who use review for record-keeping, that is write for themselves, will often write just enough to be able to get the idea. People who write not so much for themselves as for others (or two show off) will let it all out.

 

I write as I feel. Somedays that is a list of adjectives and other days it's adjectives and similes. Sometimes flavor lists don't get the point across for me, and other times they suffice just fine.

 

Oof, feeling called out here honestly.

I am a writer of long reviews (I hold myself to a 2,000 character per review standard), but, honestly I mostly write them that way in order to remember what I thought about specific beers, and I try to be conversational and specific because that's always been my writing style. Of course, it pleases me to imagine that something I wrote swayed someone towards purchasing something, or that my scribblings pushed them away from buying something they might otherwise have thrown in their basket, in the case that I thought it was bad beer... though, obviously I'm much more a lover than a hater, and would therefore certainly prefer that my reviews help someone decide that one random DDH IPA from a brewery is better than another available one.

Following that thread, I do write about a lot of beers from breweries that make tons of the same kind of beers (IPAs) with certain hop combos that differentiate them. I've written a ton of reviews for Mast Landing and Finback, for instance, who are both Northeastern breweries that have a big focus on IPAs that utilize novel hop combos within the context of similar base recipes. I find that writing complex, wordy reviews helps me (and hopefully others) define the nuances of these types of beers (and their constituent hops) in order to better figure out how some ingredients work together.

To answer the question from the original post... of course I take some liberties in my writing. And it's a good question. I was an art major in college and have a BFA; I'm very good at bullshitting, but I will also say that my bullshit is very thoroughly-accurate The best reviews on this site combine some creative writing with a greater ratio-dose of objectivity. I don't regularly eat exotic fruit, like some of my reviews would have it seem... nor do I know what some fruits I reference taste like. I try to combine the thoughts in my head while sipping a beer with the scientific understanding of aromas/flavor compounds in a way that can help objectively define and delineate beers from one another.

Not sure how much this helps. I hope it does. Or maybe it just makes me seem like a fraud. I've written a LOT of reviews for different styles in my 10+ years here, though, so I think I have a leg to stand on when I say that this site and the reviews I write within it are mostly for me... if others benefit, though... that's great, of course.