Should we split up the Top 250 Rated Beers?

Call the current Top 250 the "Beer Trader's Top 250" and make a more normal year-round/seasonal list and call it the Top 250. Targets two different user demographics (I know there are more, but I think these are the main ones) in the traders and more casual drinkers.

 

I think the overwhelming majority of people will agree with this. It will highlight the beers we can all get ahold of even if they’re brewery only, a good portion will be attainable through trading. As it stands now, the list isn’t really curated properly because as you stated, most people can’t get their hands on the beers so it makes it hard for a large enough review volume to allow things to jump/go down spots. Great idea!

 

HELL yes should be an option. This would be a very positive change, making the list more useful and accessible. Thanks for considering this.

 

Although the top 250 isn't something that I'm personally invested in, I would imagine that people like the idea of "the best beers in the world" regardless of scope of availability... and this is something that people look to BeerAdvocate for. Splitting the list would add value for users who want to easily drink beers on the list, but the list would lose value as a "best beers in the world" list for others... so I would tread carefully even though you might see overwhelming support for a change from users in this thread. What about adding more interactive filters to the list instead?

 

A Top 250 list of year-round beers would be epic. Agreed on all of @zid 's points. It would be nice to have a separate list that is a little more accessible, while maintaining the status and fame of the OG Top 250 list.

 

Doesn’t Beers of Fame cover this idea?

 

I was thinking the same thing.

@Todd, you should think carefully before you change the Top 250. Changing it so it is no longer "the best beers in the world" list would be a negative thing, IMO.

I do like the idea, though, of adding more to the "Top Rated" tab, including a Top 250 year round beers. If there was some way to have Top 250 widely distributed no trading needed list, that might be good (but I have no idea how to pull that one off).

 

The only people who it would lose value to is those who have drank the beers and enjoy the fact they’ve tried beer than most people can’t.

 

Seasonal availability is one issue. Another is Regional availability. I would be interested in a geographical breakout, e.g. "West Coast Beers", Mid-West Beers, Texas Beers, etc.
Maybe divide the country into half a dozen major groups and then let the user filter by state.

 

Maybe keep a separate list for Top 250 of all time, and another for more readily available beers. But I think I'd include regular "seasonals", as well - not just year round beers, per se.
(Simply for a local example here in VA, I'd like to see where Hardywood's seasonal GBS falls on the available beers list and how others, even if more accessible throughout the calendar, compare - although GBS is pretty ubiquitous now, but you no doubt get my point)

 

Also, while we would like to think rating has been consistent throughout the years, we know it hasn't, and current beer availability and comparisons surely often come into play when rating beers. A barrel aged stout that scored very high years ago when it was one of a few out there, for instance, may easily not rate as well these days simply because so many are available. That seems to have always skewed an "all time" list just a bit, in my own mind.

 

This sounds like a positive change.

Regarding the existing top 250, could these rankings be stagnant because people just don't review beers as commonly on BeerAdvocate as they do on other venues such as Untappd? These top 250 rankings seem frozen from 3-5 years ago. Since Untappd and BA are part of the same company would it be possible to draw from the rankings from Untappd to make the current top 250 relevant to beers that people are actually drinking and reviewing?

Even if you make a new list, you will still have a problem of stagnant ratings if people don't use BA to review beers.

 

Maybe don’t get rid of it but add on other lists too… by category for instance.

 

I dig the way you guys always strive to improve the methods "best of" lists are done.

I always go for the most user friendly idea when it involves something to be consumed, so I voted split them up.