Should we split up the Top 250 Rated Beers?

You know, I never looked at that list before. Giving it a glance now, it honestly seems like the best list of the bunch for someone who wants a BA list to tick modern classics. A bunch of people who posted in this thread should give it a look.

Although the metrics don't take "quality" (score) into account (as you pointed out), the list still indirectly reflects score to some extent because people are likely to rate beers they like... and buy/rate beers with a good reputation. It's amazing that Westvleteren 12 is on the list. The Most Popular list feels like someone took the Beers of Fame list, removed a bunch of imports that are currently incredibly difficult/impossible to get in the US (except that Westy ), and then added a handful of culturally relevant but low-scoring macros (Budweiser, etc.) - which would be just as important (to put it conservatively) for tickers to tick as anything else if they are trying to get a better lay of the beer land. Even the oft-mentioned Sierra Nevada Pale Ale shows up as number 12 (and I don't even think that beer made it to the Beers of Fame list).

It's remarkable how well it works as a "top beers" list while being structured around a stat that isn't score.

 

Two lists sound good but I would hate to see the current list discontinued. There’s a real sense of accomplishment when you can chalk up another beer on that list.

 

I think after this post we can lock it down. I didn't even connect my own dots but zid really hit the nail on the head.

We not only have more than enough lists, but we already have a list that accomplishes what many of the Yes votes here were asking for in their posts.

Now whether they actually use that list is another story altogether, because it's clear they've never bothered to look at any of them in the first place.