Threshold for Ratings

I believe this would require eliminating an entire category of Beer Karma™, not to mention minimizing the importance of contributions by new members. Considering that we were all Initiates once, is this something we'd really want?

 

For a long time it was required to write a review with a minimum amount of characters. Todd changed it in the last few years, so I doubt he would change it back. Some people just like numbers.

 

Not everyone is a good writer, many BA's write terrific and informative reviews and I enjoy reading them. My writing sucks, and if I don't like a beer, I'll just say it sucks and be done with it.

 

I’ll add another that I don’t think will change @md3kcn:

Let me review and not rate.

I hate forcing numbers on a beer and as you can see I’m a known rating inflater.

 

I think you can kinda do that on Untappd. Plus badges!!!!

(Edit: Cue Treasure of the Sierra Madre reference in 3...2...1...)

Nah, all the rest are just rating deflaters.

 

No.

All ratings are lies anyway

 

Reviewing beer is like writing poetry about stand-up comedy.

Or something like that.

 

I know how to how to read your very good reviews. Brevity and concise message is always best....

 

...while comedy about stand-up poetry pretty much writes itself.

 

I think anything that encourages more people to rate/review more beers is a win.

We shouldn’t create road blocks. Keep it simple.

 

BeerAdvocate's beer database is seriously lacking. I do not want to see more stringent requirement on providing feedback on beers.

Two of the local favorite breweries in my metro area have three beers that have ten or more ratings / reviews. One of those beers is one I sent out in several BIF and as trade extras, otherwise it probably would be two beers meeting the previous BA score threshold.

 

I like the system the way @Todd has it set up. IMHO a members point status should have little or no bearing re a beer rating or review being counted. There are many many beers that I've had in the past which I've rated but haven't reviewed because I had the beer so long ago that it wouldn't be fair to me, the beer, or to anyone reading it as it would be distant memories being jotted down. The hunt continues.
**BTW, here's a members review from Feb 12, 2014 for Sam Adams 1997 Triple Bock. Enjoy!
1.41/5 rDev -52.5%
look: 1 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.25
Yes, it's true! If someone would have told me that I would have had the chance to try the legendary "worst craft offering ever" (SA Triple Bock) and the infamously "worst macro offering ever" (Bud Chelada) in the same night, I would have died of glee. Turns out that, in fact, that DID indeed happen about a month ago. Someone brought a '97 vintage of the dreaded Triple Bock, and I celebrated later at a friend's by opening the Chelada beer. But, this is about Triple Bock, which allegedly makes your skin decay and makes puppies choke on their own drool. Poured out of a 12oz corked bottle into a tulip glass. I had the misfortune to do the honors, for everyone, pouring and all.

And it's no surprise, because holy hell is this a syrupy, thickened mess of a beer. Pours a black color that is extremely terrifying, as if you're staring into the the deep, dark swirling void of pure macabre and alienation. A mahogany, oily looking head coats the top, and leaves behind a sticky, highly disgusting look on the side of the glass that is a charming combination of molasses and coagulated blood. My hands were sticky for the remainder of the night with the few drops that slipped out of the glass into my hand. The entire cobalt bottle was stained black with each pour. I went around the table pouring this, looking at each spectator in the eye and observing the trembling passage of fear and despair as they would look into the treacle in the glass with knocked knees and progressively whitening skin. Indeed, the stark contrast of the dark concoction with the paling skins in the room seemed to portray the gray line of us crossing into the unknown in partaking with this beer, with no turning back as we approached our individual glasses to each of our noses.

Some have likened the aroma of Triple Bock to many horrifically exotic items that you should never consume, but to me, it simply smells like cheap Madeira - and that's pretty much it. Heavily caramelized, with lots of oxidation, with big umami notes of mushrooms, soy sauce, salt, as well as rotten plums. This is the catch with Triple Bock - it convinces you that it is a source of pure evil in its appearance, but then as you approach your face closer to the liquid, it materializes into a friendly jester of a spirit, telling you that it is okay to imbibe it, everything will be alright, and that the two of you are going to make fast friends. It's one thing to tap into the forces of evil, but to actually make *friends* with it?? For a moment we were a bit reassured, and the gray line tightened up ever closer. Together, we all took a sip.

This is perhaps the only instance in consuming a beer where I can, with full certainty, claim that the devil made me drink this. I don't even *believe* in the devil, but I do believe in the cold, disheveling apex that is the horribleness of SA Triple Bock. One sip, and terrible things begin to happen. Beer turns into soy sauce - soy sauce turns into oil - oil turns into blood - and the blood that descends burns, and latches itself to the sides of the tongue and the inner areas of the esophagus, without fully letting go. Dumping the rest of the beer in a bucket, we realized that it was too late - the demented liquid had already created a symbiotic, Succubus-like connection within our body, and indeed, had latched itself into the deep recesses of our very souls, forever changing us, and forever showing us the truth of what happens as soon as the gray line closes up upon us. Never would we drink beer the same way again, and never would we find something seemingly designed for imbibing that would perhaps be a better condiment for rice, bok choy, eggplant, and other Eastern varieties. Truly sinister and unforgiving.

It truly takes a horrible beer to appreciate even the most mediocre offerings on the market ever more. Indeed, the worst part about our tainted souls from exposure to Triple Bock is that we are now willing to present this to everyone that we can, with any chance we get. It doesn't only change your life by inflicting major pain on your psyche - its true evil is that it compels you to order something, *anything*, as your next beverage, perhaps as an effort to cleanse your palate of its malign profile, or perhaps as a way to forget you ever had the experience with as much cheap booze as you can get your hands on. Highly recommended in every sense of the word.

 

Ratings are ok as long as there’s meaningful text reviewing it. One issue is having dozens of retired beers “one offs” being created and never deleted on ba. Beers change over time they don’t taste the same a decade ago as they do now and our tastes change. So we rate them again differently oh not so good. I don’t think a beers rating says your gonna like it. My choices are mostly ones I had before not the next thing.

 

may just encourage AI ratings from people who don't want to. I don't pay any attention to that. I figure that is for their personal reference. I know who knows beer & I pay attention to those ratings

 

He has already weighed in, but I also believe @Todd adjusted a few things recently regarding overall score (or whatever we call the “out of 100” generated score) to try to accommodate all ratings/reviews.

It’s an ever evolving attempt to adjust to the community writ large, and I am happy for the attempts. But as an aside, I find it funny that nearly every new local brew has an 82 score, regardless of its quality.

Regardless, the nature of beer today is that not enough beers are around long enough for a multitude of people to care about generating reviews for said beers. It’s an issue of the beer landscape more than sites like this that have tried to adjust to it.

 

I long for the days when there was a word minimum and we had to note the style in which the beer was served. Knowing if a beer was out of a bottle or from tap, etc. was always an interest to me.

 

Preach!