Do beers awards influence your purchasing?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by rugene, Oct 30, 2019.

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  1. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,701) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    As regards the wine business and awards, there is often never a reference to vintage on point of sale materials once an award has been given. Bottle neckers and shelf talkers proclaim, say, 98 points from The Cloverdale Fair year after year, meaning nothing. Beer is not as much dependent on weather and agricultural dynamics as wine, but the misleading marketing tactics are often. similar
     
  2. MNAle

    MNAle Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2011 Minnesota

    When I see advertising of a "Gold Medal", etc., for a beer it usually states the year.

    The shelf-talkers, though, are for all time.
     
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  3. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,701) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    The wine business in general is the worst offender of perennial prize promotion. The funniest ones years ago were the Barefoot Wine ad materials. It was like the displays and bottles were bedecked with some type of industry bling.
     
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  4. Zorro

    Zorro Grand Pooh-Bah (3,258) Dec 25, 2003 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Budweiser got an award. All you need to know about that.
     
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  5. MNAle

    MNAle Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2011 Minnesota

    That shouldn't surprise you. Nor does it invalidate the competition. The judging of many of these competitions is by style guidelines, not by beer-geek definitions of goodness.
     
  6. elNopalero

    elNopalero Grand Pooh-Bah (5,822) Oct 14, 2009 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    A medal at GABF from a brewery in my area puts them on my radar if I’ve never even heard of them beforehand. A medal makes me revisit them if I am not a (semi)regular. And a medal makes me keep an eye out for their winning beer if it’s one I haven’t had. So, yes!
     
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  7. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    [​IMG]
    clearly the best wines
     
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  8. rugene

    rugene Pundit (967) Mar 2, 2015 Canada (QC)

    After reading all this, I think i will stick with my old advice. Check Beer Advocate reviews before making impulse purchasing in store just because some beers have won a gold medal. It's like movies, and tv it's not always the best that win something...
     
    Peach63 likes this.
  9. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

  10. rugene

    rugene Pundit (967) Mar 2, 2015 Canada (QC)

    So, trust no one is the best advice!
     
  11. Tilley4

    Tilley4 Pooh-Bah (2,811) Nov 13, 2007 Tennessee
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's a no from me... I couldn't tell you who won what, when and where....
     
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  12. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Nope, not at all. I'd go more on friends recommendations or , if someone that I had never tryed before had a new offering and it was in a style I like I'd try that.

    Tooooo many times I hear about award winners that seemed blahhhh when others have brought them over or at bottle shares.
     
    Ozzylizard likes this.
  13. laketang

    laketang Grand Pooh-Bah (3,017) Mar 22, 2015 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah

    Not for me they dont. I buy my beer based on can art :stuck_out_tongue:
     
  14. Peach63

    Peach63 Pooh-Bah (2,442) Jul 17, 2019 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Anything is better than Milwaukee's Best. I drank my fair share of that swill in my younger days. I called it "Milwaukee's Worst"! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::wink:
     
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  15. Ozzylizard

    Ozzylizard Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,419) Oct 5, 2013 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    :+1::+1::+1:
     
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  16. matthewp

    matthewp Pundit (856) Feb 27, 2015 Massachusetts
    Trader

    25 years ago it may have influenced me but today, not even in the slightest. I certainly respect the judges opinions in these awards but its too small of a sampling size. With 8,000+ US breweries now most styles are seeing a small fraction of the potential beers out there. There is probably more value in the awards for beers that are in an underrepresented style but we have enough information at our disposal today that an award is probably the least useful data point.

    Beyond that the awards are generally based on faithfulness to style. This is a great tool to use for judging a beer fairly but we don't always enjoy a beer simply because its faithful to its style. We have so much information at our disposal an award just isn't that useful.
     
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  17. pat61

    pat61 Initiate (0) Dec 29, 2010 Minnesota

    No. I look for styles I like or haven't tried, beer from brewers I like that I haven't tried and styles that I haven't tried. I don't much pay attention to medals or ribbons.
     
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  18. socon67

    socon67 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,895) Jun 18, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Hell no! Just like I'm not watching a movie solely because it won an Oscar, I don't base beer purchases on a competition. I do use BA ratings and reviews to influence purchases, and I find that to be more aligned with selecting things I enjoy.
     
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  19. MNAle

    MNAle Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2011 Minnesota

    BeerAdvocate reviews, ratings, and Top Rated lists... A competition by another name.
     
  20. Domingo

    Domingo Grand Pooh-Bah (4,252) Apr 23, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah

    Sure. I trust beer judges more than randoms even if the competition setup isn't perfect. At least it's transparent.
    If it's a style I enjoy and a brewery won a medal for it at GABF, WBC, or even one of the more competitive state fairs - I'm more likely to seek it out or order it.
     
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