I understand why you would react like that, but I struggle with “why” Assassin is such a HUGE bottle. 4.59 rating on Untappd and limit was 2? That shouldn’t spell “uber whale” territory.
BAA is very close to Assassin 18 in value. Just depends who is trading and how bad someone wants it right now. One difference between baa and Assassin is bassicaly anyone could line up, members got one, AND some people got to loop. Members could line up also. With Assassin, you had to get lucky. (Yes, some people could have lined up, but you had no idea what you could or would get if you did. Not 2 2018 assassin's, though.)
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but doesn’t the quality of the beer matter here? BAA is 4.86. Assassin is 4.59. That is a HUGE difference.
Maybe to a tiny small degree, but it overwhelmingly doesn't. Untappd ratings are silly as is. They are a rough guide at best judged by a mass of people who may or may not know anything about beer or who may have all kinds of motives (see Florida hype boyz). Bourbon County Rare '15 is rated very high (4.73) and there's no one in the world that would trade an Assassin '14 (4.74) for it, 1:1. It comes down to a lot more factors such as difficulty in obtaining the bottle(s), name brand, hype, personal taste preference, etc. etc.... Untappd rating is very low on that list. As an example, I've had BAA and I've had Assassin... knowing which one I prefer, I'd never trade for a BAA with an Assassin. Others would. But trying to justify why someone should trade bottle A for a bottle B because of Untappd ratings is silly.
My phone died, and I was unable to get my message out earlier. Eppie touched in a lot of great points. I'll add a little to that. Ratings matter most when beers first come out and receive all the "initial value". Beyond that, it is only related as it contributes to value the same way rarity and relative demand/supply. On a related note: Assassin is 4.64 overall here on BA and BAA is 4.74. BA is, IMO, a much better gauge for overall quality on account of who uses it vs Untapped. Untapped is more likely to be used by someone not as deep into beer, and probably less likely to trade. As a result, ratings are likely to be higher. Also, other aspects that Eppie noted. That difference noted on BA not anywhere near as big of a difference as on Untapped, and the closeness is probably reduced further when you take into account that there are probably a disproportionate number of locals rating BA abraxas vs Assassin. (Local does matter for a number of reasons, and locals generally seem to disproportionately rare higher.) Further, Assassin likely suffers slightly more than BAA does from the "cannot live up to the hype", because TG stouts in so many minds are THE pinnacle. Assassin was good, but by no means the best I have ever had. With STL being a secondary market hub, I's be shocked if some of the ratings aren't inflated somewhat as well, as Eppie noted. Sorry to further derail OPs thread. Best of luck.
