Guide to rating places?

For myself I rate like this:

3 = average (like most other places you can visit)
3.5 = pretty good (a bit better than most places)
4 = good (much better than most places but room for improvement)
4.5 = very good (top of the class but not the top)
5 = exceptional (impossible to beat)

 

To be honest, the scale for selection you posted is pretty much exactly how I see it myself.

 

Very interesting way to stick measurable value to a rating of a place. Its your review of course. Still I am curious to your other scales for the atmosphere, value etc etc.

I am curious to what average means to you also.

To me it depends on what type of place it is, versus what they claim it to be. Take a Trappist pub for example de Verde. I rate it very high to perfect. But to most Americans the service would suck to them, why while in Europe they NEVER rush you. So while if they never come back of course you been ignored but if it's 5 to 10 minutes to wait for service well that's normal. Ok this pub only has 3 beers and NOTHING on tap. still its 3 of the finest beers on this planet. They have food, and the value is outstanding. Still others just do not see it that way.

I chatted about this forever with many BA members. Most overate places, and then you read their remarks and you just shake your head. Beer reviews I ignore, but places are important to me, as I may visit a place on BA ratings only to find it not worthy.

 

That pretty much nailed it on the head.

 

Quality is intended to measure how the beer is served. Is the beer served at a proper temperature (i.e. not ice cold for strong Belgians, not `warm´ for crisp helles lager)? Is the beer relatively fresh and not been sitting in the back of the fridge for one year? Are the tap lines clean/not riddled with diacetyl or flavors imparted from previously uses? Is there a utilization with different shapes of glassware to enhance the beer´s experience?

 

well we talking about places not beers!

 

Do you guys tend to take into consideration the local area. If you have a craft beer bar or bottle shop located in a desert of sports bars and shaddy liquor stores would it tend to receive higher ratings?

 

I've rated several small local joints highly simply because of where they're located. Such as: a small shop in a tiny town that carries good crafts and sometimes a rarity. Take the same shop and stick it in a bigger town with competition and the review would likely take a dive. I always explain my rationale when reviewing, I'd hate to rate that small shop highly and have BA members making lengthy drives to it only to be let down.

As long as you provide a lengthy description of the joint you're reviewing - explain why you gave it the numerical grade as well - all should be fine.

That being said - JdoubleA - it's almost time for us to eat.

 

Definitely a good point in regards to having BA members go out of the way. I'll be sure to explain my rational more in the future.

 

I like this scale a lot. Saving for later and will probably use it in the future.

I've skewed a lot of places more towards good than bad just because anything that has even a remote amount of craft on tap in Delaware seems like a mecca.

 

Yeah, this. I mean if someone is going into the hinterlands of, say, west Virginia, I assume they they have searched and seen the limited availability and selection and are aware that they are not going to find anything like they would in Philly. So for someone that has been there to say that a small convenience store has a relatively decent selection that will fill their every reasonable need as long as they are not looking for rare Belgians and fresh cask ales, and they give that joint a 4 when there is really no competition, I would hope the searcher would realize that this place is a diamond in the rough but nonetheless a diamond when no other diamonds are to be had.
It's all about how spoiled you are. But if you walk out of the only place around that gets the 4 because you think that it is not worthy, then it serves you right to have to drink wine for the rest of the weekend.

 

I feel as the craft world expands, places are getting closer to each other in ratings. I used to think a bar that had 10 quality taps or a store that carried local craft was a 5. As I gained a bit more knowledge I started seeing things different. Those places now would garner a 3 from me. Obviously in the last few years the beer landscape has shifted dramatically. Now a place better be coming at me with 30 top notch taps or stocking beers from around the US at bare minimum to get a score higher than a 4 from me. My standards are admittedly high. However why settle for mediocre?

 

My standards have definitely changed over the last five years. Charlotte's always had some good pubs but once Duckworth's hit town (70 taps of amazing brews), the bar was raised. Most folks in major cities have at least a couple spots serving an amazing assortment of beers these days. We're all spoiled. Aint it great?

The store I was speaking of in my post is a wine shop with a 12x12 area dedicated to beer. They carry appx 60 different six packs and maybe the same number of bombers, all quality stuff and occasionally some rarities - found Blushing Monk & Dogfish Head Squall there, bought Hopslam there this week. They only have a beer guy in the store twice a week but he'll ask what you're looking for a try to get it. I rated the place just better than average and caught a little flack for that from JdoubleA (guy who started the thread). Hard to believe I'm spoiled enough to rate the spot that low, actually.

 

There's also a bit of give and take between "selection" and "quality" in rating. If a place has every beer in the world, including every single BMC, selection's a five hands down. Quality is where I distinguish how much of what a place carries is genuinely good.

 

And, as I think at least one person has pointed out, reviews may be skewed in one direction or another depending on where you live. Some people are spoiled enough to rate a place as average that might have as much as the best beer stores in other places or vice-versa.

 

great topic to revive. I think the quality part needs to be discussed more. Not to mention the part of it being the only good place , where there is none. IF the place is a 3 but its the only one in the area, and someone rates it a 5, you are actually doing a disservice to us that visit. IMHO. its like inflated yelp reviews.

thoughts?

how well can you serve a bottled beer with the right Trappist glass? With a smile of course?