How would the beer world be different without BeerAdvocate?

Talk Discussion in 'BeerAdvocate Talk' started by Orca, Dec 13, 2012.

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  1. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I probably get the vast majority of my beer information (and a fair share of misinformation) from BeerAdvocate. I'm talking primarily about limited and upcoming new releases etc., but also just about beer in general. I've set up a twitter feed that I follow occasionally with favorite breweries, bottle shops, and beer bars, and I'm on a few email lists for local spots. But for the past couple years, the central hub where all that information gets tied together—and where I go for more information when I need it—has been BeerAdvocate.

    So what if no site like this existed? This is a hypothetical question, so answers like "I'd use Ratebeer" would kind of defeat the intended purpose of the thread. Just wondering how the rest of you would piece together your information, and also wondering how the absence of sites like this one would in turn impact the beer industry. Would we see fewer limited releases? Fewer "extreme" beers? Fewer beer festivals? Fewer craft breweries? More? The same? Discuss.

    Cheers!
     
  2. kevanb

    kevanb Pooh-Bah (2,705) Apr 4, 2011 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    More whales for me
     
  3. Sarlacc83

    Sarlacc83 Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2008 Oregon

    There'd be a lot fewer threads about which beers are massively overrated (or how my local IPA is clearly superior to Pliny) and threads which are looking for validation that people are NOT alcoholics.

    Also, I'd be blissfully unaware of the existence of beers outside Portland, which would probably have a very significant impact on my budget.

    Oh, and Cantillon would still be sitting on shelves everywhere...

    Down with BA???
     
  4. evilc

    evilc Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2012 California

    You wouldn't have truck chasers and people camping out for 15 hours for a RaRe WeStY briCk!!! ( 1 of 7000 yo! )

    I'd have a shitload more money, no UPS bill, and drink less.
     
  5. frazbri

    frazbri Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2003 Ohio

    Before this intraweb thing, we found beer mostly by finding it and drinking it. Beyond that, publications like Celebrator filled us in with openings and closings, and we talked to other people who gave us their opinions and news.
     
  6. jasonmason

    jasonmason Zealot (742) Oct 6, 2004 California
    Society Trader

    Probably be a whole lot less hype, a lot more regional bias, and much smaller lines at releases. In other words, you might not know about Dark Lord (or only heard about it in passing), but you would be able to show up at Alesmith and get BA Speedway without waiting in line overnight.
     
    Bung and qchic like this.
  7. WebGuyMike

    WebGuyMike Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2012 Florida

    I'd have to drink a lot more crap beers in order to find the diamonds in the rough. BA gives me at least some idea as to a beers worthiness before I waste my hard-earned money on it.

    Thanks BA!
     
    Resuin, Bluecane and szmnnl99 like this.
  8. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    But I guess what I'm getting at is, would there even be a Dark Lord or BA Speedway without sites like this one? A common theme of the responses so far has been that BeerAdvocate both fuels and magnifies demand (which in turn fuels supply). I wasn't really paying much attention 15 years ago, but I'm pretty sure there weren't nearly as many limited releases and one-offs as there are now. All I remember is a few seasonal offerings: winter beers, summer beers, etc. Someone please let me know if this is incorrect. All I was drinking 15 years ago was local microbrews and my own homebrew.
     
  9. ColinStClaire

    ColinStClaire Initiate (0) Jul 31, 2012 Washington

    I would spend more time on the Ultimate Metal forum.
     
  10. FunkyMacGroovin

    FunkyMacGroovin Initiate (0) Sep 22, 2009 California

    I wouldn't know as many awesome places to drink, I probably wouldn't know/care much about sour beers, and I'd probably spend a lot more time drinking liquor over beer.
     
    FEUO likes this.
  11. Thickfreakness

    Thickfreakness Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2010 New York

    I love Beer Advocate and really appreciate what the Bros. have done for us all... that being said, I drank a TON of great brews from all over the country long before ever signing up on BA. Other than brewery only releases, Long Island/NYC gets brew from pretty much everywhere.
     
  12. dsauter

    dsauter Initiate (0) Oct 12, 2009 Indiana

    Hunahpu would be $10
     
    benjaminahudson likes this.
  13. jasonmason

    jasonmason Zealot (742) Oct 6, 2004 California
    Society Trader

    I think there still would be, though the pace of growth might be slower. There certainly was a lot less 'experimental' stuff back then, but there also was much less of the trend-of-the-month type stuff. In my opinion, you would have seen less market/hype-driven releases, and more experimentally derived special releases.

    I DO think that you would not have seen the explosive growth of 'extreme' beers (triple ipa, huge -bal stouts, etc), but more refining of styles. Once the hype train got attached to the "bigger is better" mentality, market desires began to have a greater influence over craft. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bemoaning the growth of big beers, at least to a point. But I do think there would have been less of a chasing-the-trend mentality. Hell, there have been "What is the next trend for 2013?" threads, which I think makes my point.
     
    Bung likes this.
  14. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Another site would be doing it. This site fills a niche and there's 0 chance that nothing else would be filling it. A world without the Bros is a world where someone else is running the dominant beer site on the internet, but my guess is that little else would be different. (It's possible that some timing things here and there would be different, but most of the things that we love to hate about the beer scene are caused by indelible parts of human nature, not one particular web site.)
     
    NickMunford and thenamestsam like this.
  15. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Without the Beer sites on the internet:

    Russian River and their beers would be relatively unknown outside of CA.

    The Monks at St. Sixtus would not have to restrict access to Westvleteren 12 on days it was for sale and there would be virtually no gray market for the beer outside of Belgium.

    The Bruery would be relatively unknown outside of CA.

    Jolly Pumpkin would not be distributed much outside of MI.

    Cantillon would be a small specialty brewery whose beers were known only to a select few and were readily available on the shelves in the US. (Assuming it survived at all.)

    etc.
     
    brikelly likes this.
  16. mychalg9

    mychalg9 Pooh-Bah (2,123) Apr 8, 2010 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I think BA probably helped facilitate the trading community which helped a lot of breweries grow their businesses much faster. In short I think (sites like) BA may have been the spark the beer community needed to really take off.
     
  17. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    You are ignoring part of the OP or interpreting it too narrowly...

    "what if no site like this existed"
     
  18. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    Everything I was pondering after reading the original post is here except one: I don't believe there would be as much bile directed at BMC and other macro beers by as many people without BeerAdvocate. Take that as good or bad.
     
    mackeyse likes this.
  19. Providence

    Providence Pooh-Bah (2,652) Feb 24, 2010 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I would be a terrible homebrewer instead of just a lousy homebrewer
     
  20. antilite

    antilite Initiate (0) Jan 1, 2012 Florida

    I wouldn't have two kitchen cabinets filled with glassware, including about 4 different size snifters, and tulips up the a**. This, of course, is in reaction to the photos on the "what are you drinking today" threads.
    Seriously, thanks to the Bros. They have added some pleasure to my little world.
     
    sbrotschul, jzeilinger and jpvenezia like this.
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