Influences of a beer review

Not me. I'm boring. Drink mostly at home. Review from beers had at home most of the time. Home is home. So if there's a role, it's the same.

 

I think anyone who says rarity does not impart an influence on their perception of said beer is kidding themselves, unless all they drink are whales bro and that's the norm for them.

I'll be the first to admit that if I have a good beer, and it was hard as hell to get, it's going to be that much more satisifying. If it's average, or god forbid, bad, it's going to be that much worse.

 

I usually tell my friends not to look up a BA review or rating before trying a beer. It can definitely ruin or build up a beer better than what it is. Compare notes afterwards. You're right, mood - time of day, food, and a bunch of other factors affect the taste of beer. That is why I don't take "_________ tastes different than it did last year" comments/threads very seriously.

 

Everything we perceive plays a role. The extent depends on the person/things being perceived. Any attempt to say otherwise is pure naivete.

 

I actually wish BeerAdvocate had a "Hover over to see score." option on the site. I'm not convinced my scores have been influenced by beer ratings on the site, but I'd still like to be able to do that, and then see if I'm around what the general consensus is.

 

Prior eats, prior drinks, current health status (stuffy nose) all has influence too. I have been through a roller coaster of emotions over just one single six pack of beer. I don't know how bomber people do it. I hated that I didn't like Prairie Bomb or BibleBelt as much as I should have. I had one crack at them. Getting a second chance seems improbable.

But back to that six pack. The first time trying it, the ipa seemed a bit average and muddled with average flavors. Second time around, two days later, it seemed to be brightening up some. By the 6th time, I was getting into a real groove with this beer. Are my taste buds finally getting used to certain flavors? Something happened during that 14 day span. Now I'm mostly all about enjoying my beer, and I didn't catalog my health status or mood etc. each time. It makes you think though.

 

That is a kind of awesome idea.

 

Around 95%+ of my reviews are done at home while watching some nerdy nonsense on my other computer. The others that I do aren't affected by the ambience because I tend to ignore most things around me anyway - just sit in a quiet corner and drink a beer.

If my reviews were to be influenced in any way, I think it would be more likely due to a brewery's history and corporate decisions. I know it ain't right, but I do find it hard to look past a brewery that is trying to smash the small breweries, or trademarking a style so no-one else can use it.

 

Atmosphere and circumstance definitely play a massive part in rating/reviewing beer, which is why I only do it in the comfort of my own home (though I've been considering quick ticks of draft beer in public as a ballpark self-reference). My pet peeve is the bar/restaurant/whatever scene: the environment is typically any combination of loud, stinky, and distracting, not to mention one usually has company to entertain, which doesn't leave much time for writing a thorough review (unless you ignores them: acceptable if you dislike your company I suppose). If you're eating, your food will almost certainly alter your perception of the beer. What if you're pissed, or conversely, elated about your food? The service? The company? The ambiance? I can think of very few common scenarios where rating a draft beer in public would be 100% fair to the beer (maybe a quiet bar dedicated to only craft beer? Not a common scenario for me certainly), and I try to avoid it just out of principle.

As far as other ratings/reviews go, it's difficult not to be at least a little biased since you can see the rating numbers. I just ensure I avoid looking at actual reviews; whether you think so or not, that is sure to cause a great deal of bias in your own review.

 

The best way, whenever possible, is to wait until you've had a few (under different circumstances) before writing a review. Not only are there carry over flavors and health/mood impacts potentially involved, but it's also the best cure for dealing with the dreaded 'hype' factor.

 

It's worth remembering that reviews are other people's opinions.These sometimes agree with mine, sometimes they don't. I rarely review because I don't often drink bottled beer (and when I do I find it dumbed down compared to the original) and when I visit the pub it would be a little antisocial to begin analysing the beer! Neither would I write notes when in a concert , I'm there simply to enjoy things not dissect them.

 

I think we are defiantly affected by brewery reputation, and others reviews (although most wouldn't want to admit it). When people drink a beer they don't really like from a great brewery(founders, russian river etc), I think we look for the silver lining more than if we drank the exact same beer from another brewery.

 

Having been a research science I know how strong preconceived notions are. I switch between wishing for the two extremes. Sometimes I want to know nothing about the beer so I can realistically evaluate it. Then I realized how great the world would be if every beer in the store is a hard to get whale. We would all be having beergasms all the time. Of course it would still be the same beer.

 

You're opinions are influenced by outside forces from the moment you see the item in the store and every moment afterwards. Whether or not people look at BA ratings before or after is only a piece of the larger puzzle. Off the top of my head the following are things that effect people's perceptions/opinions:

1. Price and/or effort (i.e. trading, hunting, traveling, etc.) involved in aquiring a beer or any good (See "Veblen Goods": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good )
2. Scarcity ( http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...er-a-case-study-in-scarcity-marketing.212737/ )
3. Reviews and/or buzz/hype creating expectations and anticipation, which can easily become self-fullfilling.
4. Regional bias, which I would break down as 1) homerism, and 2) people who believe a product from a certain region is better (for example a west coast IPA or a sour from Belgium). Even professional tasters are effected by this as proven in the famous "The Judgement of Paris": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgement_of_Paris_(wine)
5. Brewery bias, which is related to #4, but brewery specific, and would include negative bias (for example bias against BMC)
6. Environmental factors, including mood, surroundings, presentation of the beer
7. Physical differences in taste caused by other drinks, food, smoking, allergies/cold effecting your sense of smell,
8. Changes in individual tastes over time.
9. Marketing, including ads, beer labels, posters, ect. (yes it does work and you are not immune)
10. [EDIT] Memories....Does drinking a beer remind you of positive or negative moments in your past?

Anyone who thinks they are clean slate is fooling themselves.

 

For me, the rarity/hype factor works in the opposite manner. When I get a beer that's highly thought of, it's automatically got a higher bar to clear. And they rarely do. An example is Heady Topper. Had heard so much about how great/awesome/mind-blowing/life-changing/angels singing from heaven this beer was, I was fully expecting an experience that would make swear off all other beer forever. Guess what? It was just another beer. However, if I'm trying something new that's under the radar, and it catches me off-guard by being a really well-done beer, but perhaps one in a style that isn't one of the favorites of the cool kids, I'm much more impressed.

 

When your friend says before you even smell/taste the beer that it smells like burnt hair....yea that will ruin it. (it really did smell like burnt hair, taste was pretty awful)

 

Bad link in my original post. Click HERE