Been adding places and reviews to the database and realized something unfortunate. A LOT of places haven't been rated for YEARS, sometimes over a decade, and a lot of them are very popular places. Would think that these places change, sometimes pretty substantially, over time. Just figured that I'd give you all a heads up because one of the fantastic things about BA is its utility as a guide to good beer. So if you haven't reviewed your local brewery, pub, or store, but have been there lately, it'd probably be a stellar idea to add a review or edit your old review to keep it current. Just sayin'.
I accept custodial status on the listed places in town (only a dozen or so, and I was the one who listed most of them here on BA) where I live, and I typically read my reviews of the places that I've visited to see if an update is needed (often my review is the only one). Your post caused me to look at them again, and I made some changes to a few. Thanks for the reminder.
You're VERY welcome. I wish I could say that the places that I was particularly concerned with had vastly improved since the reviews were given, but, alas, the majority had seen a downturn in quality. Sad, really. Interestingly, read your review of Southern Tier - Pittsburgh here on the Northshore and couldn't have agreed more with it.
Thanks. That one and most of the 700 other places that I've visited likely won't be getting another visit, so someone else has to provide a review with any updates as they occur. I've also added some places in towns that I'll never visit again, and I feel a little bit responsible for some maintenance, but I can only hope that some subsequent BA will update with a review as needed.
Right-o. You can only hope to maintain that which you frequently visit. I'd just hope that more BAs would revisit their locals and re-review them. Reviews from 2016, while mildly useful, probably don't reflect the current state of things in the last quarter of 2025.
Completely agree with you on this, but here's the thing. Rating/reviewing a place is time consuming. Also, ideally, I think one should probably visit a spot several times before reviewing it. That's not always practical of course, which then makes it difficult to review a new place. Often times I have to try to do it from memory, a few days after my visit. Many times when the wife and I are traveling I tell myself I'll get around to reviewing a new spot, but never seem to get around to it. I know you're fairly new to the site, and so you're much more enthusiastic about this sort of thing (which I happen to think is great) and more than willing to make the time. I was much the same when I joined back in the day, but now I'm just more relaxed about everything. There are a number of places out where I live that I've been meaning to review... one of these days I'll probably get around to it.
Very true. Personally, I do try to update old reviews if I think the place has substantially changed since my original review. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority when it comes to that practice. Life changes and people move on. For many, updating an old BA review is a very low priority.
I mean, the 150 character minimum shouldn't be THAT much of a hardship for most, but I'm picking up what you're putting down. I mean, I'm not asking you guys to be https://www.beeradvocate.com/user/places/?ba=slander That fella is on a different level.
Unlike most beers, beer places often evolve and change overtime. Many around have improved substantially - adding food, outdoor decks…. Unfortunately, the initial reviews stay unchanged. What if the reviewer was just passing through and doesn’t regularly visit so really can’t update. I’ve seen cases where the brewpub has changed location, but the original review and picture goes along.
Such is the "danger" of user-generated content. Obviously it's only as good as the source. It'd be cool if at least some of "the source" was interested in making the guide as good as it can be. I know that's not why most people review, but I really like this aspect of BA and think it could be that much more useful and amazing. Prolly just my OCD, though.
I feel guilty. I've been to well over 200 breweries and have only rated or reviewed 73 places (some of them liquor stores or restaraunts). The last place post I made was in 2023 and that was because I didn't like the place and felt obligated to tell people how bad it was. I vow that whenever I need to kill some Internet time I will add to places.
I think you might perhaps be missing my point. If you have a chance, maybe take at look at my most recent place review (alesmith). It's not an overly long review, but I had to give it some thought, and inject my own personal impression. I want to tell any future audience (which will likely eventually include myself) why I came up with the vibe and quality score I gave the place (for example). That takes some thought and some time. Of course everyone is different, and it's very possible that this is something I worry too much about (when adding a review). Even so, for me (and likely many others) this isn't something I can cobble together in just a few minutes.
I kinda felt guilty for doing some of this, but not really. I tried to do it in the nicest way that I possibly could, to be honest. It probably didn't come off that way because it hurts when places that were once a cornerstone of a beer scene fade because of a lack of give-a-shit. Sometimes by staff. Sometimes by ownership. A lot of times by both.
I totally agree that visiting a place several times (on various days of the week and times of the day) will provide the greatest degree of accuracy. With that said, i am old (not as old as you ) so the times my wife and i do our beer tourism thing is usually after a hike in the afternoon, a lot of times mid-week, so i will never know what the vibe is on a Saturday night in the middle of it with the younger crowd - which would be the only aspect of my rating would lack. Given that, writing a review after a visit is the same as a beer review which i will also do immediately after a visit, otherwise out of sight, out of mind!
I don't rate places, food, vibe/ambiance, service, clientele, accessibility, etc. I only rate the beer (and maybe if they have a brewery dog or two as mascots, but mostly, just the beer) I'm funny that way
Thing is, just like a beer review, a Place review is only just a snapshot. It's not a be-all-and-end-all final word on the establishment. Which is why having a larger sample size helps give a larger portrait, as opposed to a quick Polaroid.
Exactly. Which is why I'm always leery of checking out any place that has a high score if there's just a couple (or a single) reviews. If there are 5 or 6 reviews over a relatively short period of time, I typically can get a pretty good feel for a place. Sometimes a review will tell you more about the reviewer than the place reviewed, but again, typically that's only apparent if you have a number of different place reviews. My point being, I still think there's value in writing a place review based on a one time visit. If I had my druthers, all my reviews would be based on multiple visits, but sometimes that's just not feasible.
I struggle with “places” as well, but maybe for different reasons. I have visited 30+ countries and drank beer in all of them. Have apparently only rated places in 4 countries though. Which is a shockingly low conversion percentage. I have been thinking about this, and it was top of mind when the top-10 places visited thread was started. I called out HopCat not being a brewery and @Todd rightly called me out that it was places, not breweries. For whatever reason, I always rate a brewery, usually rate a taproom, and rarely rate a restaurant/establishment that serves beer. Definitely a “me” issue and not a site issue, but I might need to recalibrate. When I’m traveling (especially internationally, which I do 6-8 times/year) I think I need to get better about rating places, and adding places. Whether they are brasseries, izakayas, or anything in between.
I try to review places, but it can come across as rude if you are not with fellow BAs, then I tend to forget.
