Poll: Do you tick?

Very true. Then no, I don't tick in that sense. If there's new beer on tap at a place I'm at and I haven't had it, or it's a new beer from a local brewery then I probably would review it. I certainly wouldn't go with your scenario though.

 

Disagree*






*Yes, some people are just trying to "one-up" the next guy, but amongst men (and women beer nerds) isn't life just a penis measuring contest? Do you not desire a highly rated beer? Do you not wish you could get your hands on the next big release? Why do you want that? Because you read the list of ingredients, and said to yourself "Hm, all of these, mixed in the right order, make for the ultimate match to my discerning palate?"

No, you do that because somebody, somewhere, said it's good/going to be good, and you want in on the fun. None of us want to be left out, and while "ticking" can be boiled down to as simple of a description as somebody just trying to collect all the pokemon, it's really about people trying to enjoy their hobby, which for most people who populate this site, is beer, in its entirety.

Yes, giving up a left nut, driving across the country, selling your car and home, and whoring yourself out to get a 2 oz pour of Dave is a little ridiculous, but tasting it, rating it, and sharing your opinion isn't necessarily a negative thing. It's just ones hobby, and at least this one is a fad with some staying power.

Unlike those goddamn Beanie Babies.

 

You choose the Founders CBS for trade bait and make up a review of Steel Reserve based on other reviews! Pfft, like anyone would do otherwise

 

I still don't really know what a ticker is, as it seems like alot of people aren't really to clear on the definition.

When i go to the beer store, i usually buy some new stuff, and some stuff i know i will enjoy. When i go to a beer bar with a large selection, i usually prefer stuff i have never had, but i'm not going to drink something new i'm not interested in over something i have had before just to say i've had it. i don't write many reviews, sometimes i write down new stuff i try so i can remember, sometimes i don't. So where do i fall? Am i a ticker, or not, or some kind of hybrid?

I think the point a lot of people are trying to make which i agree with is why the need to label everyone. Just drink beer and have fun any way that makes you happy.

 

i dont like tickers that never drink the same beer twice. i think beer is more of a hobby for those type of people.

that being said, of course i like to try as many different beers as possible.

 

I'll admit that at a bottle share I'm like a kid in a candy store. Of course I'd drink KBS every day if I could, but I can't, so I try a lot of different beers to find others I like. I like to drink beer. I like to try new beers to expand my knowledge and find new beers to drink.

For example, in the last 2 weeks I tried Heady Topper and Sixpoint Resin. Heady Topper is out of this world and I'm happy to have tried it and have a few more so to savor in the fridge, but the real winner is that I found Resin. In TX Sixpoint just arrived and I have now found another beer that I can enjoy every day that I like a lot.

It's fun to drink your everyday favorites and those beers that are hard for you to find.

We have too many people getting hung up over certain things and trying to tell people how to enjoy beer.

 

I do not tick.I provide many rare beers for friends that enjoy ticking. My cat had a tick earlier this summer.

Why would anyone care what I think of a beer, my tastebuds might be broken. I drink what I like and try new stuff all of the time.

 

Ok, i see your point. So your saying i'm not a ticker because i like to drink alot of what i have tied already, it does not have to be something new all the time, and i don't feel like i need to try everything out there. So help me out further, explain to me the "pitfalls" and the negative connotations of people who enjoy drinking beer this way. (Maybe i have missed some of people's thoughts on this throughout the thread, i'm going to go back and reread if i have time)

 

most people dont appreciate my avatar. Theres some kind of huge Colorado BA community or something.

 

Whats ticking? Thanks.

 

I won't know when I am tasting my 2000th beer. Somehow I find this comforting.

 

I've been keeping track so I'll let you know.

 

Haha if only that was true, as that would mean you and I shared a lot of them.

 

Not true. I love both beer and new exciting ticks.

 

I confess a bit of surprise here. "Ticking" just means keeping score. Shit, we keep score of everything! What's wrong with keeping track of a beer journey? And, who cares? Drink a 1/2 ounce or drink a growler - it's really none of my business.

For me, more importantly, I don't need to eat an entire pie to know I like a certain apple pie. I don't need a 16 ounce steak to determine if it's to my liking. I don't need a gallon of chocolate chip to discovery whether it's a chocolate chip I want to eat. (Get the picture? I can keep going......ok...no need.) The foregoing said, I also don't need a 12 ounce pour to determine the merits and/or shortcomings in a beer, any more than I need a 12 ounce pour to judge a wine.

I recently tasted with an executive from a major brewery. She is, for all intent and purpose, THE person in charge of the "taste" of the beer. She is "the brewer's boss" as the case may be and very influential in the entire brewing process for each beer produced. She's a taste expert with vast experience and she confirmed to me that she was not "born with it," it was developed and it can be developed by any and all of us.

She could taste and judge a beer (and any other liquid for that matter) with about a 1/4 ounce taste. She sometimes went for a confirmation taste one or two times, never drinking more than a total of less than an ounce. Suffice it to say her experience allowed her to refrain from consuming or drinking 12 ounces of every beer to evaluate it. Not making a judgment call here. If you need 12 ounces or more to "judge" a beer, go for it. If you need a 1/4 of an ounce, same thing. Frankly, as with most of us, we generally rely on those reviews from the people with whom we're familiar, good, bad or indifferent. Do what's right for you.

JMO

 

Yes. I write down the beers I've had and if I've only had a sample I mark that next to the name. I don't tick just for the sake of ticking though. I tick to know what I like. (After all, how am I supposed to know I love Two Hearted, if I've never tried it?) Also I won't try a new beer just for the sake of trying a new beer. For example, if I see an ipa or an unage-able with no bottling/best by date and dust on the bottle, best believe I ain't trying that.

 

I had the chance to go to a tasting with the Copenhagen RB crew in July. Those guys tick, people on this site just drink beer and write stuff about it.

 

I'm trying new stuff all the time, but I really only started doing this with gusto last May - after years of not hardly drinking at all. I really don't feel like I can appreciate a beer unless I have a full serving. Tasting small amounts' only purpose is only to determine if I would pay for a full serving and enjoy it. I do not record beers of which I have only had a sample. I've gone back to a few, but I buy more mixed 6-packs than regular 6-packs.

I'm in a local restaurant club the goes to 100 and I'm sitting at 91 right now since starting April 4. It's been a fun way to stay motivated to try things I would maybe never otherwise try, and the bartenders there have been pretty good guides. I've had quite a few many more at home and other places. The bartenders at said restaurant recommended me to BA, and I am glad they did.

Before joining BA the club website automatically tracked those beers, but once I got here, I started recording all my beers. I just want to be able to remember what I've had another 367 beers from now; my memory sometimes fails.

I enjoy different beers for the taste sensation, the variety, the craft; I love learning about beer and trying different beers is the best way to learn. New beers lead me to go back to reference material and review the style profiles, and I often research a particular beer at the vendor website and via search engines. The more I know the more I appreciate the art of brewing.

I sometimes drink solo. I also drink beer socially and enjoy that very, very much with a couple of close friends. Often I will have just one and savor it knowing it will be the only beer I drink that day, but other times I love the sensation of multiple beers, and I have learned to enhance this experience by sequencing and grouping them somewhat deliberately.

Ticking, if I even understand it, seems in one way like kind of an immature, lame, narcissistic internet pissing contest. (nothing personal, if that's what you're into, more power to ya). But at the same time I can see how it could be done in light-hearted good fun, for one's own enjoyment and not for purposes of comparing one's "achievements" to those of others, and not be so bad in that sense. It's just not something I would have never even thought of doing.