question for BAs with 500+ beers...

These days there are soooooooo many new beers on the market that I lose track all the time (especially when it's on tap and I don't have a label to remind me). The BA app has saved me a number of times though, especially when it was a bad or mediocre beer! I don't mind repeats unless they're not worth it; but it also helps remind me which beers I did like.

 

I am about halfway there. At this point, I can usually recall what I had while in the store looking at labels. Now if I had to name them, no way. I could maybe generate 100 or 200, but not all of them.

 

I am closing in on 1,000 beers and I can remember 99% of the time whether I have had a beer or not...

 

I'm probably 97% accurate on choosing new stuff. I'm not sure if the flood of new beer in the past few years has helped or exasperated the problem, as on one hand, all the new; but on the other, a lot more "less than memorable" beers out there. One way I combat the inadvertent double try (if I am certainly looking for something new) is to go through the top rated beers for each example and scratch down names of beer that I haven't had. Sometimes I'm shocked to see what I haven't had (or rated at least...)

 

I have trouble sometimes trying to remember which ones I had prior to when I rated beers vs. after I started rating them. I'm mostly a ticker so sometimes in bottle shops I will do some checking on here. This is more frequent with local offerings. Putting together a mix a six the other day I was a bit surprised that despite having 34 beers from Boulevard I had yet to rate their pale ale. That will change soon.

 

At the risk of sounding glib, the more you have of something the more you'll remember having it. Even after 35 years of doing this sort of thing.

 

500 is not all that many beers where many raters are reviewing 1000 plus per year, so I don't think there should be many problems at all. Otherwise only maybe flights, festivals, or beer tastings that cover 50-100 bottles could be blurry.

 

I have been reminded by others a few times that I have tried beers that I don't recall trying, though I always think I remember most of them. I don't log all my beers, maybe 1/6 of them get reviewed. Part of me wishes there were a list of all of them, part of me is really glad there isn't.

 

About 15 away from 1000. I still remember what I have had or have not had. Most always.

 

Memorable beers I remember having before, both good and bad. I have forgotten average beers and bought them again to review by mistake.

 

I can remember what beers I've had, but I can't remember what beers I've reviewed because not all beers I've tried I've reviewed.

 

I have a great memory, but the BA app is great for when I'm out an about. When I'm home I have my trusty Word document with an alphabetical listing of nearly every different beer I've tried. I also have another document with nearly every review I've written including the place I bought/tried it and the price. But then I'm AR that way.

 

Not necessarily. I remember the vast majority of the beers I have had.

 

It can be difficult to remember what beers I have had. I review full bottles or pints and I don't review with the frequency that most people do but sometimes it is hard. The hardest is when a label is not memorable such as Maine Beer Co. or if the brewery releases a lot of variations like Evil Twin. The same also goes for a brewery that produces a ton of limited releases. The biggest issue for me is not whether I have had the beer but what I thought of it. Some beers are good enough that I would buy them again to enjoy but they didn't make a big enough splash that I immediately remember them.

Hype can also be a contributing factor to memorability. Using Maine Beer Co. as an example again, Lunch is a highly sought after beer and the buzz surrounding it will never let me forget that I have had it. King Titus is a phenomenal beer but I probably see it around less than Lunch. At one point I forgot how fantastic that beer was just because I hadn't seen it around, the hype for the beer just wasn't there, and there was nothing in the label that stood out to me.

 

I just surpassed 5000 (have a backlog on here) and I would say I know the beers I've had about 95% of the time. Very rarely do I grab a beer a second time (unintentionally). The only time it happens is when I travel and may forget a trade partner sent me a beer or something along those lines, but that's why BA (among others) exist

 

I'm a little over 550 and I can remember most of the time if I've had something or not. For me the fun part is when I come across a beer I had before I joined BA and just kept my own super basic records, but never got back around to reviewing on here. Or when I find a beer I had very early on while I was still refining my palate and reviewing technique and get a chance to re-evaluate or update my score.

 

I only started doing reviews as a way to keep track. I often remember havin a beer, and often don't. It's a fairly regular occurrence for me to order a beer, go to check in on Untappd, and see that I've had it before. The bigger your list gets, the more difficult it is to remember everything on the list. Especially when so many beers are so similar.

 

I'm at 2,176 and I just know when I've had something. I've been surprised a couple of times, though.

 

I sometimes sit down to review on BA and discover I had it 5 or 6 years ago. More often than not, the beer has stayed the same, which is a testament to consistency.

 

I'm at almost 1100 (most were pre BA), haven't run into many situations where I've forgotten.