Rating beers at festivals

Rating? I guess it's ok. Reviewing? Not appropriate at festivals.

 

This. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you do a rating without a formal 250 character review, the score doesn't effect the overall rating of the beer (confusing, I know). Essentially, rating is "ticking." I remember there being a tick or had button for a few months but the Bro's removed it.

 

Sorry for the multi-post, but this is pretty much what I follow as well. Whenever I get a beer at a bar and I've never had it before, I just rate it in the app and leave it at that. If I pick up the beer later in bottle or can form, then I'll sit down and do a formal review.

 

Rating sites/apps ratings aren't professional reviews so pretending the the pour size really matters is silly to me. A small pour (even at a beer fest) is enough to judge for the kind of accuracy that rating sites can provide for peoples' impression of a beer. And for a person log on your impression to see if you'd like to revisit the beer (which is 99% of why I use untappd) it's more than enough.

 

Yes me too.. and I've also stepped over them as they puked outside after the fest. haha

 

Might sound crazy, but I think a big reason those folks who use Untappd tick like crazy is because there are badges for 2,500/5,000/10,000 beers. The only way you can possibly get the 10,000 one is if you tick every little sample you have. I never used to tick at beerfests but I did at the last one because "everyone else was doing it". I won't be doing it at future fests as I feel it takes away from the overall enjoyment of it.

 

I rate so I can remember what I thought of a beer. Usually if there are a lot of ratings one way or the other it is a solid indication of what a beer might be but doesn't mean I won't try it if I want it.

 

This^^^ It's one reason why I don't do reviews anymore. I use Untappd, and those ratings are for me and perhaps my friends. They serve to remind me what beers I've tried and what I thought of them. I might do a few at a fest, but not all of them and not once I've had too many. Then my ratings wouldn't even serve me well, let alone anyone else. But yeah, 2 ounces is enough to rate.

 

Sounds like too much work. I've only got 2 hands and one of them is holding a cigarette.

 

I think you all are getting caught up on the idea of ratings being tainted by small pours. The main reason why the Bros explicitly say, DON'T REVIEW BEERS YOU TRIED AT A FESTIVAL, is because you palate is not a fair barometer 19 beers in, no matter if you are still sober because the pours are small. Part of a well done review is being able to examine how a beer evolves over 15-45 minutes as the temperature warms and as the beer gets exposed to oxygen. I personally hate reviews at festivals, I did it once and deleted the review because it wasn't a fair account of the beer.

 

The old "how many ounces does it take to rate a beer?" question raises its ugly head again...

 

I eventually realized it also wasn't fair to me because I have sometimes had very different impressions of a beer when comparing what a fresh palate tels me to what it tells me after multiple samples, even in a flight of beers.

 

If there are no ratings or reviews, I definitely appreciate it. However, I take them with a grain of salt. At some point they are drunk and everything tastes good.

 

Personally, my rating system at festivals is pretty simple. Taste beer, (sip), rating #1, pour it into the bucket or rating #2 finish the sample. I limit myself to those two ratings especially the longer I'm at said festival.

Edit: What ends up being memorable I may rate or at least search for over the web for a better sampling and setting to rate.

 

Judging at a BJCP sanction event and Judging at a beer festival are two different things. A BJCP sanction event is a controlled environment, it is quiet with no outside noises or aromas, a set of style guidelines are available and you are using a scoresheet. Under those circumstances it is possible to evaluate a beer with a 2 - 3 oz pour.

At a beer festival I mark up beers for personal reasons - identifying the ones worth trying to find later but I never submit a rater for the beer at the festival or anywhere on line. If I am rating a beer on line, I use a full pour and generally try for a quiet setting.

 

Honestly, This strikes me as awfully presumptuous.

How do you know what someone's intent is when they are rating a beer at a festival?

Sure, writing a full BA review based on a small pour at a beer festival, when you palate is fatigued, does not give that beer a fair shake, and is unlikely to produce a useful review.

On the other hand, a personal rating intended for personal use only, can be very valuable. "I like this one", "I don't like this one".

For many years, I have used beer festivals as one stop shopping, where I can try new beers with the goal of finding ones I would like to add to my rotation. So yes, I always rate beers a festivals. But to be clear. These are personal ratings that I do not publish on the internet.

Why would you not want to take notes on the beers you are trying? Assuming your there to explore the beer.