Referencing BA while buying beer

Nice topic OP. I'm usually "that guy" you described looking up ratings of beers before I purchase, but for stores where I already know the quality staff that I've talked beer shop with before, I'll always look to strike up beer conversation with them instead of trolling on my smart phone. Like others mentioned though, most of the beer store staff I encounter tends to be less than knowlegable and gives bad advice to me. Therefore, I usually wait to ease drop on their conversations with others to get a pulse on their knowledge before I seek out advice. Just lessons learned, not being reclusive, snobbish or antisocial.

 

Great topic for sure! And good discussion so far. For me, it really depends- If I'm at a place like Trader Joes or Whole Foods looking for some brew, I'll pull out my phone and cruise around really quick. I tend to have a good idea of what I want, but in the case I want to try something from a new brewery, I like seeing the crowdsourced data.

If I'm at a beer or liquor store and there's an employee who's clearly free, I definitely don't mind shooting the shit with them and asking them their opinions. If this is a liquor store I tend to ask what their area of expertise is, and if it isn't beer and that's what I'm looking for, I'll try to end the conversation and then look on BA for advice. Generally this isn't much of a problem since at least one person in the joint knows enough about craft to make for a good conversation, but not always.

I think it's unfortunate that so many people in my generation (millennials) ONLY rely on crowdsourced internet data. It's right, I would say, most of the time, but it takes away a lot of the thrill of the chase and so forth, ya know?

 

At least I can shout at my phone if I'm frustrated.

 

The only time that I pull my phone out in a store is if I'm out of state and have made a list of things to look for. Or if I have a list of things that my friends are interested in.

I'll engage the staff in conversation but I usually rely on my own brain cells to choose a beer.

 

I'd say 99% of the employees at bottle shops near me don't have a clue about beer at all. When I see a beer that I think I recognize or that I am curious about, I am much more likely to look at my phone than ask an employee

 

theres two or three places i go where i ask about distribution and release dates to the shop owners, but at all other places, the sales people are clueless.

 

I do it sometimes. Ill check out what the people i follow have to say about it.

@Wiffler27 @TongoRad @SometimesIfart

I trust what these guys say although they are complete strangers. I found reading reviews that their tastes closely match mine so i followed them for that reason. And if im unsure ill check. Other than that, ill just go for it.

 

This x1000.
Most beer store employees are either clueless or noobs looking to trade everything their store gets for loons.

 

Of course there's nothing wrong with receiving suggestions, but as an active BA-user, I often (correctly) assume I know more about beer than people working at beer shops, grocery store's, etc. I find that when I buy something highly desirable this usually kicks off a conversation if the worker is as passionate as I am. If not, there's nothing to lose. Truth is, taking a random suggestion is as likely to fail me as picking up something random I've never heard of before. Which has failed me too many times to not make me want to research before coming into a store. Or while in a store. I usually have what I want in mind anyway before I even step foot in a store, as 95% of the time I'm shopping somewhere that has a BeerMenu's account or posted a new shipment on social media.

 

Anti-social would be not acknowledging your existence or even saying hello. I would hardly call it ant-social. Some people do prefer to seek their own info and draw their own conclusions and don't want to be 'bothered' by a 'salesman', others, I am sure, would love to engage you as a resource. I think that the latter may be people that are newer to the scene. I would assume that anyone checking BA as they shop is already most likely an experienced enthusiast and may know what they're looking for.

I think you're taking it too personal. Although I do understand wanting to share your knowledge and provide insights, it's not something you can change. Maybe find additional outlets or different approaches to help people.

Errry-time

I won't buy anything with a less than 85 rating. Prefer seeking at least 90 rated beers. There are way too many options and I don't have the money to be blowing on anything less than stellar!

 

Totally depends on where I am shopping. Usually, I know what I am after before I go, so I don't look up or ask many questions. If I do have time to browse, I may ask one of a few employees I know if they have tried beer x, and what they thought of it. Most of the other employees don't know or seem to care much about beer, and so I have found myself looking them up a couple times on my phone...usually looking for reviews on BA.

 

i love talking to the staff at my go to shop. the beer manager and i often have great chats about beer and new things and we actually recommend stuff for eachother since we know each others tastes. The rest of the staff there is getting into beer too and are always happy and eager to talk about it too.

 

The staff in the bottle shops I frequent are very knowledgeable about beer. Then again the shops I go to seem to specialize in beer, even though they also carry wine and liquor. I expect that if I went to typical liquor stores the staff probably has higher turnover and would know less about beer.

 

I sometimes check BA,but if i want the beer for any reason then i'll buy it anyway.

 

I don't get the chance to frequent bottle shops with knowledgeable employees very often. When I do, I'll usually grab some extra beer if they have a recommendation. Usually, I'll either know what I want ahead of time, or look up an unknown beer on BA while in the store.

 

Many bottle shops and craft beer bars put the ratebeer.com rating on their beer lists. Given the higher reliability of BA ratings, no harm in referencing BA on the spot. I study the establishment's entire BM list before going, and order things I haven't tried yet at bars, and 4-packs from my set wish list at bottle shops. There are beers with BA ratings in the low 80s that I thought were pretty good, so I don't adhere to BA ratings religiously.

 

Sometimes the clerk at a store does not want to talk beer so much and I can see where they may be annoyed by questions.

 

i don't always reference BA while shopping but i never ask any of the employees.

first off, i usually go into my go-to store knowing exactly what i want. of course if i see something that catches my eye i'll grab it, or look it up on BA.

generally speaking, if a beer has a BA average rating of less than 3.5 i will most likely not get it. i find myself buying beer with a rating of at least 3.7 if not higher. from my experience, beers with lower average ratings i usually don't like (although i have disliked beers with a rating of over 4 but that is less common).

but yes, i do utilize the BA app while shopping. and no, i don't ask for help looking for beer by the staff. i'm sure they're knowledgable but nonetheless i like the numbers.