Tickers?

Yes I would consider myself a Ticker.

For me, I like to keep track of the beers I have tried and rate them so I know which ones I enjoy the most.

I try to have several new beers each weekend, in an never-ending journey to maybe find my all time favorite.

I'm not sure if I ever will, but for me the experience is to try to beers and judge them accordingly.

So many styles and flavors

Why stick to eating let say tacos every time your hungry when there is a world full of different foods to experience.

Who knows your present "go to" might be mediocre after you try (insert beer here)

 

I tried as many beers as I could get my hands on when I first found craft beer.
The results of that are, now I have a pretty wide variety of beers that I know I like, and go back to often.
I do still enjoy trying new beers when I get the chance, but I also enjoy the beers I already like on a regular basis.
Keeping track of the beers I have tried allows me to remember what I have liked and disliked.
I am still going through notes to try and organize the beers I have tried to help my future beer purchases.
I don't really have a definition for ticker, but I do think advocates of good beer come in many forms.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to try new beers. That doesn't make you shallow or only interested in showing off. Buying the same beer over and over again to me is boring, unless it is one of my favorites. I seek out new beers, but make sure I'm stocked on favorites for a few styles. I don't understand why people think that makes them "real" beer drinkers that "actually enjoy" beer if they buy the same few beers over and over and never venture out. Do people also brag about ordering the same meal at the same restaurant on the same day every week?

 

No, I'm not. Ticking goes beyond mere record keeping. I think it is a mistake to confuse the two.

The term is often used in a pejorative sense because a common observance of tickers is to focus on the quantity of experiences and record keeping, often at the expense of quality experiences.

A couple examples perhaps - a ticker might try several new taps at a beer bar to add to one's # instead of drinking something they have already had which is a top favorite, or perhaps very rare, etc. A cluster of tickers at a gathering might produce something silly like 15-20 or so "ratings" on BA from one 12 ounce beer (and will not respond kindly to a debate about whether such a small portion is reasonable for judging a beer. why? because the main thing is they tried it and it counts towards their #). Tickers may often have a bunch of single bottles in the fridge, rather than sixpacks of top favorites. The regular drinking experience usually involves drinking something new, whether good or bad, rather than savoring what one knows that one loves the most.

The quantity over quality really shows up when you look at what high number ticking involves. Here's what I mean by that. Most beers are not top rated, excellent beers. Only a small minority are. The majority of beers are not spectacular. You might even say, perhaps by definition, the average beer is average. High number tickers don't just tick that narrow range of beers at the top. They tick across the board. And since most are not top beers, then tickers spend most of their tasting time with less than stellar beers in their hands, and in their records too. So, they drink a lot of mediocre stuff when instead they could have been drinking top beers or their favorite beers. But they don't. Because drinking that Sculpin again doesn't result in another tick. Drinking mostly average beers is an essential part of what it means to be a ticker.

 

yes I would consider myself one. I pretty much drink something I've never had every time I drink a beer.

 

I think you're exactly right. Many of us have perhaps had a ticker phase of sorts, or just a lot of trying without record keeping, but the key difference is that non-tickers are able to move on and drink mostly their favorite stuff, or the best stuff in their markets. They may still try some new things. But the non-ticker's typical drink is something good, or something they really love and think is good. Their focus is on having a high quality drinking experience with each pint. They realize that ticking involves a bad roll of the dice, because most (new to them) beers are not going to be as good as their known favorites. So, they move on. Others don't. Others want a bigger and bigger number. The bigger number is more valuable to them personally than enjoying a great beer that moment. The phrase you mentioned "I never drink same beer twice" tells a lot, a whole lot.

 

As much as I love new beers, not a ticker. Nothing like having one of your faves.

 

I don't consider myself one. I do try many new things because simply put it's an experience I have never had before, so why would I turn that down?

I make judgments without question about what beers I want to have and try, but I also grab standards that I know are reliable and have them again.

This site for me is a tool, and it's a good one. It helps me keep track, cause at this point I can't even remember sometimes if I had that beer before or not. Not everytime it's also ideal for me to be reviewing, but that's what I always try to do unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

There is no goal, not obsessed with finishing lists or getting numbers cause that's just a pointless endeavor, as the mechanics and ratings on this site change, and there's too much obscure beer out there to go jumping over when great things nearby are available for me, possibly even great new beers I haven't had too which are the best surprises.

I am running into too many conversations with other drinkers whose only mindset is.

Yeah I had that beer (tick). yup that one too (tick). And that (tick). Yup I had that also (tick). Did you have this? Have that..

This isn't really insightful conversation and doesn't tell me anything, is there a specific reason why you liked that beer or wanted to have it again? Some details instead of just numbers makes for more a lively discussion. But I have also had great dialogue and convo about beer with others too that was very enjoyable also.

I have been called all sorts of things, don't believe in any of the labels at all, so no I don't consider myself one.

 

I disagree, that may be your definition but its kind of stereotyping everyone who Ticks when there clearly is different types.

Yes I will typically go for a new beer over one I have had several times if it seems intriguing.

But I wont go in thinking I probably wont like this beer or this is mediocre.

I don't know how the beer is going to be until I try it and keep an open mind.

Again I definitely have my favorites but I love trying something new. That is how they became your favorites in the first place isn't it?

 

I'm not really a ticker, because I don't usually buy styles that I don't like just to get my numbers up. That said, I have been on a bit of a tear for the last 4 months or so, trying as many new beers as I can get my hands on. I honestly love the discovery aspect, but when I find a beer I really like I make it a point to come back to it eventually. And if I go to a bar that has something rare and delicious on tap, I definitely won't pass up on it just to try something new.

Good point that someone made earlier about the minimum amount of beer you need to drink before giving a rating. Some beers I find really take multiple sips before really revealing themselves to you. Even the fabled Heady Topper is a beer that takes a good 3-4 oz before you're truly in the zone. When I'm trying a new, flavorful IPA, I tend to not judge it until I've had at least half a bottle, because the flavors keep developing over time.

 

It's not a matter of absolutes. It's a general, behavioral pattern that is quite common. People fall somewhere on the spectrum of trying something new every time vs. only drinking old favorites. Tickers are more toward the former side of the spectrum. As another poster said, the often heard line from tickers is they don't drink the same beer twice. Or maybe they don't drink it very often. Both are tickers. The defining characteristic is that they're towards the trying new and raising their # side of things. Not drinking mostly known, loved beers.

You don't have to personally predict that new beers will be mediocre. You only have to read what I said above to see the point. Most beers are not top beers. I'm not sure how you can disagree with that. The average beer is somewhere in the range of average, or, not at or near the top. American craft brewers are not all making only good stuff. That is hardly a controversial point. It's commonly said and believed among BAs that there's a lot of mediocre stuff out there these days. When you have a high # and try everything you can, then almost by definition you are mostly drinking rather average stuff.

 

Well said. Actually I think that's a very accurate and concise way of comparing non-tickers to tickers.

 

I think of myself as the consummate ticker. I'll buy/trade for anything in the top 250 I haven't had (140/250 at the moment), and I usually only buy 1 of each beer. I'll only buy multiples if they're really special/tradable, or if they're personal favorites that I want to drink and/or cellar. Out of 102 bottles I currently have, 81 of them are different. The exceptions:

2x FV13 - both in the cellar
2x 5 Monks - 1 to drink, 1 in the cellar
5x Expedition Stout - 1 more to drink, 4 in the cellar
4x Velvet Merkin - 1 more to drink, 3 in the cellar
4x BCBBW - All in the cellar
7x BCBS - 2 more to drink, 5 in the cellar
2x Supplication - 1 to drink, 1 in the cellar

Not only that, but I also keep a running list of beers I've had / I own that have the rAvg to make the top 250 or were formerly on the list, but don't currently have enough ratings. Thus, basically without exception, I'll buy anything with an rAvg of at least 4.25 no questions asked.

A sample from that list:

Bo & Luke: 4.28
Le Terroir: 4.29
Seizoen Bretta: 4.3
Lindley Park: 4.31
Bitter Monk: 4.32
Vanilla Framinghammer: 4.33
Bear Republic Tartare: 4.34
Track #8: 4.35
Grassroots Legitimacy: 4.36
5 Monks: 4.37
Backacre Sour: 4.38
Smokey and the Bois: 4.39
Tart of Darkness (Cherry & Vanilla): 4.4
All Green Everything: 4.41

Next closest to making the top 250 is Big Sound - Bourbon. If the 4.38 rating stays the same it just needs 32 more.

Meanwhile, I'm rather pissed with all the new and impossible to get additions to the list (Freak of Nature, Leon, Remy's Pappy, Allagash Coolships, etc.) because the bottom 7 beers on the list are ones I have (Berserker, Sour in the Rye, BA BORIS, Rodenbach, Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal, Bottleworks XII, and Saison-Brett) and will imminently get knocked off in favor of some other new and impossible to get beers. Grr...

 

No. Personally, I don't see the point. There's an awful lot of mediocre beer you'd need to drink to try as many brews as possible.

Plus, I like revisiting old favorites. Do tickers even have old favorites? I can't even really form a full opinion on a beer until I have 2 or 3 bottles of it.

Now I'll always have plenty of never-tried-before beers in my fridge, but I'll always come back to favorites as well. I can't imagine trying classics like Celebration, Prima Pils, Expedition Stout, Nugget Nectar, FBS, etc. only one time!

 

There are so many great and positive responses here, that at first, I didn't think I could add anything new and equally positive to the thread. The better beer movement has given us so many delicious options in beer; it's hard not to imagine not wanting to experience some of them. I have great locals, as I am sure most of you do. Example: I've seen so many positive posts about Ballantine IPA, I can't imagine not wanting to try (experience) it. So, I traded for it, and why not? Why not give someone the chance to try something delicious from your neck of the woods, something that is a "go to" for you that they cannot get? One of the great things about the beer community is sharing. There's a lot of that going on on this site. Thirty years ago, who would have thought there could be such a thing as a "beer advocate"? Could you imagine all of this with the options we had back then? Me, either. It really is a great time to be a beer drinker.

 

First I 'm going to answer then I am really looking forward to reading all the posts.

Yes. I am a ticker. I have around 700 or just shy of 700 unique beers that I have tried. I have tried to write as many reviews as possible but some I really did just "tick." The reason that I consider myself a ticker is because I want new beer. I want it all the time. I do buy some beer more than once but mostly seasonally. I define a ticker as a person who always is on the lookout for a beer they have not tired yet and is writing it in a journal or putting it into their phone here on BA as soon as they get their hands on it =)

 

This is a spectrum where at one end you have folks who drink the exact same beer every time (I'm guessing most of these people are loyal to their favorite AAL and every other AAL is piss water and anything that isn't AAL is "sissy beer") and straight tickers on the opposite end that never drink the same thing twice as a rule. Every regular beer drinker falls somewhere on that spectrum.

Me? I'm 59.8% ticker based on my most recent breakdown of all check-ins and uniques on Untappd. I've been as high as 65% (early on) and only as low as 58%. I love trying new beers, but I won't try something I know is crappy or even marginal (based on ratings) just to try it unless there is nothing better on hand. I will try, on the other hand, highly-rated beers in styles I don't like just to see what I'm missing and sometimes that leads to me trying more in that style and then becoming a big fan (The Bruery's Oude Tart with sours is a good example of this for me).

Most of my go-to beers are rotational so I snatch up 2-4 of them (almost always bombers) whenever they come back around, but I don't try and "stock up" on them by any means (I don't trade so it doesn't make sense for me to buy more than I can drink before it goes south). Sours are an exception (since they are usually so expensive)--I'll only buy 1-2 at a time regardless of the bottle format. I keep a lot of readily available stouts in the fridge (ESBC's Vanilla Hyperion's, Boulder's Shake Chocolate Porter, Mother Earth's Sin-Tax, Belching Beaver's PB Milk Stout) but that's because they're my wife's favorites and we often split a bottle at the end of the day. With one-offs, I'll try and snatch a few more than normal just because you never know if you'll ever get another chance to have one (Beachwood's Pride of Chops is a good example--I had it 9 times; probably 7-8x in bombers).

When I go to festivals, I'll probably drink 80% new stuff. The other 20% are beers that I've had but are hard to find and I really just want to try them again. Bottle shares? I try and stick to 100% stuff I've never had so I last longer.

 

I'm a semi-retired ticker. When I walk into the bar, I still scan the list for new things first, but if something new doesn't push my buttons (ie; have had a less than OKish history with the brewery, not a fan of the style, not in the mood for the style, etc.), I'll go with what looks good.

I think the folks in this thread that only "tick" top beers, aren't really tickers. You want to tick, ya gotta tick everything, yes that means taking the soulless, thin stout before the wale IPA you've had before. Go introduce yourself to Mick the Tick and his buddies: http://www.hulu.com/search?q=Beertickers:+Beyond+the+Ale

 

Yes, it's a spectrum. I wouldn't call myself a ticker, but I have ticker tendancies. I'll go for a Top 250 brew when I find and can afford one, but I'm not trying to drink all 250. I'll try to drink beers with which I'm unfamiliar when I go someplace, but more to find something new that I'll enjoy in the future than to tick it off on a list. I've reviewed over 100 beers since January, when I joined. Admittedly, that's small potatoes compared to someone like you, @utopiajane, but it's far more than the average beer drinker. And while I'm on both ratebeer.com and untappd.com, I spend very little time at either place.

Am I a ticker? I don't think so, but you decide.

 

I'm probably something of a "ticker", as I'm usually up to explore some new beers rather than grab only stuff I know I like. If I walk in to a craft beer pub to see they have St. Bernardus Abt 12 on tap, along with 3 or 4 beers I have never had but which seem interesting, I'm likely going to try out at least 2 of those other beers before finishing with the known good Bernardus. I definitely run into some things that I'll personally never try again, but that's also how I originally found beers like Old Rasputin, Skull Splitter, and Ayinger Brau Weisse that I go back to time and again.

Conversely, I don't order a new beer of a style I've tried a handful of and realized I just don't like, because that'd be a waste of time, money, and beer someone else might actually enjoy. I also don't actively seek out a beer just because it's on a top 250 list somewhere, but I don't treat aggregate ratings as gospel when deciding whether or not to try a beer - mostly because I have an admittedly weird lager-malt palate that doesn't agree too often with the ale-hops crowd. For most of my personal favorites, I'm in the double digits of deviation from the average score, usually at or above 20% higher. When an Eliot Ness lager rates around 4.8 for me while a Storm King was one of the worst stout experiences I ever had on tap, I know I'm off in minority territory!