What Exactly Is A 5.0 Beer Rating?

Why is it that every thread on BeerAdvocate about rating beers ends up becoming about bar fights?

 

Probably because every thread about bar fights ends getting rated?

(maybe I mean raided )

 

Personally, I have a hard time with that distinction philosophically. No offense intended to you of course. I'm sure most people here wouldn't agree with my position. I'm only making this post because I take you as a thoughtful person.

All of the following is just a case of my (perhaps narrow or poor) opinion:

Differences in execution are assigned value mainly based on what someone likes.

People can think that the standard of execution is a "style guide," but this really doesn't come into play like people believe for a variety of reasons too dense to get into in this post. The other framework that can be used for execution is if there are so-called brewing flaws. But once again, this doesn't really come into play like people might believe.

On the other hand, a brewer can decide if their target was hit with their execution. This would vary from batch to batch rather than brand to brand, and this would be a completely different way of rating beers than what consumers do on this site (you'd only be rating beers against themselves). Drinkers imagining how much a given beer executes a brewer's aim (while removing what the drinker likes from the equation) is mainly projection.

So then what's ultimately left for the drinker? - The execution that they like the best.

 

I’ve only found 1 beer that I gave the 5 rating and honestly... I’m afraid to go back and try it. The reason for say that the s because I gave it a 5 at that time. I’ve gone back and tried beers that I’ve really liked and didn’t like and my opinion about those beers changes. The beer I gave a 5 was a local brewery and at that time I tried it blew my taste buds always, Now... who knows if I would rate it a 5. I love beer and u will alway continue to rate the beers are o what it gives my taste buds and my taste buds will continue to change. Cheers to everyone on this beer journey that we love and hate.

 

I don’t mind giving impressions which I do on NBS. I might say a 4.25 or so kinda beer, it’s certainly not a hard rating, I give the best descriptions I know how, but I’m not a wordsmith. I’m not really into formal ratings and don’t check ratings here before I buy, and I usually have an idea what I’m looking for. Two things wrong here I suppose, and first it doesn’t allow me to really spread my wings and venture into new beers or beers styles. Two, it’s a bit boring and predictable sometimes, but I also rarely stumble into a shit beer. When I’m really bored I drink AALs, which is why I probably drink more of these than most here.

 

My highest is 4.92 (Orval, of course!) and it is difficult to imagine higher.

 

Be glad that it is about barfights, and not an actual barfight.

 

So, because, as you well know, I HATE coffee, does that eliminate the possibility of me thinking that a given coffee beer, while not flawless, is still as well done as possible (as per my link upthread about the definition of perfect)? I believe that while you may scorn Wits, as a style, there might be one out there that makes you say: "Dat shizzle not my jam yo, but, I cain't be seeing any other of dat shizzle bein' no betta'!"

I think you personally, and a lot (certainly not all) of other BAs, are capable of putting preference aside when judging a style that is not a preference.

 

I think this difference of view gets us back to the well trodden path of deciding what beer ratings are "for". Are they a venue for the collating of a critical mass of subjective opinion to determine an overall ranking of beers by their appeal to the median palate? Or are they a vehicle for describing to the anonymous other how well a certain beer meets its advertised stylistic goals?

Both approaches have their benefits and costs, their strengths and weaknesses. But which you use (or how you personally balance the two) will inform what a 5 means for and from you. If its the latter then it's reasonable that there could be several, or even many, 5s in every style category because there are many beers that nail their style quite well and take you fully into the realm of parsing based on your personal preferences.

If its the former then you are likely to top out at a small handful, and maybe no, 5s across all styles. After all, how many beers can really perfectly satisfy you subjectively if you're engaging in a remotely discerning way?

I think that many people, especially the more casual raters that make up the bulk of the users on this site and any rating site, tend to lean toward the broad approach to 5s. Especially for the easier styles that feature bold and familiar flavors and I think that is why we see so many neipas and pastry stouts getting 5s. It is what it is and it does only really bother me when I see it paired with a less than glowing review.

Also, this thread has me thinking I should be more open to the 5

 

My only 5 in 18 years here..is Fullers London Porter. And I would give it 5 again today.

 

Also, if one takes the approach that 0.1% of beers in a style might achieve the 5 level then there would be 8 new 5 rated neipas from last year alone

 

RateBarFights I have some "4s" from my early days in Scotland and one "5" from rural Georgia!

 

OOOOFFFF!!!

I cannot imagine there were many limits in that Geaorgian brawl.

I came up in a rural/redneck/biker/farmer area, and, when shit started, you hugged the wall and got out as best you could, or, you were participating.

The notion that there were rules wasn't even a notion. You need to work in the morning? Don't get in a fight tonight.

Even where I live now, out in the county, there's some logger/commercial fishermen bars where anything goes. Personally, I do not want fight anybody, let alone some tree-climber wielding a 24 inch bar chainsaw.

I looked at my buddy and said, I'm out. We sat in the parking lot and cracked a couple beers, watching the mayhem, until the cops showed up. By then every available cop was either there, or en route. No worries about getting pulled over.

Good times.

 

It's a young morons game ..bar fights. The Georgia one i was a participant..I ended up in the county jail for a night. All over a bloody Scottish idiot schmoozing a local girl.
Was well worth it!

 

a common theme.

 

That’s the danger in a bar fight in a bar you don’t frequent. You don't know who’s who, and who’s friends with who. Ive been in bloody buckets before, and it takes once if you have any common sense to stay away, you get second instincts quickly growing up in military bars. I walked into a bar in Albuquerque NM driving by myself from Ca to Pa, I walked thru the door and no shit there must have been 30 people in the bar, every thing stopped and everyone turned and looked at me. I turned around and walked right back out, wrong place wrong bar, most were Native American and I surely wasn’t welcome there. You hit enough dumps you get good at reading bars, and I never ever went into biker bars, to no good end right there, there beyond friends and one in all in and your going to the ER. Best advice don’t, and your right most fights are young guys and morons with beer balls, or fights over girls. I’m too old for that shit, and I was never a lover of getting into fights. I like nice quiet bars with good beer, older clientele, and that $8 draft separates me from troublemakers, you see 25 cent PBRs and $1 shots it’s screaming to stay away, especially in college towns.

 

I'd also add Sip of Sunshine to that list. It fell off a cliff round about 2016ish.