When purchasing beer, what's your minimum score?

70's BA Score or The Bros score?

 

I would never not try something I was interested in because of a low rating. But I do use them to compare sometimes if I have a choice between two or more beers I've never heard about.

When I do look at scores though, I use the rDev (and if the score is sub 3, it really has to be a particular style or individual beer I'm particularly interested in). I don't like the newer scores out of 100 - they are even more meaningless IMO

 

Budweiser Select won a gold medal at 2013 and 2009 GABF for "American-Syle Lager, Light Lager or Premium Lager" and it has a BA score of 51. Pivo won a gold medal at 2013 GABF for "German-Style Pils" and it has a BA score of 88.

BJCP style guidelines list Pabst Blue Ribbon as a commercial example of a Standard American Lager. It also won a gold medal at 2012, 2006, and 2005 GABF for "American-Syle Lager, Light Lager or Premium Lager" and it has a BA score of 69.

BJCP style guidelines list Trumer Pils as a commercial example of a German Pils. It also won a gold medal at 2010 GABF for "German-Style Pils" and it has a BA score of 86.

Scores, style preference, region, branding, and an incalculable number of other factors are subjective. Testing methods can vary a score, whether it be from a blind scoring, a side-by-side comparison, or even a fresh or aged bottle. I do not purchase based on scores. I use my own scores as a record. I look for users who have similar taste notes and sometimes scoring pattern, to valuate their individual opinions on a beer rather than the overall score.

I really wish there was a way to tag individual users so that I could see an overall score from them (maybe there is and I just don't know about it).

 

In my opinion, if you consider yourself a craft beer drinker, there is no minimum score a beer has to be in order to buy/try it. To me, it's not about how it scored, but what were ingredients, what method was used to make the beer or what brewery made it. Craft is about the overall exploration of something new.

However, minimum score is a factor for me when an expensive beer has a low score. For me, the $15-$20 for a bomber is the upper threshold I'm willing to pay for a beer. If it's more that that it either has to be something very interesting to me or something that scored a bit higher. By the way, as a Californian (LA) transplant now living in Massachusetts (Boston), I've found that beer and alcohol in general is about 25%-33% more than that of LA.

 

I am usually attracted to, in no particular order.
-clever names
-cool graphics
-odd shape bottles

kidding aside, I do fall into the trap of reading reviews before I try it and I shoot for 85 or higher.

 

When I am in the aisle I can rest assured that BA scores have as many long reviews as not behind their numbers. So I trust them. If I need to make a decision I can always trust BA scores to tell me what I want to know whether I stand there and read them all or not. Most people would say that makes no sense. I have been reading BA reviews for a long time now and I know that you all care about the review.

I will drink any beer that I am determined to drink no matter who says what about it.

 

I think most beer brewed by a BMC are going to receive a lower score on here than if they simply had a different label. I also think certain breweries benefit by hype, so even if their beer should be in the 70's it will more than likely be in the 80's. Similarly with certain styles that are or aren't popular at the moment.

Overall, I think the rating system is fairly accurate if you can read between the lines to understand what the number really means. I really like hefeweizen in the summer, yet I don't think I'll ever see one rated 100.

 

There are so many beers out there that I generally only buy those rated 90 or higher, unless it's an underappreciated style, since those tend to get lower ratings.

 

Why do you think this? I do agree with you that it would be nice to see a score for a beer based off of just the actual written reviews.

 

Is that why HT and PtE are in your avatar?

 

Normally if the beer gets smashed like stones crime or punishment and rogues voodoo doughnut I stay away since so many people say it's awful. All the others I will give a fair shot if they are in the 70s and above

 

If a beer is available in single 12oz bottles I have no problem picking up just about anything to try it. After all, to know what you like you gotta know what you don't like. But my budget doesn't allow me to pony up $10 for a 6-pack or bomber that I don't enjoy. Sometimes I'll try the beer on tap, if available. If I trust the shop I'll ask an employee. When that fails, I'll turn to a few local reviewers whose tastes are similar to mine. And finally, if they haven't reviewed the beer, I'll check out the BA score. What I've discovered with BA is that beers with 2,500 reviews have extremely accurate scores where as beers with 0-250 reviews are all over the place. All that means is that I trust almost completely the BA aggregate score of beers with around 1,000+ reviews. That sample size is large enough (especially with many full-on reviews) to give you a better-than-ballpark figure.

 

0. I pay no attention to what others think. Lots of re3ally good beers have crap scores because they're in unfashionable styles.

 

A high score has been a factor in me buying a beer but a low score has never been a factor in me not buying a beer.

 

If I were to go purely on score (which I don't), somewhere in the high 80s would be the minimum (and that would be if it were something I was already curious about). If it were something that I hadn't already wanted to try, mid 90s.

However, I usually only use score as a metric to get a feel for how people's taste here on BA is; if I were to go purely by score, I never would've purchased Crime by Stone Brewing (and would've saved myself $18 that I'd like back).

 

88 from a good brewery. 90 from an unknown

There are just too many highly rated beers I haven't tried still to drink anything else.

 

I don't play the numbers game all that often unless im out to impress. I go to the store, see something i haven't had, consume it, if i like it i A) Buy it again B) Buy it again but rarely due to cost/bottle. If i don't like it, i pick up something from the A category.
If my purchase is something outside my comfort zone, i may look at the score but only on route to check taste notes, then decide for myself.

 

I don't care what a beer's score is... others have already stated the flaws of the scoring system. On the rare occassion that I consult BA on a beer purchase I will skim the descriptive reviews to see if the flavor profiles are something I think I would like.

 

Unless it's an expensive bottle I don't really pay much attention to grades before purchasing it. And even then, I usually ignore the numerical stuff and just skim the text of a few reviews to determine if it's something that I think would be worth paying for.

 

Quoted for truth. I've had beer that scored low on this site and enjoyed them, and I've had high rated beers that I will never drink again. It's all relative. I decide what I like.