When purchasing beer, what's your minimum score?

Ditto except for the fact that I enjoy the standards here. To rephrase this, and the main way I use the ratings regarding purchase is, if it's a style I'm unsure of, and a fair number of people have the avg rating low (84 tends to be my "time to make a decision point", on avg), I might bypass it. I might also read a few reviews to see if there are some qualities I like others might not.

Other things to consider are price (even a 87 in a category I'm not find of the is expensive might not make the cut), and brewer (might give a well-known a try on previous experience). I usually feel adventurous with newer brewers, but they are usually missing on the "enough ratings" issue, although I also stick to styles I like initially (and look at their overall beer ratings).

 

I don't check beer scores before drinking. I usually only see them when I am writing my review.

 

Every now and then, I'll check out what people are drinking in the WBAYDN forum post. If it's fresh or interesting and distributed to my area, I'll give it a proper jump. Price is also a major consideration.

 

I thought this was going to be about how much beer I 'score' when I go to the store. Cause seeing how much I have in my basement, fridge and closets, I was going to say a lot.

 

0, I have a dumb phone so can't check scores for every beer that looks interesting. If I think I might enjoy it I will buy it. On the flipside however, I will occasionally try to remember other beers that I can't afford at the moment and look at the reviews when I get home, I don't always go by the score but like to see what people describe. Then on the third hand, if I know that something is highly rated or much talked about I will grab it when I see it.

 

some stores i go to have a little card on the shelf that give its rating from various sites. it doesn't pursuade me to try (or not try) anything. i usually buy beer based on what i'm in the mood for and sometimes just the name of the beer/how cool the bottle looks. other times i'll get something from a brewer that has put out other beers i enjoyed. i know that i'm not always gonna be in agreement with everyone else on how good a beer is, so it's nothing more than reference.

i generally go for something different everytime. some are excellent, others are so-so. you can't win em all! though i do tend to enjoy most porters and west coast style IPAs

 

I don't have one. If I want to try it then I will.

 

don't go by score, go by my own intuition. i have a pretty finely tuned way of listening to certain people, reading press releases and trends and such. if a beer looks like it should be amazing, i don't care if it has an 80 average.

that said, BA reviews are often decent guides... i just don't use them.

 

I drink plenty of beers in the 80s, some in the 90s and 100 ratings. The ratings do not persuade as much, I see them more as a guideline. Taste is subjective and I drink what suits my taste. Buying beer also depends on the situation, if I am going to a BBQ I usually bring some low ABV with a "low" score. Having a few friends over, I might put something on the table in the 90s, something good to share like a BA Imperial Stout. I think it's snobbery to say I only drink beer above a certain score.

 

I tend to not look at scores....unless price is a factor though....if I see an average priced beer that I want to try, I buy it...if I see a beer on the more expensive side (I will check its score before making a decision), but I base my decision more on people's reviews that like similar beers as myself

 

When it's something that just got released I'll buy it no matter what the score is. Also, if there is nothing "great" then I'll buy something rated less than awesome. But for the most part I stick to buying beer rated 85 and up. But it all depends on what style it is. If its an IPA then I'll buy anything over an 80, for stouts a way more picky and really stick to buying those beers that are rated over 90.

As far as other styles go
Saison - 80
Scotch ale - 85
Quad - 87 (also depends on if its belgian ir american)
Brown - don't buy.
Sours- I've never had a bad sour but I generally stick to above 85.

 

83

 

So many of the posters are covering all the correct points (mainly: drink what you like; be adventurous; don't let a bad score scare you if you want to try something).

I want to drink/review everything, so I only use the ratings on BA as a very general road map for reaching my goal of drinking/reviewing everything. Considering half of the BA world hates most of my favorite styles, I've found FANTASTIC beers in the 70s and maybe even in the 60s. BAs don't rate pilseners, English pales (and their style neighbors ESB, IPA, bitter, browns) and a few others I love with the same rating system they use for American IPAs, DIPAs and anything imperial or barrel-aged. So I don't sweat the numbers ... I just buy and drink the beer.

 

The only time I look up the BA score of a beer I'm about to buy is when it's expensive and I know nothing about it.

If it's some expensive beer like over $10 for a bomber, 90 is generally the cutoff. Otherwise I don't have a cutoff, though most of the beer I enjoy turns out to be 80+.

If it's a six pack in the $10 range, then just being by a brewery I know I like in a style I like is good enough.

 

I've tried some of the "Top" scoring beers that I just didn't care for... on the flip side, some of the smaller scale, upstart, locally sold breweries are producing phenomenal beers. Ratings IMO are certainly dependent on quality first, that is for sure... but in a lot of cases their popularity can be driven by distribution, luck of geography and time.

 

80.

 

I look at reviews more than the actual rating. Though I do admit the ratings do help a bit when I'm looking at a beer.

 

Usually when I make my weekly stroll into the local liquor store I will be looking for something that I haven't had before (unless I see something rare or amazing ie; Zombie Dust, stuff like that is a buy every time I see it). How I choose from there is almost random maybe based on a style that I am in the mood for, or maybe an interesting name or label art. I never jump on BA before I make a purchase to see what a beer is rated first though. The way I see it, I don't want to skip something that I may have loved due to it being rated a 75 on here.

 

This is such a bad system for buying beer. There are lots of hidden gems in the 80-85 rating range. However, I do occasionally check reviews from users I trust.

 

I LOVE Naragansett, enjoying one right now and I rated the beer 4.21. Their Summer Ale is a daily beer for me from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I bought 10 cases of it last month.

To answer the OP; I typically only buy beers again if I rated it 4.0 or higher. 4.0 to me is a good beer, true to style without flaws or off flavors and is a pleasure to drink. A beer between 3 & 4 to me is an ok beer, not bad but nothing memorable or good enough to buy again. A beer less than 3 is a beer with problems.