When purchasing beer, what's your minimum score?

I do pay attention to BA ratings and often don't buy a beer if less than an 80, and even that might be too low. BUT, I have to have a significant amount of reviews in order to sway me. I've been in plenty of breweries that might not even have 10 reviews per beer - and at that point I decide on style and what I'm in the mood for.

Beer ain't cheap, so I rely on my BA friends to steer me - that's what this site is for. If I didn't pay attention I stand a greater chance to get a bad beer than a really good/great one.

- Side topic that has come up. I used to care far more about the Top 100 list, but really don't look at it much anymore because, while I'm sure all are good, often the popularity rises as falls as availability or knowledge spreads. Some are (good) fads; some are deserving classics.

 

I generally stay away from shit that is below 88... that may seem off, but with the massively overatted rankings (way, way too many 100s!!) 88 and below tends to be shit.....

 

I love Corona so according to BA score 56 and according to the Bros 47. God-willing I will continue to buy, but most likely drink from other people's, Coronas until I croak!!

 

I do look at scores if its a beer I never heard of. If its from a brewery that I like I will just buy it. ( I never look up something from SN, Sixpoint, victory, DFH, Stone, Lagunitas, etc. ) I recognize that ideally score wouldn't be a factor but I spend so much money just buying the beers/ breweries I like that when I experiment it would be fiscally irresponsible not to minimize the chance of spending on something I won't like, therefore its appropriate ti see what others think. In my defense, when I was buying one or two six/ four packs a month I never checked.

 

You should see ratebeer's scores.

 

In general if its a beer I never heard of I won't buy it if it's below 85-90. But if its a lager or wheat beer I will curve that by a good five points.

 

I'll try anything....but I'd rather spend money on a 90+ pt beer if I have the choice.

 

My first blind purchase and my last. And I had been drinking craft for a few years before I tried this. Figured what is that worst that can happen? To be fair I don't just go by the score. I do highs and lows and top reviewers and read the notes to see if it in line with my taste. But I will never blindly make another purchase again after this one.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/435/73496/

 

There are a host of reasons that I might purchase a beer for the first time.

One is certainly the reputation of the brewer. There are certain breweries out there that I enjoy so much I will gladly try a new offering blind.

Another is style (e.g. if I see a barrel-aged stout I never had before, I will probably buy it).

Also, I take recommendations from friends, bartenders and clerks at stores.

Finally, I may consult BA for advice. If so, I generally stay away from anything below an 88 collective score or Bros. score.

 

If tiny batch quantity and lack of distribution drives up the score then my homebrew should be off the effing charts...

 

50 i guess. coors light is 50

 

Like many here I use a combination of factors when deciding what to buy. If the beer is unfamiliar to me and also costly, I'll look at the rating first and also read some of the reviews by top BAs. There are definitely styles I like more than most and will take that into consideration as well. Plus there are some breweries I tend to buy anything from at least once because they have a strong track record with me. Similarly there are beers I pass over because I haven't liked what I've had from the brewery in the past - sometimes to my loss, I discover later.

 

If you buy beer based on score/rating then you are an idiot

 

I don't care as much about scores as I do to what is written in the reviews. Often the reason a person rates a beer well is the same reason I would rate it poorly or I like a beer foe the reason the reviewer dislike it.

 

LOL @ basing your beer purchases on what their score is.

 

88 seems like an insane cutoff. With that cutoff, you've eliminated sometimes up to 70% of beers on some Top 50 lists for certain styles.

 

BA scores are a single reference point, nothing more. They assist in helping me weigh choices, but only as an aid, not as a determiner of purchase. I will bet you that the BA staff never intended the scores to be an ultimate decision maker.
Arbitrary "cut-off" scores do not take into account beer style, some of which are scored artificially low, in my opinion.

I encourage everyone to buy at least one "low" scoring beer and reap the rewards of the inevitable surprises that will follow.

 

1

 

For me, I only drink stouts, ipas and pale ales (ya know the popular styles) that are rated 80 or above. Seeing that these are the popular styles, and the ones that command the most slots on the "best of" lists. As for beers that are not as popular such as pilsners, vienna lagers, german style wheat beers, etc. I don't necessarily look at the ratings.

 

If you have to look up the score of a beer before deciding to buy it, you are doing it wrong.