Your rating tiers

Picture a statistical bell-shaped curve. At the top of my curve would be a 3.75 rating because that's my starting point to score upward or downward from there after drinking a beer. About halfway down the right side would be a 4 score, and a 3 score would be almost at the bottom of the left side, so I'm a little unbalanced. However, it's rare to find a beer below a 3 nowadays because there is just so much good beer being brewed. A 3 score is 'average' by all statistical definitions on a 1-5 spectrum, and that is what I measure 'to style' in my grading. Anything that is style+ approaches or exceeds the 3.75 peak, and anything with a brewing flaw has to automatically score less than 3. I don't think I've ever given a rating less than 2.5 and I don't think I've ever given a score over 4.75 so I'm a nice guy but not overly nice.

 

Then you’ve never drank Steel Reserve, but on the high side I think I have Heady Topper at 4.85, same with Abrasive, but that was many years ago. My last Abrasive wasn’t all that great though.

 

Beers for me that hit 4.5 anymore are rare, I look a little closer than I did 10 years ago. I really don’t formally rate anymore, when I drink a beer that’s new I just go with my impression of that beer to style. When I drink the first one obviously you form an opinion, say that’s a 4.25 kinda beer, but I back it up with 2-3 more beers before I’m really sure where it ranks. I try to eliminate a bad palate day, beer temp, mood etc. More times than not my first impression tends to be the lower rating of the three beers, but I think I would attribute that to beer temp., my fridge is usually much colder than the stores. I’m partial to cold beers, and I’m temp sensitive.

 

My scale resembles;

4.50 - 5.00 = OMFG I've GOT to stock up on this NOW
4.35 - 4.49 = World-class, will buy again
4.00 - 4.34 = Outstanding, will probably buy again
3.90 - 3.99 = Excellent, would take one if offered but wouldn't intentionally buy again
3.50 - 3.89 = OKish, but won't get it again unless to put out a fire
3.00 - 3.49 = Poor, won't even use it to put out a fire
2.00 - 2.99 = Really sucks, adulterated water
1.00 - 1.99 = OMFG, if you EVER see me drinking this, knock it out of my hand ASAP

 

All beer sucks.

 

Young man, with another comment like that you may be required to turn in your beer-drinking card!

 

I only have one thing to note here, and that's that when I'm in a store looking at the ratings for a beer trying to decide what to buy and what not to buy - everything works out in the end. It doesn't matter how we get to the final rating (I rate a little higher than others, some rate lower, etc.), in the end they work out.

 

Between BA and Untappd, I use the old Netflix rating scale because it's easy for me. I typically choose my final rating on BA based on what I set for the taste, because that's what matters most to me. I do use .25 increments, but it's just easy for me to start here -

5 stars - Loved It
4 stars - Really Liked It
3 stars - Liked It
2 stars - Didn't Like It
1 star - Hated It

0 was not present in the scale, but I still use it for anything completely off or disgusting.

 

5: Badass, incredible, can’t believe how good it is, take my money.
4.75: Outstanding, need more, would seek out regularly.
4.50: Delicious, would buy/drink again & again.
4.25: Very good, would buy/drink again.
4.0: Good, hits the mark, I’ll have another.
3.75: Solid, I’m not amazed but it’ll drink.
3.50: I respect the fact that you’re beer, but I’ll keep my money.
3.25: Try harder.
3.0: Things are starting to get awkward.
2.75 or below: Lose my number.

 

Of all the above posts, this scale most closely resembles my approach to drinking/rating/repeat buying beer...Cheers!

 

3.8 is my cutline -- everything 3.8 and higher is good enough to buy again; everything below causes me pause.

Other than that, my numbers are so subjective that I think of them more of a time and place marker than a permanent score. But I take the 3.8 cutline seriously, so seriously that I'll work the numbers to make sure a beer is either above or below 3.8 depending on its worth. Yes. I cheat.

For what it's worth, 3.99 appears to be my mean score. And a glance shows I've scored 374 of my 759 reviews over 4.0. I've no idea what that means. I know I'll give almost anything I like a 4.0 but start getting stingy about the 4.15-4.25 range.

 

Honestly, I'm not being flip when I say scores mean nothing to me. I'll try a beer and know right off what I think. Some are more contemplative than others, but it is pleasure, aroma, and taste for me. Timing is everything. I don't need a graph or scale. But I do have a good memory and often make notes.

 

Which one?
Guinness Draught
Guinness Original
Guinness Extra Stout (Original)
Guinness Extra Stout (Canada)
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout
Guinness Special Export Stout / Antwerpen Stout
Guinness 200th Anniversary Export Stout
Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

 

The original extra stout. All are excellent imo though

 

I skew high with my ratings, but I also rarely buy things I don't think I'll like.

Under 3.75 - Meh. Will not buy again.
3.75-4 - Solid
4-4.25 - Good to very good
4.25-4.5 - Great
4.5-4.6 - Damn!
4.6+ - World-class/top 1%

 

Have found I generally rate NA beers higher than the average. No wonder, being the only ones I drink. Looks my rating pretty much is between 3.5 and 4.5. They are all kind of good, some more so than others.

 

5.0: Perfection
4.75: Nearly perfect for my tastes
4.50: A world class beer in my book. I would go out of my way to find it in cans and/or on draft
4.25: I wouldn't call this beer world class, but it is pretty damn close. Would revisit as often as possible.
4.0: A well above average beer. Doesn't knock my socks off, but it is a great representation of what I look for in the style. I'd consider making it part of my "rotation" if it is easy to find and affordable.
3.75: Above average. There are some things I like about this beer, but there is probably something better available.
3.50: Average. This beer represents its style without any glaring flaws, but there isn't much admirable about it. Would get if it was the best thing on tap at a local dive bar.
3.25: Something is off with this one. It isn't the worst thing I've tasted, but I am not going to revisit it.
3.0: Yikes. This beer doesn't even taste like the advertised style.
2.75 or below: I'm probably not going to drink this ever unless someone buys it for me or my friends buy it for a tailgate.

 

I'm something of a combination of these two. I tend to rate beers very highly overall (on Untappd; I haven't rated beers on BA yet) since I typically enjoy almost everything I drink. Miller Lite for example usually earns a 4/5 from me. It's good for what it is, very refreshing after mowing the lawn, and generally a great fridge stuffer.

Having said that, I always know if it's a beer I wouldn't buy again. A perfect example is Grapefruit Sculpin. This is a beer that I'll usually rate around 4.25 to 4.5 out of 5, but I wouldn't spend my money on it. Love the beer, but I'd rather get something I know I'll enjoy more. I'd rather get something that I will love and can easily call it a 5/5 beer. From other peoples' posts, it sounds like the threshold for buying is much lower than 4/5.

Maybe I was a bad enough student that turned me into being an easy grader