What’s my favorite movie?
That’s a tough question, I have so many movies that I love. A short list
of my favorites might include Star Wars, Willy Wonka, Boyz n the Hood,
Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Planet of the Apes. Why do I choose these
movies? That’s just my personal taste. My subjective opinion based
off of no set criteria.
You hate these movies? You only like one of them? (I’m guessing Boyz n the Hood.) Why would you ever trust my opinion on movies? The answer is, you probably shouldn’t. We must have different taste in movies altogether.
What do my favorite movies have to do with beer? Just like my taste in movies, my taste in beer is just as subjective. While there certainly are clear-cut style guidelines in the beer world, these rarely impact my overall impression of a beer. There are styles of beer I tend to prefer over others and certain times of the year that I enjoy a particular beer more than another. While I have the ability to determine if a beer meets its style requirements, it’s worth pointing out that I’m not a certified beer judge, and I have no formal sensory training to speak of.
Beer rating websites have become increasingly popular over the years, coinciding with the major boom in the craft beer industry. Looking up a beer’s rating online can be pretty helpful in deciding what beer to buy, but it can also be somewhat skewed. You have to consider the collective tastes and opinions of all the people who have rated the beer. Did the person drink a glass of the beer? A bottle? A sip at a beer festival? Does the reviewer typically enjoy the style of beer that they’re reviewing? It would be nice to assume that every beer rating online was done objectively with an open mind, but that just isn’t the case.
While certain sites such as BeerAdvocate.com try to level the playing field for beer reviews, there is still room for some irregularity. Some people rate beers knowing that the beer is not fresh and falls outside of a brewery’s recommended date coding. Other reviews come from bottle share events or beer festivals. These are often based on very small tastes amidst a large volume of samples. Beer temperature, glass selection, and glass cleanliness are other variables that could make a huge difference in someone’s perception of a beer.
Rarity also seems to play a part in the overall ratings of beers. Many of the beers on Beer Advocate’s ‘Top 250 Beers’ list are limited release beers or beers that only get distributed in small geographic areas. Number 46 on the list, Trappistes Rochefort 10, is the first beer on the list that is readily available throughout the year (in most of the US). I’d find it difficult to argue with any of the beers being on the aforementioned list, but that’s not to say that other more common beers aren’t equally as good. It’s interesting to note beers that have had declined in rating since getting even the slightest increase in distribution. When Russian River’s Pliny the Elder was only available on draft in California, it was always in the top 5 beers on BeerAdvocate. Now that this beer is bottled and distributed to other parts of the country, its rating has dropped to number 10 overall. Westvleteren 12 is another beer that declined in ratings since it received increased distribution. In 2012 the monks of the St. Sixtus Abbey wanted to raise funds to pay for renovations, so a limited amount of their beer was sold outside of the monastery for the first time in history on 12/12/12. This is another beer that was consistently ranked top 5 overall and is now down to number 16. Have these beers gotten worse? Are the other beers really better than they are? I’m not sure I could say that either scenario is accurate. The reality is, just about 9,000 people think The Alchemist’s Heady Topper is the best beer in the world, so who am I to disagree? I’ve only ever had a small sip of this beer…not enough to give it an accurate rating.
Why not familiarize yourself with a variety of beer? Try a beer you’ve never had before that’s in a style category you don’t typically love. All beers aren’t created equal. Just because you usually don’t like IPAs, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t venture out a little bit. Always strive to be open-minded when it comes to beer. One of the most frustrating comments I’ve heard is, “Wow, this is actually really good…and I don’t even like lagers.” By not drinking lagers, you’ve shut out dozens of individual styles, and thousands of unique beers. You don’t need to love them all, but you shouldn’t be so black and white about it.
All of this isn’t to say that beer ratings are completely useless by any means. It’s just very important to determine how much weight you give to the individuals responsible for the overall ratings. Be aware that there isn’t a standardized method in which people review beers. There’s actually quite a wide range of review styles. The bottom line is an awful beer is most likely never going to score very highly and a great beer will never get a bad rating overall. Just remember, the most important rating to consider when drinking beer is the rating that you have given.
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