25 replies to this topic

[3rd party JKor]

RateBeer's 100 Best Beers of the YearWhat a joke, might as well just call it the 100 Best Belgian & Imperial Beers of the Year. 2 Porters, 1 IPA, 0 Pale Ales, 3 Stoutsbut...2 Impy Porters, 7 IIPAs, 13 Stong Ales/BWs, 38 Impy Stouts

[aquahijo]

Some beers just get too much hype IMO. Seem a little bias towards the Cali offerings.

[3rd party JKor]

I usually use beeradvocate to get opinions on commercial brews, but the site is down right now.

[3rd party JKor]

Altho some of my good buddies are ratebeers, i agree, whatever. I instead use the source as a guide to help me find beers when im traveling. I went thru my big Impy stage. Ive found brewing 1:1 beers in the 1.050-55 range i enjoy much better.

I agree with you on the mid gravity beers. You can pack a whole hell of a lot of flavor into a 1.055 beer.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I usually use beeradvocate to get opinions on commercial brews, but the site is down right now.

I'm not sure what's better or worse but I don't trust the guys on these beer ratings websites for the most part. I hear way too many people in the real world talking out of their asses to trust the internets.

[3rd party JKor]

I'm not sure what's better or worse but I don't trust the guys on these beer ratings websites for the most part. I hear way too many people in the real world talking out of their asses to trust the internets.

Well, I don't trust them either, i just read the reviews and see what they say. It's kind of funny sometimes, too. Some of these reviews are like they were taken out of Wine Spectator.

[drewseslu]

Only one lager...

[zymot]

Some beers just get too much hype IMO. Seem a little bias towards the Cali offerings.

Balances out Beer Advocate's east coast bias.

[Salsgebom]

I noticed the Imperial bias on ratebeer the first time I went there. Some of the best 5% abv beers I know of get mediocre reviews while extremely unbalanced or flawed impy beers are in the 90's.I've found that the vast majority of beer nerds, homebrewers, pro brewers and non beer drinkers alike spread a ton of bogus information about beer and generally don't know what they're talking about. I'm sure I've done the same at times but I try not to.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I noticed the Imperial bias on ratebeer the first time I went there. Some of the best 5% abv beers I know of get mediocre reviews while extremely unbalanced or flawed impy beers are in the 90's.I've found that the vast majority of beer nerds, homebrewers, pro brewers and non beer drinkers alike spread a ton of bogus information about beer and generally don't know what they're talking about. I'm sure I've done the same at times but I try not to.

non beer drinkers while probably the least informed might overall do the least amount of damage b/c they generally don't try to claim or act like they know what they are talking aboutbeer nerds might be the most dangerous overall - they talk the talk and can name lots of beers they've taken notes on but really there hasn't been a whole lot of requirement for them to learn a lothome brewers are really dangerous at first but as time goes on they realize they don't know as much as they once thought - humbleness sets in and they are more careful with their remarkspro brewers hopefully by definition don't talk out their ass too much - I guess the dangerous ones are the ones that don't know what they are doing and hence don't last very long so I guess the good news is that if a pro brewer has been at it for some time turning out quality product they probably know what they are doing

[cavman]

Balances out Beer Advocate's east coast bias.

BA has Stone and Russian River all over the top.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

BA has Stone and Russian River all over the top.

(kidding)

[Big Nake]

There are plenty of people who would give high ratings to a beer that had a huge ABV and nothing more to offer. I think this is completely missing the point. You guys know me... most of my beers are around 5% and I can enjoy them all day if I want to. After one bottle of some of this huge ABV stuff, I'd be sleepy and where the fun in that?? Nothing wrong with using BA or RB as a place to gather information, just know what you're looking at. Cheers.

[mach5]

I rarely meet a ratebeer that homebrews......

I am. What's great about ratebeer, is they publish these reports but ALSO you can go in and sort stats in a zillion different ways, so if you want to look at the best rated American Lagers you can sort the stats to show that, or you can sort to show best beers by regions, countries, states, whatever.Ratebeer is just a tool in my opinion. I use it to keep track of the beers I've tried, the beers I have and also look into what others are saying about a beer before I spend money on it. It has its uses, but to say that a certain beer is the best in the world is completely personal opinion.

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

RB and BA are tools to try to help you pick out commercials. I use them both to help guide me when I am looking to buy beer that I have never had. After that I let my tastes decide. It seems that there are a lot of people that have tastes that are at the extremes of the spectrum. Either big hop heads or Impy Stout fans. If you are really into one style on the extreme edge it could certainly make it more difficult to judge something that is more neutral in style. It is hard to judge how good a Pale Ale is if you just finished drinking a IIPA. Ed

[ncbeerbrewer]

BA and RB are as stated just a site showing public opinions about commercial beers. I use them a lot to get an idea what people say about different beers and breweries but in the end it comes down to personal preference as well. They can make the list however they like or want it still comes down to whether or not you like the product. When I bottles some bottles while out of town last week I went on BA to see what has been said of the beers that I had bought. Its fun check it out.

[3rd party JKor]

I didn't start this thread to bash the sites. I like the sites. I started this thread to bash the people on those sites who fall all over themselves for any RIS, but won't give a APA the time of day. Just bashing snobbery. That is all.

[Genesee Ted]

I can totally see where you are coming from JKoravos. A prime example, from a homebrewer's perspective happened to me last Thursday. I went out to Buffalo to see a fellow Mob Barley member. He eagerly poured me one of the last 2 glasses of an all Summit hops lager that he had made. Basically a pils with different hops, slightly higher ABV (6.5%), but not Impy by any means. This stuff was incredible. What made it so good? Well, the malt and hops were played perfectly off of each other and I could really tell what he was going for in this beer. Really top notch stuff. However, it is not a beer that will stand out head and shoulders in a crowd. This speaks volumes for how the craft beer drinking public values their beer. You see, a beer that is a great everyday beverage is not going to rate as highly as something that the drinker has as a rare treat. These huge beers, quirky Belgians, etc... all have one thing in common: they are special occasion beers. Sure you could drink them all the time, but that isn't what most of them are meant for. What a lot of people are looking for is A LOT of something in the flavor department. Subtle balance is very much appreciated, but not highly rewarded. Wine is the same way. Food is the same way. We are Americans and we tend to want more. Especially for special (and most likely expensive and/or rare) things. For example, some people will prefer a burger over a steak, but we all know that a great steak would rate higher on most people's list of their favorite meals over a burger. Doesn't mean that burgers are any less good. Just more common. What these raters look for is that gem that you can't really get a hold of easily. For better or worse, that "special beer" just may steal the show. And that is what they are meant to do. I know this is long, but I couldn't consolidate. In short, Sam Adams is a great beer, well balanced and such, but it will never rank up there against Westvleteren 12.