How We Rate the Beer
To those who listen to our podcast and follow our Twitter feeds (@MikeBGP and @ShawnBGP), you will notice that Shawn and I rate the beers we are tasting on a scale of 5. When the idea for this website was born, Shawn and I agreed that its purpose was to act a social media hub for people to learn more about the amazing variety of beers available. We wanted to make information on beer easily accessible and non-intimidating. The websites we used as reference points were typically used for rating wines. These communities chose to rate wine on a scale of 100. To us, a scale of 100 introduces too many nuances. How am I truly going to be able to rate one beer an 87, and another a 92? My palate certainly cannot discern the difference. The same is true for a scale based on 10, I feel. We adopted the Netflix five-point rating system for beer ratings, in order to provide a decent scale while maintaining the difference between good beer and great beer. We feel this gives us a proper range to best describe our tasting opinions and allow others to participate without feeling intimidated by a complicated system.
The rating system goes as such:
- 1/5 – not a good drinking experience. This score is for the beers I would not care to try again.
- 2/5 – Beers I simply did not care for.
- 3/5 – I liked it. Perhaps it does not have a unique flavor or anything particularly special about it. I would try it again, but won’t seek it out.
- 4/5 – Really good beer. If I go to a restaurant, these are the first items I look for on a menu.
- 5/5 – Outstanding and delicious. I would seek these out every day, as they are typically a little harder to find.
Of course in our ratings, we also try to discuss several characteristics of each beer. These are:
- Appearance – the clarity and color of the beer
- Aroma – what can you smell in the beer? is it fresh and flowery?
- Taste – what’s the body feel like in your mouth and what flavors are coming through?
- Overall Evaluation – last chance for comments, and a rating on the five-point scale
There you go, a brief explanation of the rating system we use here at The Beer Genome Project. What characteristics do you keep in mind when trying out a new beer? Sound off in the comments.
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