I don’t care about the Top 100
I’m going to make a confession that may seem to some like a heresy. I don’t care about the Ratebeer Top 100 lists. In fact, although I have been writing for the Hoppress blog on Ratebeer for over a year, I really never look at the Ratebeer ratings pages. Nor do I look at Beer Advocate or any of the other myriad beer-rating websites. I have never posted on any of them. Nor am I likely to in the future.
It’s not that I’m concerned about the much-discussed bias toward big and extreme beers. Craft-beer fans, like any other kind of geek, have a tendency to seek out the newest, biggest, and baddest. Like those who comment on internet news stories, I would guess that many people who feel compelled to rate beers on these sites tend to go for extremes. I can accept this. I do feel that the relentless drive toward extremes could harm the industry in the long run. It’s hard to grow market share beyond a certain point by recommending an 11%, bourbon-barrel aged, tongue-scraping, triple IPA to Michelob Ultra drinkers. But it is what it is. Extremity is the nature of the beast.
Nor is it that I disagree with the breweries and beers on the lists. Many of my favorite breweries made the top 100; J. W. Lees, Founders, Samuel Smith, Dieu du Ciel, among many others. I am especially happy to see a couple of hometown brewers recognized. Surly and Minneapolis Town Hall are making some great beers. I go to Town Hall often. It’s my favorite Twin Cities brewpub. I love the beers that brewmaster Mike Hoops is making. But is Town Hall one of the best 100 breweries in the world? Probably not. And I do feel that Surly gets more than its fair share of hype. No offense Omar and Todd.
Aside from a certain novelty factor, I simply don’t have much use for these lists and sites. To my mind they promote beer ticking, and beer drinking for me isn’t about beer ticking. I’m not in hot pursuit of the next big thing. I don’t anxiously await such-and-such brewery’s upcoming limited release. I don’t need to try every great beer in the world, and couldn’t even if I wanted to. Besides that, the shelves of my local beer stores are stocked with way more great beer than I will ever be able to sample. I will get to them at my own pace and can decide for myself what is good or bad. I manage to stay reasonably plugged-in to what is happening in the beer world. I don’t need to rely on the masses to guide me. I don’t care what they have to say. Perhaps it’s the old-school, punk rock, anarchist still lingering in me from younger days. Or maybe I’m just a technophobe overwhelmed by the bombardment of information on the web.
I don’t mean to sound harsh. It’s just that craft beer for me is about slow enjoyment and personal discovery. I make a point of revisiting old friends rather than always rapidly moving on to whatever is next. I enjoy the magic of discovering regional beers when I travel. I don’t care to have every beer available to me either in my local market or on the underground trading circuit. I like the anticipation of picking up beer from a brewery I’ve never heard of. It may be good or it may not, but I love making the discovery on my own.
I’ve also read too many reviews on these sites that clearly missed the mark. These are not just reviews with which I disagree, but reviews that knock a beer for the vary characteristics it is supposed to display; reviews by people who had no idea what they were drinking. And then there are those who simply trash or hype a thing just for the sake of trashing or hyping it. I realize that these are the minority. I have read the statements from statisticians saying that the beer-rating sites are examples of effective group-rating practices. But these things still leave a bad taste in my mouth. It messes with the flavor of my beer.
You may think I am being hypocritical. I do, after all, post tasting notes on my own Perfect Pint blog. But one should view those for what they are, my own subjective experience. Take it for what it’s worth. Or don’t.
I say turn off your computer. Leave the hype. Escape the rat race. Forget about the lists. Pick up something that you like, or maybe something you have never encountered. Slow down and drink it. Then decide for yourself.
9 Comments to “I don’t care about the Top 100”
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The statement about reading someones review and it ruining the taste of a beer, I found, is true. I mainly use ratebeer.com for it’s description of the beer.
I hate how people who have rated a million beers, continuously trash or snob up the site with their snarky comments.
Just give me the facts!
I love this article!!!
Jeff
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I totally respect your article, mostly because it reads like the rational side of my brain. But then there’s the irrational part that goes out and buys a beer simply because it IS on that list. But I also learned a long time ago how to use RateBeer–not as some research tool to predict if I would “like” a beer, but as my own online tasting notes journal/label collection. I dont rail against the Top 100 as some faux-authoritarian definitive list…for me theyre basically fun suggestions.
A personal, on-line, tasting note database is a good way to use the sites.
I admit, I do look at them when I need specific information about a beer that I can’t seem to find elsewhere. Some of those European brewery websites can be damned hard to find with just google searches.
I’m the decision-maker for certain aspects of a new beer-related iphone app, and I’m anticipating a similar type of skew/irrelevance to our rating system. The app centers around a rate-able beer journal (with a posted average rating), and I expect to see certain local beers (of marginal to decent quality) rated 5-stars by many of my patrons/app users. I’ve even contemplated setting a limit on the number of extreme ratings (5 or 1 star) that can be stored in the database. It’s just the nature of it that not everyone will use the same rating techniques or take it as seriously as others.
My mind relates this as well to some recent mixology competitions in which I’ve competed. I actually won one of them, but the guy who finished last made what I considered the best cocktail, complete with history of the ingredients and a killer presentation (criteria that I value). In discussing it later, he and I came to the conclusion that our judges just aren’t credible enough to make the competition worthwhile. Now, expand the body of judges to include ANYONE who signs up for ratebeer (or BA), and you see how skewed things can get.
In the end, I advocate the “grain of salt” philosophy. There’s some merit to mass-ratings, but they are far from the last word on the matter.
As a person who does enjoy rating beers on this site (I just passed my 100th beer rating milestone) I still subscribe mostly to your viewpoint. When ever I rate a beer I rate it not necessarily on how it fits the style but on how much I enjoyed it. I rarely look at other user’s ratings, and if I do it is most certainly after I have submitted my own.
I liked your article and wanted to thank you for sharing this point of view.
My one quick comment on this is the fact that there are really a few different sides to “tickerdom.” Whale hunters, I agree, are a damning group in that they have ruined certain aspects of the hobby by taking an “at any cost” approach and then inflating based on rarity. But I think there is another camp that really just likes trying as many beers as they can, for the most part regardless of perceived greatness. I, for one, have fallen back and regularly go to tappings at the local brewpubs here in Chicago because I enjoy tasting Chris or Gabe or Pete’s new beer. It’s not about rarity, it’s about supporting a group of people that I passionately agree with in a hobby that I love and enjoy. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to one to try every beer they brew…
I am seconding Brian’s comments. You will occasionally see me with the new “it beer” instead of a reliable old favorite but I try my best to stay balanced and not let any hype color my decisions too much.
Right. I love drinking beer that I love for the taste. Random brews that are on the mediocre/average side do nothing but make me wish I never purchased them. Ever. And it’s because of that finite time/money concept that makes me look at style lists ever more.
A top 50 list of a particular style is hardly hype, in spite of the fact that you wouldn’t personally rate it in that order. Like that matters.
The point is that because there is so much beer , it’s nice to weed out some of the crap. Of which there are tons on top of the many tons of non crap beer.
I find the lists quite relevant.