My Rating System

My beer ratings often get called into question and rightfully so because they are purely subjective. I judge each beer based simply on whether I enjoyed it or not. In fact you could say that I’m not actually rating the beer but the experience of drinking the beer. This means the rating can get a boost by things like getting a Belgian beer in the correct glass or it coming in a gigantic can. This can also be influenced by a number of factors that have nothing to do with the beer at all like where I am and what I’m eating; but I do try to make a note of this where I think it had a significant impact.

My rating system has also gotten harsher over the years. When I started I was comparing an Amstel lager to a Fosters and the Amstel came out looking pretty good. These days I have access to a much wider range of craft beer so I’ve had to adjust. In fact my ratings these days are quite hard on the beer, out of 1067 beers in the album only 3 have gotten a 10 and only 4 with a 9.5. Half ratings are pretty new though so I expect the 9.5 basket to fill up a bit more over time.

What each rating means


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