Day 16 – April Fools...Or Not

Today is April 1, 2010 - April Fool's Day. Trick or treat? Okay, that's seven months from now, but you get the idea. Is today's blog for real? Or just one big joke?

Well, let's try it out and see, shall we?

Yesterday, I tried a beer called Fat Tire on tap. It was a very good amber ale. The previous two I’ve tried were on the bitter side for me, but this one was more balanced, so it was more to my liking. Ratebeerians, however, didn't care for it as much as I did.

Today, I tried a hefeweizen and two India Pale Ales. The hefeweizen was from the same brewery that brings you Shiner Bock. It was decent, but not great, and the ratebeerians were in agreement with me. The two IPA's were (1) really bad and (2) the worst ever. One was from Dogfish Head called 90 Minute Imperial IPA and the other was called Shipyard Fuggles IPA, not to be confused with Muggles, which is a Harry Potter thing. The latter smelled and tasted like industrial cleaner, worse than the Torpedo IPA I had the other day. The former was bad, but better than the Torpedo stuff.

Believe it or not (this is April Fool's Day, after all), the ratebeerians loved the Dogfish Head beer to the tune of a 4. Four! That's an average! Which means that some loved it more than that! I saw my first 5 today with this beer. Someone on Ratebeer.com thought this beer was the best beer that could EVER be made. THE BEST! No room for improvement, the best beer that has ever been made, could ever be made, would ever be made.

Call me crazy, but what serious beer drinker would EVER make a statement like that? A 4? If that is your style, I can see it. A 4.5? If this was the best beer you've ever had and you've tasted hundreds or thousands of beers, I can see that, too. But a 5? I'm sorry, but unless you've tasted every beer ever made, how can you possibly give a beer a 5 and be taken seriously as a beer taster? This guy either worked for Dogfish Head or was drunk on his ass when he submitted that rating. And no, it isn't because it was a beer I didn't like. I would question his sincerity even if it was for a beer I loved.

Is this a joke or real?

I'm sorry to say, but everything I've put down here is true. I like Ratebeer.com, trust me on that, but an astute observation: the majority of raters there are hopheads. To prove my point, simply take a look at the ratings of the IPA's and other bitter beers on the site. Many/most are above 4.0. Now take a look at the wheat beers, Belgian ales...in other words, the styles I favor...none are greater than 3.6. The top wheat beers are not on par with the top IPA's on this site.

Granted, there are always winners and losers in the world. The majority rules. I get that, I understand that, I accept that. It is simply discouraging as a new beer taster/rater to see my ratings substantially below that of the average for some beers and substantially above that for other beers.

Now here comes the dichotomy for me: Ratebeer.com encourages its members to rate beers on the appeal of the beer itself, not on the style. I love that because I don't like bitter beers any more than I like very dry red wines, so to give a good rating to a beer I despise simply because that is the way it is supposed to taste/look/smell doesn't appeal to me. But that does open the door for the majority to rule. The really serious tasters - those with thousands of ratings - will be fairer in their scoring, I'm sure, simply because that is what they do. But the hopheads rule on this site. It's a fact of life and I will have to deal with it, not the other way around.

How will I do that? Well, for one, I'm just not going to play in their sweet spot any more. Simply put, I'm bailing out on those styles. I hate IPA's and I won't be buying any more, so I won't be giving them bad ratings any more. I refuse to pay $2.50 for a bitter glass of Pine Sol only to pour it out after one sip. There are plenty of other beers that are more to my liking and that is what I'm going to focus on. That isn't to say that I won't find some other beers I don't find appealing. I'm sure I will. But once I identify a style I don't like, that will be the end of that style for me.

The other way is to ensure the beers I like get a good rating. No, that doesn't mean an inflated rating. I want to become a studious taster, a serious rater, and I want to do that with integrity...as opposed to the moron who thought they had tasted the best beer EVER made, ever could be made, ever would be made. If I don't think a particular beer deserves a good rating, it won't get one. But because I like the wheat beer style, I can be part of the voice that nudges the rating up a tad, that balances at least one of the bad ratings the hopheads give it because they like the bitter pill instead of the balanced one.

In case this comes across as acrimonious, let me assure you that it was unintended. Everyone likes different things. My wife loves brussel sprouts, for instance, which I can't stand. She hates seafood, which I love. To each his own. Or hers. It just offends my sense of fair play when some really good beers are denigrated by those who don't like the style. True, I trashed three IPA's, but only three. There won't be any more. Can the hopheads say the same? I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that the top 50 IPA's and the top 50 Double IPA's received substantially higher scores than THE top Belgian White.

Hello! Just don't drink a witbier if you don't like the style! I mean, c'mon, the best IPA is a 4.3, but the best Belgian White is a 3.6? What's up with that? Shouldn't the top beers of each style be closer than that? But they're not, not on Ratebeer.com. Maybe not on any beer rating site, for that matter. And, granted, I may be in the minority, the kind that likes a crisp chardonnay over a dry cabernet sauvignon or a Belgian White over an IPA. That is my cross to bear, not anyone else's. As I mentioned, though, it is disconcerting as a new rater to see such wide disparity between what I thought and what others thought of a particular beer.

The good news, of course, is that I’m under the five hundred mark, a milestone of sorts, a small one, to be sure, but we all take our motivations where we can. The one I’m looking forward to is the one hundred beer point, which should be in about six weeks. I will then get an icon next to my ratebeerian name, which is kind of a badge of honor that signifies I will no longer be considered a newbie.

How cool is that?

Goal...............524.....365
Progress..........27........16
Remaining.....497.....349