To rate or not to rate: etiquette

Beer Talk
#1

Right. So I had a draught beer that was very clearly identified as this one: https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/rate/349922/

I found it extremely heavy sweet, which, while people did comment on its sweetness, appears not to be as syrupy as I found.
I was wondering what the etiquette is with rating beers when there is a high probability it’s either a bad batch or something that might have been affecting an otherwise valid review.

I will post my review but I would like to know in order to remove it if necessary and especially for future reference with these situations.

1 Like
#2

If you paid for it, review as you found it. Make a mental note to rerate if you come across it again.

6 Likes
#3

A bad batch is entirely the fault of the brewer.
They would have the option not to sell a bad batch.

It is more complicated in the case were quality is affected by serving or storage, outside control of the brewer.

5 Likes
#4

If I suspect something is wrong with the sample I’ve had, I usually mention it in my comments, but rate according to what I experience.

5 Likes
#5

The only reason why I would not rate is if I suspect that the beer is bad because of its age or improper storage; otherwise, I think it is fair game.

2 Likes
#6

I rate as I find. If a beer is a bad batch, I’ll rate to let people know they might end up with a glass of shite.

3 Likes
#7

Rate it as you find it.
If brewers deliver out beer that is not quality tested than the people shoud konw to avoid that beer.

1 Like
#8

Rate what you’re served.

If you think the problem is in the taps/pipes, say so. The invisible hand should eventually correct that problem (as long as everyone else agrees).

1 Like
#9

The beer is commercially available in that condition. Rate it as you had it. If it’s a matter of a bar keeping a keg years past when it was meant to be consumed, that’s unfortunate, but it’s a part of life in the beer world.

I usually make a note if I think something is off, but I don’t skip a rating.

2 Likes
#10

Rerates are good. Error bars are wide, rerating shrinks them massively.

4 Likes
#11

I rate as I find it. If it’s off, it gets a bad review, even if it’s supposed to be a good beer and I just got a bad batch. That said, I make a note to retry and rerate accordingly if I come across it again. I’d say I have less than a dozen beers in this category, so it’s not a regular occurrence.

2 Likes
#12

All of this. The ratings here should reflect the totality of commercial availability of a beer.

2 Likes
#13

this is a very crucial point.

Eventhough it might not be the brewer’s fault and therefore not very useful or pleasant for them to read a review of a beer which has been served/sold in improper condition, it is a fact that many beers are served in improper condition. Hence it wouldn’t be of help for the people who use this site if they saw only ratings of top-condition beer if 90% of the servings of that beer are not in that condition.

1 Like
#14

Not long ago hayduke and I got bottles bought from a store that were clearly off. We automatically blamed the brewer. Hayduke contacted the brewer about this who was upset at the store for how they were handled and sent us fresh bottles to rate. All of those were significantly better than the originals.

Moral of the story is that it is not always the brewer who is at fault. If the beer seems off rate it honestly but with concerns. If it is significantly off the brewer will want to know this.

1 Like
#15

Agreed but I would add to the original review adding the appropriate comments and changing the scoring rather than pretending that my original review never existed and deleting previous comments. Which I am sure is the route most here would take.