At long last the final installment of “My Tasting Ways” is here. Hopefully this series has given you a better understanding of how I do my reviews and what I mean when I write certain things. As I have been writing these posts, my evaluation process has continued to evolve and I think my abilities have become slightly more advanced as well. I will likely give updates on my means and methods as time goes on to keep everyone informed on what has changed.
Grading a beer is extremely subjective and I wouldn’t expect that everyone (or possibly anyone) share my views on beer. For me, it’s tough not to compare beers to each other. If I had a really good beer last week it may lower the grade for a beer that I am drinking today that might have graded higher if consumed in the opposite order. Without trying, I think that much of my grading is influenced by comparisons. The good thing is that the more beers I try, the more I have to compare to, and that leads to a more consistent personal grading system.
I am not to the point yet that I can grade a beer as a judge would, against its style and expected characteristics. Perhaps someday I will get to that point, but I have a long way to go and many beers to review to get there.
An A or A+ is tough to get from me (at least I think so). I have to really enjoy a beer to grade it that high. That is in part due to my thought that I do not want to give an A to a beer only to have one a month later that is significantly better and have no choice but give it the same mark. As time goes on that practice will surely change a bit, but now you know why there are a lot of B’s out there right now.
To the other end of the spectrum, D’s and lower are really, really hard to get from me right now. There are not many beers out there on the shelves that deserve that low a mark. A beer would almost need to have something wrong with it (which happens more often with home brewed batches) to fall that far. There might not be such a thing as a bad beer, but there are certainly some that are worse than others!
Now that you know how I grade (at least as of today) take my scores for what they are — just my opinions. Hopefully some of the reviews will get you to try the beers for yourself. I only ask that you let me know what your grade is when you do!
What Others Say