Another Year Gone By

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Aug 032011
 

So at some point toward the end of last week (or maybe over the weekend) was the two year anniversary of the first post on this site.  I knew that the occasion was at the end of July, but since I often am not aware of what the date is, a few days went by before I realized that I missed it.  After that I was excited to look back at the post I did one year ago to see what has changed since then.

The answer is that quite a lot has changed while at the same time very little has been done toward the five goals I wrote in that post.  I was slightly bummed at first, but as I thought about it there is not much that I would change.

5090602069 8da2c01166 z Another Year Gone By

Made some new friends

I mean how can I be at all upset that in the last year I landed a job at one of the top beer places to be found anywhere?  They thankfully gave me a shot and started me out working a day or two a week and now I am there seemingly more than not and am working full time hours each week.  I have had access to so many great beers, met numerous brewers and brewery reps, helped out some good people, streamlined operations a bit, and have really had a blast with it all.

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My second home

So yes I have tweaked my grading system (a few times) as I set out to do last year and have to a lesser degree focused on beer and food pairing, though mostly on a personal level.  I have not brewed in some time which is a big hindrance to evolving my methods and skills as I wanted to.  Admittedly I do miss it and will get back to it at some point, but I cannot say exactly when with so many other things going on.

If only for the sake of writing it down (since I did it last year) I should mention the number of beers reviews on this site after another year has gone by.  I am not into counting that high this morning to get an exact number, but I do know that there are well over 200 reviews on this site now and if I include the shorter evaluations (B Notes) the number is actually closer to 300.  Not bad for something that started out as a beer journal for me.

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Coming soon to a computer near you

Maybe I have not done guest posts for others (though I owe The Wife at least a few) and I have not stepped up with many more videos, but I have kind of combined the two into one.  I had the opportunity to shoot a pilot for a beer based web show with a good friend (who happens to be my boss at Redlight) and am pretty excited to see what it looks like once the editing is done.  Doing that is a big deal for me and makes up for falling short on those other things.

With the constant immersion in the world of beer now I actually feel that becoming a Certified Cicerone is an attainable goal sometime in the next year.  There is no way I would have thought that way back when I did my first personal beer review.

Somewhere in there I decided it was also a good idea to start my own company and get my license to practice Architecture in New York State (on top of my Florida license) to be able to do some work with/for an old friend.  Let’s just say that some weeks are pretty damn busy, but with how busy The Wife is with all of her projects I am just trying to keep up.

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Many beers yet to enjoy

With all of my rambling and reminiscing done for today I can say that still, more than a year and a half later, I do not regret leaving my office life in the rear view.  Cheers to that!

 Posted by Lucas at 11:30 am  Tagged with: , , ,

Revision Time Again

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May 242011
 

No evaluation today as I feel inspired to again adjust (or rather fine tune) my grading system.  I would like to say that I put tons of time into making this change, but after thinking about it for a while I just decided to put the details together this morning.

Initially I simply gave letter grades to each beer because that seemed to make sense to me (this being my beer journal and all).  Then to help me better differentiate between beers that are very close, I went ahead and simply adopted the BJCP scoring that is on their scoresheets that I have always used anyway.  After not liking that I recently decided to just drop the words and keep the number scoring system.  From now on (or until I change my mind again) I am going to keep the 50 point number system and combine it with my initial letter grading.

5742578526 f5f2ec4e56 Revision Time Again

A pre-sushi appetizer

So here is what I came up with a few minutes ago . . .

A+ = number score of 48 – 50
A = number score of 44 – 47
A- = number score of 40 – 43
B+ = number score of 37 – 39
B = number score of 34 – 36
B- = number score of 30 – 33
C+ = number score of 27 – 29
C = number score of 24 – 26
C- = number score of 20 – 23
D = number score of 10 – 19
F = number score of 0 – 9

This is all pretty simple, which is the way that I want it to be.  Granted it is not an even more simple 100 point system, but it allows me to still use the BJCP scoresheets (which is where the 50 point system comes from) and yet come out with a letter grade that worked well for me for a long time.  I might even get a little crazy and use a half point now and again if the mood strikes me.  I know going in that the “D” and “F” range will likely not be used all that much but the basement has to be there just in case.

Hopefully aside from being easier and more simple for me, it will be more clear for anyone who stops in to read now and again.  Regardless as long as I like it this system will stay.

Cheers!

 Posted by Lucas at 11:30 am  Tagged with:

My Grading System

 Miscellaneous  No Responses »
Feb 282011
 

A question was recently asked (thank you Chad) about the grading system that I use for my beer reviews here and I am going to do my best to explain it today.  Trying to briefly clarify this to myself is not a bad idea either.

Let’s see how this goes . . .

Since the very first review I have written my notes on printed out BJCP Beer Scoresheets.  The scoresheet had everything I wanted on it so I thought there was no need to spend time developing my own, especially since I had no idea what I was getting into.  I like to think I have evolved into a better reviewer of beer over time and I still think the scoresheet works perfectly for me.

5485550303 6febed7111 My Grading System

The beer reviews that I do here started out as (and continue to be) a way for me to keep track of what I drink.  A personal beer journal of sorts.  I wanted to be able to better remember if I liked a beer so I would be able to make an informed decision if presented the opportunity to buy and drink it again.  A straight up A to D grading system seemed as good a system as any to start with.

The scoresheet has the following evaluation ranges provided at the bottom . . .

Outstanding   (45-50)
Excellent        (38-44)
Very Good     (30-37)
Good             (21-29)
Fair                (14-20)
Problematic    (0-13)

What I did for the first year plus was to ignore the point ranges and assign letters to each range for my grading.  Outstanding was an A+, Excellent an A, Very Good a B+, Good a B, Fair a C, and Problematic a D.

Starting this month with the Southern Tier beer reviews I began to incorporate the point system in lieu of the letter grading.  Before, two beers could get a B and I really would not have much to help me remember if one was more enjoyable than the other.  By using the points I can now better differentiate beers within the same range.

5485550611 56cf5775a3 My Grading System

The scoresheets are really set up for home brewed beer evaluation so, when judged against style guidelines I am not going to find a lot (if any) commercial examples in the Fair and Problematic ranges.  If they were that bad, I don’t think they would be on the shelves for long.  So though I do reference the style guidelines often for my own education, I am still simply evaluating a beer by how much I enjoy it.  If a beer was to ever get a Problematic grade from me it would basically be my way of saying no way in hell would I spend a cent to drink that one again.  Other people may like it, but I certainly do not.

So far I am enjoying the use of the point system and I might even choose to go back to some of the beers reviewed under the previous letter grade system and give them another go.  My palate has evolved over time and it would be interesting to see how they grade out again.

Cheers!

 Posted by Lucas at 8:00 pm  Tagged with:
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