Check first? or bloody Drink first?

这是个什么资料按下键盘就跳出来的时代。

各种各样资讯，吃的喝的，玩的无聊的。。随便按随便看。

就像看美食指南或旅游指南那样，CRAFT BEER也有可以参考的资讯，个人主要看ratebeer.com, 偶尔也看beeradvocate.com.

忘了什么时候开始，只要看到或听到自己没喝过的，都会上ratebeer 查看，有时候也会根据资料决定喝什么不喝什么。

这样子好吗？有时候会觉得干嘛要一直查看，喝酒不就是要自己尝味了才知道吗？

一直查看资料才决定喝不喝什么有点像出去旅游时候一直根据资料才决定去哪里，吃什么。。完全跟足时间表/计划书行事的样子，会发现不是那么有趣，甚至累，会失去随意走随意看的怡然，也失去意外发现的乐趣。

上ratebeer查看别人对某瓶酒的意见资料总评分不是坏事，只是如果每次都只是要看到评分100/100满分的酒才选喝，那就很有问题。

那样选酒的不了解什么是尝味精神，比较像是为评分才喝的，说白点就是虚荣心。（放上面书推特博文比较“威”呗）

有留心看ratebeer的会发现，有时候同一瓶酒，会有完全不同的意见出现。有一定程度/经验的品酒人也会发现，有时候在ratebeer拿100/100满分的酒未必会是合你口味或是你喜欢的，相对的，一些在ratebeer或beeradvocate没有太高分，甚至还没有评分的啤酒，很可能是你蛮喜欢或很不错的酒。

其实喝CRAFT BEER和吃东西一样，都根据个人选择，每个人口味不同，就像面对榴莲，有的人爱的不得了，有人远远闻到就跑，有人喜欢甜味，有人喜欢苦味，有喜欢带点酒味的。。不过，前提都是，要试试看才知道。

不吃榴莲或只根据别人意见就决定不吃榴莲的人永远不会知道是什么滋味。

同样的，只完全根据别人意见就决定不喝某瓶子的，可能就那样错过了一瓶会喜欢或真不错的酒。

下次遇到不是那么熟悉的啤酒瓶子，要先查看还是就试试喝看？

我两个都做。未必先查看，有时就直接先尝味再说。

不是说喝酒吗？ 怎能变成只是“查酒”呢？

When faced with a new beer, do you drink first? or check for ratings first before deciding?

There are essentially ratebeer.com & beeradvocate.com that one could check for information and ratings of most beers.

Not sure since when but think i have developed a almost habitual ritual of checking on ratebeer.com before, during or after drinking a beer, especially with beers i have not tried before.

Is that necessary? i do ask myself at times.

Beer drinking is essentially about  DRINKING & TASTING beers rather than check on technical aspects, comments, or ratings, then only drink(or not drink) a particular beer.

Don't get me wrong, checking for information of a certain beer before deciding to part with your money is nothing wrong, but if one always only check to see if the beer is rated 100/100 then only consumed, i say this is not true craft beer drinking but more of a vanity drinker( showing those 100/100 on FB, Tweet, Blog do look good...)

Beer drinking, is a bit like travelling, if you follow 100% of what the guide books says about what to eat, where to visit and what to do during your travel, you would somehow found out that following 100% what the guide books says can be tiring, boring, or at times misleading, it could spoil your holidays because following squarely would make it very rigid, as if you have a working schedule/time table to catch up, its highly likely that you would miss the fun of unexpected discoveries along the way.

Same goes for ratebeer.com, no doubt it is a good thing that we all can check on what other drinkers have to say about a certain beer, but on hind sight, isn't beer drinking is all about what  YOU have tasted rather than what others have?

As we read on comments, opinions about a certain beer on ratebeer, very often we can find very contradicting ideas, opinions about a certain beer, because everyone has got different liking about the character/s of a certain beer.

Its like eating Durians(the king of fruits), some people love it to dead, some can't even stand near it. Some love the ever popular D24, but for me D24 is like a a very fat sweet potato, it would not be on my list of  favorite Durians.

I have found out from my own as well as others tasting experiences that we do not love certain 100/100 rated beers. On the contrary, some lower ratings beers would easily make the top 20 beers list, In the end, a guide should only be a guide, NOT deciding what we drink or not drink.

We have been told that one's candy could be another one's bitter pill, we all have different taste, preferences when it comes to beers, so why let others decide what we should or should not try?

Just like those who do not eat durians, or do not eat because they are told how "bad' the fruit taste or smell, if we decide not to drink a particular beer because of no ratings, low ratings or what others say on ratebeer or beeradvocate, then we will never know how it would actually taste or smell like....

That could mean missing out on a nice beer.

Next time when faced with a new beer, what do you do? check or drink first?

I will do both, not necessarily check first.

After all, beers are created for drinking, not for "checking out"....