WEEK 248--Beer Ratings--to follow or not to follow

 

We live in a world where everything would get judged/commented/rated--though craft beer from consumer market point of view is relatively niche/small(market size wise)--but just as there's travel or food related(and many others) public comment/ratings /recommendation APPs or website/blogs--there are quite a few craft beer focus APPs/website too.

craft beer世界里不同酿坊数量众多，相同或不同类型风格啤酒作品更多如繁星，虽说从市场规模或消费者认知角度来看craft beer只是小众，不过一如美食旅游都有大众点评应用程序/网站那样，craft beer 也有啤迷/喝酒人可使用的点评应用程序/网站，从2000年的Rate Beer(2016年秘密卖股权给大厂啤酒公司後开始被啤迷弃用） 到至今仍活跃的老牌评酒网站Beer Advocate到近些年最广受啤迷使用的Untappd都是专门为点评或记录个人喝过啤酒（也包括蜜酒）作品而设。

From earlier years RateBeer(started year 2000-sold to MACRO BEER owned company in 2016 and quickly got ditched by beer geeks) to still active Beer Advocate, or Brewver(started right after the sale of RB), to Untappd (which is likely the most commonly use in recent years)--there has always been ratings/top charts of beer(mead) for those who needed some opinions.

Untappd的出现对不同人有不同功能，有用户把它当作记录本那样为的是把喝过的啤酒都记录/打卡一下，有的则把它当作选优汰劣指南书，通过一款酒评分高低来决定喝不喝。也有人通过参考别人品酒记录/风味叙述来大致了解一款酒的风味表现再决定下一步。此外，Untappd的评分制度被不少瓶子店/专卖吧当成一款酒的宣传工具，只要评分达到4以上的（满分5分但至今最高是4.78）就会被店家标注。当然，在社交媒体无处不在的如今，Untappd也有交友功能，通过它可以和现实中认识或完全没见过的啤迷/喝酒人网上联系。

Untappd is being widely use in quite a few different ways--basically anyone can be a user--beer geeks or otherise--some users use it as some form of beer journal just to keep track of what was drank--some use it as drinking guide basing on rating's high low--some would look for tasting notes/ flavour descriptions before deciding on the next move--there are quite some bars/bottle shops which uses Untappd Ratings particularly those with above 4( max 5 points but so far the highest is 4.78) to showcase the "higher status" of a particular beer/mead--and lastly in the age of social media this can also be a tool to make friends with other users.

有人问说，刚接触craft beer的话是不是只靠Untappd评分高低选酒喝就对了？毕竟这样好过自己摸索可以少走弯路。这话听起来好像有一定道理，不过个人并不赞成这样单线做法，因为换个角度看这是在抄捷径，有可能会迷路的。只选喝高评分作品虽然表面上看是“保险”的，但如果自己还不完全清楚什么类型风格啤酒应该有什么风味表现，什么才对味什么不对味或者说自身味蕾鉴赏力还没达到一定高度的话，很可能会出现“不是酒好不好喝而是你会不会欣赏”或是“酒其实走味了但你喝不出甚至觉得好喝”的情况。

Someone new to craft beer asked if "just follow Untappd ratings high low to pick what to drink" is the right way to go about rather than explore on his/her own--while in theory this seems like a good path to follow--personally would not encourage it since this is like taking a short cut and one might wandered off along the way--by choosing to drink ONLY highly rated beer( or mead) seems like a good idea since in theory these should be high quality brew--however there's a few issues to consider here--i.e. if newbie who pick only highly rated brew really understand beer styels and what flavour profile he or she is getting, as well if his/her palate level is up to a certain level to best appreciate what's in the glass--otherwise there might be scenario where a highly rated brew is poured but "can't really appreciate not because brew no good but palate appreciation level is yet to reach the level required" or "beer flavour already gone off but one still can't differentiate or even think it's so nice".

Untappd当然可以对新朋友有所助益，关键是要知道所有大众点评类型应用程序/网站都只是别人意见，当中会有啤迷中肯意见，但也难免会有喝酒人各种水平参差不齐评论，如何使用得当而不是完全被评分拖着鼻子走是重点。

So following Untappd ratings is a bad thing? Of course NOT--the important thing is to first understand that these ratings/ tasting note are other drinkers opinions--also the fact that anyone can comment/rate(beer geeks as well newbies/casual drinkers)--there's bound to be mixed opinions from some who can truly appreciate as well some who don't.

举个例子，试试搜寻Untappd 排行榜的话（以个别啤酒/蜜酒作品最高评分往下排列），会发现排名前30作品中只有3个不同类别，其中黑啤（Stout）就占了24个位，蜜酒（Mead）有2，大麦酒（Barley Wine）有4。（缩小到前10名的话则是黑啤有8，大麦酒1，蜜酒1。）。虽说实际上可以搜寻个别不同类型风格作品排行榜，但如果单只看“最佳”排行榜的话会错以为其他类型风格作品不入流不值得关注。

So what might go wrong if a newbie just follow Highly Rated ones? take for examples the current TOP 30 rated beer/mead on Untappd--there are 24 Stout- 2 Mead & 4 Barley Wine( if narrow down to TOP10 then there's 8 stout-1 mead & 1 barley wine)--these are only 3 styles--there are many more interesting/delicious beer styles which are not represented in the TOP30 list but in no way meaning those other styles are in anyway less worthy.

情况当然不是那样的，个人口味选择来说，有幸喝过的“最佳”排行榜中前30一些作品实际上不会是个人想主动寻求或是喝过後想要有机会再喝的（ 比如占据好几个不同排名的美国老牌酿坊Goose Island的Bourbon County系列黑啤/大麦酒作品），相反的有不少喝过但在排行榜上看不到踪迹的其他类型风格作品才是个人感觉对味好喝有机会绝对想再喝的。

Personally some of those TOP 30 brew which i have had the pleasure of sampling--in fact there are quite a few which i would not seek for(for example Bourbon County series) not because they are not nice but simply due to personal taste preference--would actually prefer many others which i have tasted but not listed as TOP 30 be it stout/barley wine or some other styles. 

说白了，喝craft beer很大程度上是个人口味选择，一款作品就算评分再高/被众人追捧，如果喝起来闻起来感觉不对味或现阶段味蕾能力欣赏不来，那大概只能说是既浪费钱也浪费了酒。

Simple conclusion--beer is still about one's personal preference and palate appreciation level--no matter how highly a brew is rated--if it's a style you don't prefer or in some cases can't fully appreciate due to appreciation ability then in all honesty it would be a waste of money and the brewer's effort.