Reviewing Beer 101
02/15/2011 by Sam
We've been getting asked quite a bit lately by friends on rating and reviewing beers. Specifically - how should I do it? What should I write? What if I'm wrong?!?
First, keep in mind that all reviews are subjective. It's your beer, your palate - your opinion. Some people love the bitterness of hops, others like the roasty malts that present themselves in stouts. Thankfully, with so many beer styles available to chose from, you can usually find beers that suite your taste.
When thinking about rating and reviewing a beer, it usually boils down to four things:
1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Taste/Mouthfeel
4. Overall Impression
First, admire your beer. Appearance is simply how the beer appears within your glass. Color, clarity, carbonation, etc. Is the beer cloudy or clear? Is it well carbonated with good head or flat? Obviously, this assumes that you're drinking your wonderful craft beer from a glass. You are drinking from a glass, right? Read on ...
Next, get your nose down in the glass and breath in. Aroma is how the beer smells. Anyone that has more then a passing interest in food or beer will tell you - your sense of smell and the flavors you experience are highly connected. It's why we always recommend drinking out of a glass when available, instead of sucking down on a "vortex" bottle. Note the aromatic qualities in simple terms. There's no need to go into "hints of shoe leather, morning honeysuckle dew and used barnyard hay". While that's fine if you fancy yourself a budding Shakespeare, simple descriptive terms like "sweet, citrusy, nutty, chocolate, biscuity" work perfectly well.
Now, onto the best part. Taste your beer. How does the beer taste at the start, middle and finish? Do the flavors you taste match up with what you expected for the beer style? Describe flavors familiar to you as well as the bitterness, sweetness and sourness of the beer. The mouthfeel is simply how the beer feels on your palate. Watery, overly carbonated, heavy, thick or light? All these elements will impact your enjoyment of the beer.
Finally, the overall impression. Is this a beer you'd drink again, or recommend to a friend? Did it meet your expectations or fall short? It's a well known fact - the more beer you drink, the better you'll get at summarizing your thoughts into a review. Practice, practice, practice!
Some final thoughts on beer reviews. Drink the beer at the right temperature to let the flavors shine they way the brewers intended. Don't try to rate and review beers if you're three sheets to the wind. Most importantly - don't focus on review and rating. Enjoy the beer.