In order to sort all these beers it is important to rate them according to some set global standard: a scale of 0 to 10! Very scientific, I know.
But even so this is how I do it. The rating is based on my overall impression of the beer:
- What I was aiming for vs. what I got
- How it fits the beer style, using BJCP guidelines
- How much I enjoyed it as a beer on its own
Beer Ratings
0 – Undrinkable, Unusable, Dumped
– No positives at all
– Never Again
1 – Undrinkable, Unusable
– terrible overall
– Never Again
2 – Undrinkable, Unusable
– Some good attributes to note
– Never Again
3 – Undrinkable, Usable
– Could be used to cook with…
– Never Again
4 – Drinkable, usable
– Not a nice beer at all, but still drinkable
– Never Again
5 – Very average, unimpressive
– Not bad but not great either
– Never Again, unless major adjustments are made
6 – Good potential
– Enjoyable but needs work
– Needs adjustments
7 – Good beer
– Good as is but could use adjustments
8 – Very good beer
– Small adjustments could be made
– Shows promise to become greater
9 – Great beer
– As close to perfect as it gets…
10 – The ultimate beer
– Nothing to change, it is just perfect
– Also practically impossible to achieve
I have set the scale with specific descriptions because depending on your mood you could give a beer a 5/10 when it meets the criteria for a six or seven… Or give a beer a 10 after a nice afternoon of tasting, when it should be a 6.
So when rating a beer I keep this in front of me.
Also, this rating is not done on one day but over about two weeks, given that what you taste varies from day to day.
One day I might rate every aspect like aroma, taste colour and all that separately, on some occasions I do, but not today.