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They've re-done the coding for the top beers. Now in the general top 100, beers need to have 1000+ reviews to even be considered. This seems a bit ridiculous, as even Westvleteren 12 isn't on there (though it would be in a few months since it has 900+ reviews).
For Canada, at least we now have a top 50, but you need to have 50+ reviews, meaning some awesome new beers like St. Ambroise RIS aren't on there. But don't worry, Steam Whistle and Big Rock Traditional Pale Ale are
They've re-done the coding for the top beers. Now in the general top 100, beers need to have 1000+ reviews to even be considered. This seems a bit ridiculous, as even Westvleteren 12 isn't on there (though it would be in a few months since it has 900+ reviews).
For Canada, at least we now have a top 50, but you need to have 50+ reviews, meaning some awesome new beers like St. Ambroise RIS aren't on there. But don't worry, Steam Whistle and Big Rock Traditional Pale Ale are
A few of us have been pressuring them to extend Canada's list to 50 for some time, but changing the review minimum makes it non-representative, as it skews it towards the beers available is the States (check out the amount of Unibroue and DDC). I was keeping a top 100 up to date based on their old formula. Its been a while since I updated it, but here it is:
Steamwhistle and Traditional in the top 50? I remember drinking Traditional in high school in Lethbridge without thinking I was drinking great beer and Steamwhistle isn't even in my top 5 pilsners made in the Toronto area (yet it is the #1 pilsner in Canada now!).
markaberrant wrote:I like this way better - I don't want to see all the limited release/distribution beers in the Top 50/100 lists. It just muddies it up.
I've tried 75 of the top 100 overall, and 34 of 50 in Canada.
I had tried 22/25 of the previous list from Canada and I've only been really into beer for under 1.5 years. It wasn't too hard to get through this list with a bit of effort. I now have tried 44/50, which is the same percentage, but the overall quality of the 44 is much worse.
I don't think St Ambroise RIS, Simple Malt Imperial Stout, 10 Bitter Years, Les Trois Mousquetaires Baltic Porter, Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus, etc were holding the list back from being relevant, but leaving them off does hold the list back from being representative of the best beer brewed in Canada.
kwjd wrote:I had tried 22/25 of the previous list from Canada and I've only been really into beer for under 1.5 years. It wasn't too hard to get through this list with a bit of effort. I now have tried 44/50, which is the same percentage, but the overall quality of the 44 is much worse.
I don't think St Ambroise RIS, Simple Malt Imperial Stout, 10 Bitter Years, Les Trois Mousquetaires Baltic Porter, Dominus Vobiscum Lupulus, etc were holding the list back from being relevant, but leaving them off does hold the list back from being representative of the best beer brewed in Canada.
The beers you mention are not at all easy to acquire for most Canadians.
The bottom line is that there is no point in having a list of beers that the average person does not have access to. A review site has to have a minimum # of reviews to keep it relevant. The old lists contained a ton of beers that most people never tried/never will try.
If you are interested in geeky/extreme ratings, follow the GABF and CBA awards.
velovampire wrote:Steam Whistle? Top 50 in in Canada? This alone invalidates the entire thing.
I think it goes to show how the craft beer scene in Canada is still in its infancy.
...and how few Canadians actually review beer. Its not a great list and feels less representative than the previous one (I think I had drank 95 out of the 100 so they weren't had to get with a bit of effort). Hopefully they tinker with the minimum reviews a little to achieve more balance.
A huge plus from the changes to the BA lists is they've now expanded all the styles from top 10s to top 50s (where enough qualify). This is a really neat shopping tool and outweighs any negatives for me!
I agree it takes less effort if you want to get through the list, but I don't agree that is what the list should be. I think that if someone is already on BA, they probably care about beer enough to be willing to do a little bit of searching for beer (or when the travel, they'd like to see where to go and breweries to try).
If I were to go to Montreal today, based on the list I would know to pick up Unibroue, DDC and St Ambroise, but nothign else. When I went to Montreal 6 months ago, I looked at the top 25 my list of stuff to buy started from there. The list has no usefulness for travelling anymore. It requires more research to know to look for Les Trois Mousquetaires or Charlevoix. I just think the list should represent the best of beer from Canada, regardless if they are hard to find or not. If some are too hard for me to get, then that is fine because I don't need to finish the list.
I still like a lot about the changes to the lists, I just have an issue with the minimum reviews of some of the lists.
kwjd wrote:I just think the list should represent the best of beer from Canada, regardless if they are hard to find or not. If some are too hard for me to get, then that is fine because I don't need to finish the list.
By that logic, homebrew would be allowed.
I think the 50 review minimum is more than adequate. It is the whole "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" debate.
