Within the last hour or so, it looks like Beer Advocate has made some significant changes to its top beer lists.
[8/10 Update: The Bros’ official word on their “experiment.“]
The most significant change is that only beers with at least 1,000 ratings qualify. This means that Westvleteren 12 has been knocked off the list of the site’s best beers in the world. The beer has 921 ratings to date.
In addition, there is a new “Buzzed” list that rates new beers that are earning praise from the rating community. You can still view top beers by style and country.
There is no official thread on the changes or why they were made yet though they are being discussed by members here. There is certainly a debate as to whether the changes are beneficial. Coincidentally or not, they come a little over a week after a handful of brewers expressed their opinions that hyped and rare beers were getting too much attention on Beer Advocate and fellow rating site, RateBeer. [ed. note: link to the ProBrewer thread? Perhaps deleted?]
View the new Beer Advocate lists here.
RateBeer has tweaked its top beer lists as well from time to time. The current version doesn’t appear to have a minimum number of reviews needing to qualify in order to be high up on the charts. For example, AleSmith Kopi Luwak Speedway Stout with 31 reviews is currently ranked #5 in the world and Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel en Fût de Bourbon Américain currently sits at #101 with 24 reviews.
What do you think the minimum # of reviews should be in order to qualify for a top 100 beer list? Or should there be a minimum at all? Vote in the poll to the right.
Why not offer options of top-rated and top-rated w/ a minimum?
A list of the “best beers in the world” without Westy 12 is pointless.
1,000 minimum reviews is completely ABSURD!! This doesn’t give a scope into current craft beer and there are some breweries who may not even bottle 1,000 of a potential top 100 beer let alone trying to acquire 1,000 reviews on BA. This list is only useful for those getting into craft beer not the seasoned craft beer consumer; I have had 98/100 on the current top 100 list, rather than +-40/100 on the previous top 100.
This list is horrible!
Awesome. I’m sure it will piss off a bunch of the elitists who love to brag about their random rare bottles that nobody else will ever try, but if you’re going to be declared a top beer in the world you should be available to more than just a handful of beer geeks with deep pockets.
funny ‘cuz ratebeer.com already has this covered somewhat with a list of the top ranked most widely available beers . . . if one of these sites has 1,000+ rates on a beer it’s “widely available” or pretty damn close thereto
Looks like they completed the experiment. Quote from BA – “It’s now the average number of reviews of all of the beers within the set and will grow as the set’s overall number of reviews increase.”
That makes more sense.
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