Beer rating

Rating beer is assessing and evaluating beer using a point system [ [http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/2_ale_university/aleu_bt_ratingbeer.html Ale University - Rating Beer ] ] . The process is similar to that used in beer judging competitions, though the participants are largely ordinary members of the public. The rating system may be a simple 5 marks, and may be organised by a beer store or pub chain such as Wetherspoons in the UK [http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/offers/2007real-ale-festival/] ; or it may be more involved, such as the systems used by beer rating websites such as BeerAdvocate [ [http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/637 How to Review a Beer - Beer Advocate ] ] and RateBeer [ [http://www.ratebeer.com/Story.asp?StoryID=103 A Guide to Rating Beer ] ] .

RateBeer

RateBeer was founded in May 2000 by Bill Buchanan [ [http://www.ibabuzz.com/beer/2005/08/03/best-beer-in-the-world-ratebeer-says-yes/ Best Beer in the World: Rate.Beer Says Yes - What’s On Tap - with William Brand ] ] as a forum for beer drinkers to exchange information and share opinions of beer. In addition, users can write opinions of cider, mead and sake.

In June 2000, the Canadian beer writer Josh Oakes [ [http://members.allstream.net/~jdoakes/ The Beer Manifesto ] ] joined RateBeer and eventually became editor-in-chief. In June 2001, the web-site consultant Joe Tucker joined, eventually assuming full ownership of RateBeer.

As of January, 2008, RateBeer has 1,481,956 ratings, and claims to be the "most accurate and most-visited source for beer information" [ [http://www.ratebeer.com/About.asp RateBeer Beer Info and other links ] ] based on Alexa.com data [ [http://www.alexa.com/browse/general/?&CategoryID=80387&mode=general&Start=1&SortBy=Popularity Alexa - Sites in: Guides and Directories ] ] .

RateBeer lists nearly 60,000 beers from 7,270 breweries and has grown to become the largest beer information web site in the world in addition to serving as a forum for discussions about the craft brewing industry.

RateBeer's annual press-release of the highest rated beers on the site, RateBeer Best [ [http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/ RateBeer Best - Best Beer January 2008 ] ] caused concern in August 2006 when various world media reported that supplies of Westvleteren 12 were sold out due to being listed as the "Best beer in the world" [http://www.celebrator.com/features/westvleteren.html] [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article304886.ece Monks who make world's best beer pray for quiet life - Europe, News - Independent.co.uk ] ] on the site.

On September 13, 2008, RateBeer was put on Google's "Safe Browsing" warning page, stating that third party advertisers caused malicious software to be downloaded onto the user's computer unknowingly. Although on September 21 it was stated as safe, suspicious content was again found on the site on October 11. [ [http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=en-US&site=http://www.ratebeer.com/ Google Safe Browsing diagnostic for ratebeer.com] ]

BeerAdvocate

BeerAdvocate was founded in 1996 by Todd and Jason Alström [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/dining/28pour.html?pagewanted=1 Overcoming a Frat Party Reputation - New York Times ] ] who write for various journals, including Boston's Weekly Dig, publish Beeradvocate Magazine and organize local beer festivals in Boston, MA, USA. There are over 642,000 beer reviews in BeerAdvocate's database, making it second only to RateBeer in number of ratings. Members that don't log in within two years are purged from the database including their reviews.

By July 2008, BeerAdvocate reported over 165,000 members [ [http://beeradvocate.com/users_online Who's on BA? - Beer Advocate ] ] and is the most popular beer site according to Alexa.com [ [http://www.alexa.com/browse/general/?&CategoryID=8109&mode=general&Start=1&SortBy=Popularity Alexa - Sites in: Beer ] ] .

The Oxford Bottled Beer Database

The Oxford Bottled Beer Database was founded in 1992 by Sparks Computer Solutions Ltd. and is probably the oldest of the Internet beer rating sites.

As of February, 2007, Oxford lists approximately 2,700 beers.

BeerPal

Started in 1999 by B.W. Bailey. [ [http://www.beerpal.com/ Welcome to BeerPal.com - Your Online Beer Community ] ] One special feature of BeerPal is a chat room, a feature not often found on many other beer-rating sites. Also this site makes it very easy to get a list of your own reviews and thus is useful as a cellar diary.

References

External links

* [http://www.ratebeer.com/ RateBeer]
* [http://beeradvocate.com/ Beer Advocate]
* [http://www.bottledbeer.co.uk/ The Oxford Bottled Beer Database]