The Brew Club Guidelines

This is where we layout some guidelines for TheBrewClub beer reviews. None of us are pros at reviewing Beers, although some (Liz) have consumed more than others over their lives.

We want to try having honest, unstuffy and real opinions about the Beers we sample in our BrewClub, but a few guidelines in organization and reviewing beers might help.

Beer Review Guidelines - Feel free to make suggestions!

As we know, it’s pretty hard to explain a scent, or a flavor without comparing it to some other scent or flavor.

How does one describe the scent of a rose? We kinda know what a rose smells like, but we would describe it as “fragrant”, or maybe “delicate”, or even “beautiful”. Each of those really describe what it is, kinda, but not really what a rose smells like.

Same with taste. How does that hot dog taste? Spicy? Garlicky? What the hell is that? How about hot doggy? Would you describe a hot dog as tasting hot doggy? If you were to get a funky steak somewhere, you possibly could say it was “hot doggy tasting”, and your date might understand what you mean, but I don’t think you can describe an actual hot dog as tasting like a hot dog. Maybe that’s just me.

So, when we come to beer, its a little of the same issue - especially to lameos, like us.  So, let’s focus on what we can easily articulate when reviewing a beer. It is suggested that a nice clean, clear glass is used to get the most out of you beer! Don’ drink one, then a different one, and then another one, and yet another different one all from the same glass! (Liz)

1. When the beer is opened, how does it smell to you? Stinky, sweet, what?
2. How does it look in the glass? Is it fizzy, full of seaweed, have gold flakes in it, clear, what? How would you describe the color? Try to be descriptive, like you were explaining it to someone who never saw beer. (Someone from Mars?)
3. How’s it taste? Does the bottle say it is a watermelon lager, but you only taste chocolate bars? Try to have a semi-clean palate because if you just ate a piece of chocolate, this might happen! Do your best to describe how the beer tastes, and be creative!
4. Would you buy it again, or recommend it to a friend? Why? Why not?
5. What about the packaging? Is the bottle or label worth mentioning because of a unique package? Props to the designers!
6. Apply a star-ranking. It’s subjective, but maybe we’ll work out a format somehow We’ll codify a beer rating system in the future.
   5-stars would be the cat’s meow! Rating:
   Something in between maybe? Rating:
   I really can’t imagine any beer getting a 0. Rating: