Beer Rating Scale

Hey guys, Im looking to make a spreadsheet for beer tasting, just for a bit of fun and allowing an easy analysis of my own brews (any type should be able to be judged using this breakdown). Going with the normal BJCP ratings but looking for suggestions of breaking it down into subsets eg

Flavour / 20
Malts / x
Hops / x
Balance / x
....

So going off the normal BJCP ratings of:

Aroma /12
Appearance /3
Flavour /20
Mouthfeel /5
Overall Impression /10

Total /50

What suggestions do you guys have to break this down a bit as flavour /20 etc I find a bit of a broard range. Are there any well accepted versions I would be best to use.

Im going to try figure out a system so I thought I should ask here for input, might even become a beginners judging sheet :fro:

has nobody got any suggestions?

I think it is a bad idea. You can't assign subweights to the categories like that consistently.

Do you give the same weighting to malt vs hops in a dopplebock vs an IIPA? I don't think that makes sense. If you give a combined 10 points in flavor and aroma to hops, you would be forced to give 10 points in those categories to a dopplebock that tasted and smelled absolutely horrible, but had no hop aroma so no reason to mark down the "hop aroma" subcategory.

If your goal is to analyze your homebrews, I wouldn't go the route you are taking. What does a hop score of 5 tell you about improving your beer the next time around?

Instead of a numerical scale, I would use something like the flavor wheel. So instead of giving a hop score, you could say "The hops are floral in this beer but I am shooting for a piney tastes, so I think I'll change varieties." That way you can paint a flavor profile for your beer that you can calibrate to. It is much more telling than a numerical system, although you could use both together.

Cheers

I just find the ranges to be a little broad. Even if under flavour it had say, out of three for hops appropriate to the style, then a score for balance etc. I could still have an overall flavour rating out of ten then the other ratings would be more style specific. I know I shouldnt but like BA and ratebeer I find that the higher scores tend to be going to my favourite beer styles. I just thought it could break it down a bit and would easily show areas that need improvement.

Pommy said:

I just find the ranges to be a little broad. Even if under flavour it had say, out of three for hops appropriate to the style, then a score for balance etc. I could still have an overall flavour rating out of ten then the other ratings would be more style specific. I know I shouldnt but like BA and ratebeer I find that the higher scores tend to be going to my favourite beer styles. I just thought it could break it down a bit and would easily show areas that need improvement.

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Give it a shot. If it works for you and helps you make better beer than that's all that matters.

In the end, it is still all 100% subjective. If it helps you, that's great and all, but I think rather than scoring anything, good comprehensive notes will help you out more than anything. I don't typically score my own beers because I'd feel silly doing so, but I know exactly what I want to change in most of the things that I have made and want to make again.

In my BJCP class, we did a lot about how to properly fill out a scoresheet. If you notice, each section of the scoresheet has little descriptors. Its generally best (for the test at least) to comment on each descriptor on the lines below each category. Not sure you could really assign points to them though.

For instance, under Aroma, it says Malt, hops, esters and other aromatics. You should comment on each whether its present or not. It would be really hard with points, esp on something like an IIPA. With a beer like that, you COULD have medium malt aromas. You could also get one that has been dry hopped like nobody's business and the only aroma you get is a hop blast. Neither one is really wrong, so IMO, its hard to quantify that.

If you focus on those descriptors, filling out the sheet becomes a litle easier. It can also help you really pinpoint what you want to improve, since you pick apart every little aspect.

Some really good points cheers guys I suppose it was a good idea in theory but not a practical idea. I agree that thouroughly analysing the aspect of the beer is a better way doing it before deciding a final score. It is all subjective and hard to quantify so at the end of the day all that matters is that its good drinking, I might go and rate a dozen now