Search Beer Reviews
There are two ways to search for beer reviews on DBB
EITHER
One way is to interrogate the database of 2931 beer reviews using the Database Search form below, adding as many or as few search criteria as you see fit.
A Database Search will return results from my reviews that existed on beeradvocate.com until May 2011, plus others that I recorded in different formats after May 2011, but that have now been incorporated into that same database. It will not return results from Blog Based Reviews that have not yet been entered into the database.
The Search Results appear underneath the Search Button on the Database Search form below.
OR
Another way to find reviews is to use the site’s regular, WordPress search function, below.
It will return results for beers that have been reviewed on the site as blog posts since May 2011 (known as Blog Based Reviews), but have not yet been entered into the database, plus beers in the database. In short, this is a more comprehensive search, but also a less targeted (specific) one.
A collection of all of the Blog Based Reviews alone can also be found in the Blog Topic Archive menu to the top right, as a sub-menu item. All Blog Based Reviews are in the process of being moved into the database.
Database Search
About Beer Review Scores
There are two scoring systems on DBB. The system used on any particular beer is dependent upon the review origin (above), i.e., whether the review is found in the database or as a Blog Based Review
Beers in the database are scored as per the old, beeradvocate.com scoring system that existed prior to 2011. At the time, beer were awarded a score of 1-5 (with 0.5 intervals available) for each of the following attributes;
Appearance, Smell, Taste, Mouthfeel, and Overall
Those five scores contribute to the old BA Total score which was a weighted average according to these %s;
Appearance – 6%, Smell – 24%, Taste – 40%, Mouthfeel – 10%, Overall – 20%
Any beer that enters the database in the future will follow the same scoring system
Blog Based Reviews follow a different (but somewhat similar) scoring system to the database scores. The system is called “Ding Points”. The five attributes are;
Pour, Nose, Palate, Mouth and Global
Each is scored out of 100 (with 10 point intervals), which when taken together and weighted, give a final rating for the beer that I call the “Ding Points“.
Pour: How pleasing is the beer to the eye? Hue, including the appearance of the body, together with head (size and retention), lace, legs etc. 15% of ‘Ding Points’ final score
Nose: Does the aroma meet expectations? Can appropriate, distinct elements be detected? 15% of ‘Ding Points’ final score
Palate: Put simply, how does it taste? Great, good, indifferent, poor or just plain ‘yuk’. Are the requisite elements in the taste, what about the finish? 40% of ‘Ding Points’ final score
Mouth: How does the body of the beer, critically often in the form of the carbonation and viscosity, work in the mouth. 10% of ‘Ding Points’ final score
Global: What are the overall impressions of the beer? How moreish is it? A classic example of the style? Something that I would go back to? Something that I would recommend? How does the value for money stack up? Some (or all/others), will be considerations here. A catch-all category to add (or subtract) points. 20% of ‘Ding Points’ final score
Context of both Scoring Systems
It should be stressed that whilst the style of the beer is certainly kept in mind when rating, my reviews are certainly not an exercise in formally matching the attributes of a beer to any strict set of style guidelines. There is no specific consideration of BJCP style guidelines for example, for more than one reason.
Having said that, I do expect what it says on the label to have a fairly strong resemblance to what is in the bottle – that’s been a pet peeve of mine for years – and I feel it is a reasonable expectation. So while I am not judging beers against formal style parameters, beers that fall wildly outside what they claim to be, will likely perform badly in my ratings.