How do I classify my findings? Let me show you the ways.

Source: https://www.pinterest.pt/goldensaintbeer/ with a little Zeke design on top.

Recently, I realized that I constantly refer to my Top 5 as a measuring stick of the beers about which I blog. This probably leaves people thirsty as I have not explained my ranking system, or even refreshed what is currently in my top 5. Let me give a week worth of thought to the top 5 and explain to you my scale.

Here is my scale when I consider purchasing:

1. Top 10 - Depending upon my mood, it could be a top 10. This is the list of the best readily available beers.
2. Seasonal Gold - These are the gems not available year round but I really wish they were. They come around maybe once a year and I snap em up!
3. One-Off/Playground Beer - I love a progressive brewery that tries something different. Some of the BEST beers are brewed only one, are hard to get, or only come in growlers from the Brewery. Such a treat.
4. I would buy this again - These are beers that can't necessarily compete with the top 5/10. They are very valuable though as a pleasant change to that top 5/10 so that I can taste something different, good, and not get tired of my favourites.
5. Once and Done - This is a sporting term but describes the beer I pick up because it is new, hoping it will become an I would buy this again or even a top 10! Very rare though and if I win or I learn, these beers are a learning experience I am glad I discovered but won't buy again for whatever reason.

Let me show you some examples:

Top 5/10

If I didn't love beer so much, or I had the discipline to REALLY analyze the beers to eliminate 5 of the best beers you will ever taste, it would be Top 5. For example: I just don't have the heart to eliminate Redline Brewery Clutch APA http://www.redlinebrewhouse.com/the-beers/clutch-american-pale-ale/from any list because it is the best in certain situations and really damn good in others. Get it?

Top 5 or 10, Headstock IPA from Nickelbrook Brewing is one of the longest running and possibly the king of all the beers I have had in the last 5 years. A bit of malt for body, and a serious collection of hops that make it both bitter and sweet. It is the beer I measure most IPAs against which is really unfair to try and measure up to. Mercifully, everywhere I buy my beer always stocks this and has it in stock.

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The funniest thing is I avoided buying it at all when this was the label. I might have missed out on this book because of its shitty cover!

Seasonal Gold

Some breweries torture us by only making limited seasonal runs of some of our favourite beers. IT is also a mercy as well because I only have to see fuckin' pumpkin stouts once a year. ;) Having been around the sun a few times as a beerologist, I get excited for any season as I know of a good beer coming down the pipes I have had to do without for 9 months or so.

A perfect example of this is Karma Citra IPA from Great Lakes Brewery http://www.greatlakesbeer.com/Beer/karma-citra/. It is only brewed for a short time during the year or else it would be in my top 10. So damn good and I get reminded every time I drink it. I could think of a bunch of their beers that I would relegate back to seasonal so they could have this all year round. It is available right now but I drank my last one and the shelf is empty. Please be more!

One-off/Playground beer

In an effort to be progressive and discover the next big thing or a tight niche, breweries often unleash their brewers to experiment and create something different. A good example of this is the Tank 10 line at Great Lakes where they use to experiment......but it got too popular and now is another main brewing line. You get the strangest, yummiest most different brews and feel like a beer hipster when you have something everyone else is not having.

The one I got most recently was the Renegade Mango Infused IPA https://cowbellbrewing.com/beer/024-hazy-ipa from Cowbell Brewing. The renegade is a one-off beer so the smaller subset of Mango Infused was even more special and limited. These kinds of beers are great as they get put fresh into the growler, you take em home and drink em. No hundreds of miles and days on shelves. Plus the beardos are envious.

I would buy this again

I would easily buy from exclusively from my top 10. The problems with that are that I would probably get tired of my top 10, not be very progressive or adventurous, and my weekly blog might become a little repetitive. Can't have any of that. So, I mix in the new beer I see on the shelf. When things go right, I would buy this again.

A great recent example of this is Brewdog Elvis Juice Grapefruit IPA https://www.brewdog.com/usa/elvis-juice. It may end up being a one off or seasonal but I bought it because it was new and I like Brewdog. I was surprised not only by how great the balance of grapefruit was at the beginning, but how I expected a radler and kept getting a good IPA. Sometimes, the fruit makes it taste like it is a grapefruit drink that happens to be a beer. This one was great because it was a perfect beer with a little grapefruit taste. Hence, I would buy this again.

Once and Done

The classification here is much like the I would buy this again, except I wouldn't. While I appreciate variety and strange experiments, sometimes they just end up not being good.

This Bench Short Hills IPA https://benchbrewing.com/our-beer/#short-hills-ipa turned out to be just that. I pitted it up against another blind purchase in a blog a couple weeks ago and it took the fall. Nothing good about it and the combination of hops and brewing process/ingredients produced a beer that was dirty tasting to me. While I am glad I had something new, I am also glad to throw this on my Once and Done list so that I don't have to drink it again.

There you have it! A glossary of categorization so that you can sip and read along with me on my beer adventure. Thank you, craft breweries, for turning my addiction to beer into a socially acceptable hobby!

Want my advice as the STEEM Beerologist? Grab yourself a beer, put together a beer story, and join @detlev, myself and the folks for #beersaturday week 128 https://steemit.com/beersaturday/@detlev/beersaturday-week-128 Yes it has gone on that long and I have met so many STEEM drinkin buddies as well as accumulated plenty of BEER tokens along the way. It will be good to have a drink with you.

I am honoured to curate for:

How do you classify your beer for your beer blog?

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