As you can tell it is my favorite type of beer to brew and drink.

Cheers

There’s also an undeniable thrill in chasing down a rare tick or limited release. Some people live for the times they can drive four hours to wait in line outside a brewery in the freezing cold at 7am on a New Hampshire winter day. If you’re a rarity ticker (and let’s face it, most of us are), drinking Red Nectar just isn’t as satisfying as drinking something that you had to beat out a ravenous horde of beer geeks to get.

That said, here are some beers that pleasantly surprised me recently:
-Weltenberger Helles
-New Glarus Snowshoe Red
-AleSmith IPA
-Duvel
-Coniston Bluebird Bitter
-fresh Sam Adams Boston Lager
-Bar Harbor Cadillac Mountain Stout

Thanks for the review. That is a beer that I am not familiar with so I will have to look them up. There are more and more offerings from brewers of Gluten Free Beer. I am personally not an IPA fan, but New Planet beer has an IPA that I am told is excellent by those that like that style. You can order it online if it is not available in your state. There are also reviews on the Association site.

However- Greens, from Belgium, is outstanding! Their ‘Endeavour’, which is a Dubbel Dark Ale, is strong and hearty. It also has a long lasting head, which is rare in a GF beer.

Another of my favourites is St. Peter’s Sorgham beer. Not only is the bottle cool (it’s based on a 1770 oval beer bottle), but it is a fresh pilsner that I would reccomend to anyone.

I’ll admit, I buy wine based on the rating tags. Sure, I know the types of wine I like, but that’s about it. As a novice, I appreciate the guidance because the employees at most stores aren’t very helpful.

@ClubGonzo A store owner who uses shelf tags does so to move product. These lower rated staples you mention don’t need any help, they sell themselves. When nobody knows about these new bottles of Sofie on the shelf and you want to encourage them to take some home, a shelf tag is a great way to do that. I don’t think anyone would then expect a shelf tag under their everyday beer.

However, I think this would be hard to implement in real life. A lot of beer stores will stock a variety of brands depending on distribution deals and various other concerns. Not all of these beers will be rated highly, but many are still the “bread and butter” – mediocre beers that the common man likes because they’re good value and easy to drink. Putting out some shelf tags would certainly create an atmosphere where customers would like to know the ratings of all the beers, which would again force store owners to tag even the lower-rated products they depend on selling a lot of. While this would certainly escalate the overall quality of consumer purchases, I doubt that too many shop owners would risk it.

Still: it could be worth a go for some, and I know that several stores are using RB as a guideline for what to order for their shelves anyway so this could be a good thing for them.

I would prefer seeing rating tag #’s by style (clearly indicated) rather than overall best for two reasons.

1) RateBeer’s overall best list illustrates a clear preference for high ABV beers.

2) If style is listed it will provide rating clarity and “may” educate people more about beer style variety and differences in flavor/aroma.

Ultimately though, I think rating tags will educate people more about the value of the number than the beer itself.