As another new feature here on Panorama of the Mountains, I’ve gathered together all my beer reviews in one easy list drank and rated over the years. The list is posted below and will also be a page at the top of this blog called Beer List. I will update that list as I sample new beers.
I’ve also added in some ratings for beers I tried 10-11 years ago including some beers I had on tap in pubs in Ireland and Scotland. I have a book with even more beer ratings from my early to mid twenties that I’ll add to this list if & when I find the book. These can be taken with a grain of salt as the opinions of an immature palate (or perhaps of younger, healthier taste buds!). At any rate, I tend to be overly generous with my beer ratings so I think this list will at least give a good relative scale of goodness and badness.
I rate beers by awarding points for their appearance, aroma, taste, how they look after a few sips, and overall quality on a ten point scale. Any beer that earns 5 or more points is worth trying again and I rank these with one to five stars. Any beers below five points are on a descending spiral of badness. I tend to screen out bad beers ahead of time so I don’t get many no star beers.
If you want to look at it on a letter grade system then the point scale to letter grade equivalents would be something like this:
- A = 8.1 – 10
- B = 6.1 – 9.0
- C = 4.1 – 6.0
- D = 2.1 – 4.0
- F = 0.1 – 2.0
Five Stars
- 9.6 – Guinness Stout (from the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin)
- 9.1 – Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier
- 9.0 – Aventinus
Four Stars
- 8.9 – Growstown Steam Ale
- 8.9 – Gritty’s Black Fly Stout
- 8.8 – Murphy’s Irish Stout (in Cork, Ireland)
- 8.7 – Well Bombardier Bitter
- 8.5 – Victory Old Horizontal
- 8.4 – Kilkenny Beer (in Kilkenny, Ireland)
- 8.0 – Beamish Irish Stout (in Cork, Ireland)
- 8.0 – Tennant’s Lager
- 8.0 – Trappistes Rocheforte Biere
Three Stars
- 7.9 – Éphémère
- 7.8 – Hofbräu Dunkel
- 7.8 – Mayflower Pale Ale
- 7.8 – Mill City Porter
- 7.7 – Magic Hat “Jinx”
- 7.6 – Weihenstephaner Korbinian
- 7.5 – Anchor Liberty Ale
- 7.5 – Caffrey’s Ale
- 7.5 – Radeberger Pilsener
- 7.4 – Harpoon Octoberfest
- 7.4 – Paulaner Oktoberfest
- 7.3 – Grimbergen Abbey Ale
- 7.3 – Magic Hat #9
- 7.3 – Samuel Smith’s Organically Produced Lager Beer
- 7.3 – Shipyard Old Thumper Ale
- 7.1 – Berkshire Brewing Co. Cabin Fever
- 7.1 – Peak Organic Nut Brown Ale
- 7.1 – Sevens Dark Ale
- 7.0 – Affligem Blonde Ale
- 7.0 – Mount Desert Island Ginger Wheat
Two Stars
- 6.9 – Long Trail Belgian White
- 6.9 – Long Trail Blackberry Wheat
- 6.9 – Long Trail Double Bag Ale
- 6.9 – Samuel Adams Hefeweizen
- 6.9 – Sea Dog Brewing Co. Apricot Wheat Beer
- 6.9 – Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine
- 6.9 – Wachusett Blueberry Ale
- 6.9 – Wexford Irish Cream Ale
- 6.8 – Ipswich Oatmeal Stout
- 6.7 – Blue Moon Spring Ale
- 6.7 – Harpoon Winter Warmer
- 6.7 – Negro Modelo
- 6.6 – McEwan’s 80/ Ale
- 6.5 – Cain’s Bitter
- 6.5 – Samuel Adam’s Boston Lager
- 6.4 – Brooklyn Lager
- 6.4 – Ommegang Abbey Dubbel
- 6.3 – Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat
- 6.3 – Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier
- 6.2 – Harpoon Weizenbock
- 6.2 – La Fin Du Monde
- 6.2 – Otter Creek Winter Ale Raspberry Brown
- 6.1 – Calder’s Cream Ale
- 6.1 – Fuller’s London Pride Bitter
- 6.0 – Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre
- 6.0 – Narragansett Beer
- 6.0 – Old Speckled Hen Ale
One Star
- 5.9 – Belhaven 80/ Ale
- 5.9 – Blanche de Bruxelles
- 5.9 – Cambridge Amber
- 5.7 – Leinenkugel Fireside Nut Brown
- 5.7 – Smithwick’s Ale
- 5.6 – Singha Lager
- 5.4 – Southern Tier Heavy*Weizen
- 5.4 – Whale’s Tail Pale Ale
- 5.2 – Clarke’s Amber
- 5.2 – Heineken Lager
No Stars
- 4.9 – Bass Ale
- 4.8 – Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale
- 4.2 – Wallace IPA
- 4.0 – Caledonian 80/ Ale
- 4.0 – Carlsburg Lager
