RateYourBrew is an online resource that invites drinkers all over the world to share their opinions on their favorite (and least favorite) beers! Unlike other beer sites where the top rated beers can be extremely expensive, RateYourBrew wants to have a beer site that everybody can contribute to, even those on a budget. Although we do care a lot about how a beer tastes, its cost is also extremely important because everybody always wants to get the most bang for their buck.

To get started, find a beer using the search box or select it from our beer list (through the “Beers” link at the top) and let us know what you think of it!

Over the past few days we’ve been hard at work developing a look of our own at RateYourBrew. During this process, we’ve been adding and changing functionality here and there. After doing some thinking, we’ve decided to upgrade the actual rating structure within the site and this means a little more work. We’re hoping to make it as smooth as possible, but we can’t predict all possible problems. Just stick with us while we make this place even better!

In the meantime, keep reviewing all those beers, spread the word, and drink up!

Michael

Like beer?

Want some money?

To celebrate the end of summer, we at RateYourBrew are offering a contest where you can really easily win some money just by indulging in your passion for your favorite beverage!

Between August 10th and September 10th, every rating that you leave on RYB.com gives you 1 entry into our random prize draw. The more beers you rate, the more chances you have to win! The beauty of this is that it gives you an excuse to go out to the beer store and pick up some random brands in the spirit of winning some real money!

I can’t stress this enough — it is SUPER EASY to rate a beer. Simply register at the top and activate your account through the e-mail we’ll send you, then find a beer using the Search box on the right or click “Beers” at the top to see an A-Z list of the beers in our system. Once you’re there the rating box is right below the description. Leave a quick one and you’re done!

The prize for the winner is $26.40, in honor of the lowest legal price of a 24 pack in Canada. Tell your friends, bound together, and get reviewing so you guys can have a free weekend on us!

Ryan

Last night, a few members of the RYB Staff took part in our first official blind beer tasting. After work we all sauntered over to the liquor store and picked up 10 beers of varying quality, then poured them into individually labeled cups we then arranged in a random order. Think of it like the Pepsi Challenge, except alcoholic. After we took sips of each beer, we wrote down our ratings and at the end took a look at our cups to see what each beer was. There were some surprisingly shocking results!

Here are the beers that took part:

Coors Light
Grolsch
Carling Lager
Laker Strong
Hockley Dark
Alexander Keith’s IPA
Budweiser
Georgian Bay Dipper
Labatt Blue
Old Milwaukee

Here’s how the beers ranked according to an average of our ratings:

1. Hockley Dark - 7.7
T2. Georgian Bay Dipper - 5.7
T2. Laker Strong - 5.7
T4. Grolsch - 5.3
T4. Budweiser - 5.3
T4. Old Milwaukee - 5.3
7. Labatt Blue - 5
8. Alexander Keith’s IPA - 4.7
9. Carling Lager - 4
10. Coors Light - 3.7

It’s no surprise that Hockley Dark won our taste test — it’s a delicious dark beer that has an excellent flavor with hints of coffee and virtually no aftertaste. The rest of the results, however, were a pretty big eye-opener for us. Laker Strong, the beer we all assumed would score lowest, ended up coming in second tied with the more independently brewed Georgian Bay Dipper. Considering Laker Strong costs just over $1/bottle and Dipper comes in at $2.35 a (tall) can, this is a strong advertisement for a Laker brand that we all had written off before the test.

Grolsch, Budweiser, and Old Milwaukee came in with the third-highest ratings. Grolsch runs about $43 for 24 bottles, whereas Budweiser comes in at $36 and Old Milwaukee seemingly wins out with the lowest legal price of $26.40.

The bottom of the standings weren’t too surprising except for Alexander Keith’s IPA. Before the testing our panel had all had the beer before and agreed it should probably be near the top, but we independently gave it rankings of 5, 5, and 4 when we didn’t know what brand it was. Just goes to show you how much of what you enjoy might be in your head after all.

The take home messages from RYB’s first blind taste test? First, organize your own. It’s a ton of fun and great to see what you REALLY think of the beers you think you like OR hate. Second, it looks like the cheap stuff wins out (at least at our taste level). Apart from Hockley Dark, which won by a large margin, all of the more expensive beers clocked in with the same (or lower) ratings than cheaper brands. Obviously this is just a very small sample but it just goes to show you that price doesn’t always equal quality.

Hope you enjoyed this little analysis!
Ryan

PS We’re going to be doing some more in the near future, so stay tuned!