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13-03-2017, 15:00
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On Saturday we did something we’ve been putting off for a long time: we*submitted a rating to CAMRA’s national beer scoring system (NBSS (http://www.camra.org.uk/nbss)).What took us so long? The faff of logging on to the website to submit a score, for one thing, although it was pretty painless once we were in, but also, there was a reluctance to get sucked into robotic*ticking-scoring-logging behaviour.
We were prompted to action by the fact that, for the second year in a row, the only Penzance pub in the*Good Beer Guide is The Crown — a very decent place in its own way but whose beer isn’t the best in town by a long chalk. Perhaps there aren’t many scores logged down this way, or perhaps those that are recorded come from people who (as is common among older Cornish drinkers) have ongoing beef with St Austell, or with particular publicans. Whatever the reason we suspect, or hope, our scores might actually make a difference.
Getting used to the system might take a while, though. We’ve chuckled over the NBSS scale before, when we saw it reproduced in a local CAMRA magazine, but were amused anew when we refreshed our memories in the pub at the weekend:
0.*No cask ale available.
1.*Poor. Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.
2.*Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.
3.*Good. Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.*
4.*Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent condition.
5.*Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.*
Our favourite is number 1 which conjures an image of a hard-done-by Albert Steptoe figure grumbling into a pint, too nervous to take it back but too tight-fisted to walk away. But, of course, we’ve all been there, and the same goes for the more positive number 3.
Exactly how*rarely will a ‘seasoned drinker’ give a perfect score? We’re probably*fairly well salted and peppered these days and, unfortunately, have become quite fussy — it sometimes feels as if all we do is moan. Nonetheless, we regularly come across pints of St Austell Proper Job — a beer we know very well — in absolute peak condition. It would seem daft to hold off awarding 5 just in case there’s an even better, magically wonderful pint to be found somewhere down the line.
What we won’t be doing is using NBSS scores to communicate our experiences here on the blog. No, sorry, but you’re stuck with*‘like licking Kia Ora off a pot plant’ and all that for the time being.
Considerable Resentment (http://boakandbailey.com/2017/03/considerable-resentment/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (http://boakandbailey.com)


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