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This Tweet triggered a conversation on which we eavesdropped with interest:

is it me, or when you read a brewer saying that they don't care for ratings websites, oft means beers have been flamed on there?
— Phil Lowry (@PhilLowry) October 20, 2014
Follow up responses seemed to suggest that Ratebeerians as know enough to be dangerous without offering*a useful opinion:
@PeteBrissenden @kempicus @PhilLowry exactly what Pete says. Obv not true of all, but so many raters clearly haven’t got a clue.
— BeerBirraBier (@beerbirrabier) October 20, 2014
Now, we don’t rate beer ourselves, but we*find it odd that people in the business of selling beer react so badly to*those who do.
As with TripAdvisor, mischief aside (one-review wonders, attempts at extortion) you’re getting a direct output from the minds of the kind of people who are inclined to buy your beer.*People pay a fortune for market research and you’re getting it for free!
They might use incorrect terminology, or misunderstand the style you were aiming for, or even judge a beer without having given it a fair tasting… which makes them just like normal people.
On that basis, if a substantial number*say they*don’t like*your beer, however clumsy their efforts to explain why, maybe you should look into it.
Otherwise, the odd one-off bad review really doesn’t matter — it’s a drop in the ocean, a rogue result.
And brewers who find themselves crying “But it’s not fair — we score low because we don’t brew the kind of beer that Ratebeerians like!” should probably take a moment to ask, in that case, why they care what Ratebeerians think. Self-doubt, perhaps?
Those Who Rate


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