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BeerAdvocate's Consumer Opinion Poll - Let The Controversy Continue


The December issue of BeerAdvocate MagazineLike it or not, human nature prefers an expert opinion. Sure, we might glare with disdain at said experts towering over us with their puffed-out egos from atop their high-horses, but let's be honest, if we left every final opinion to all us plebes down below, many decisions would end up a mess. There's something to be said for someone with experience and knowledge navigating the way: Would you rather receive driving directions from a van full of people who "know North Jersey" or a GPS device?

My point: This month's BeerAdvocate Magazine featured their annual "The People Have Spoken!" consumer opinion poll. I found the article lovingly reprinted on the Stone Brewery website, as well it should be -- Stone had five of the top 25 beers and was named number one on the list of "All-Time Top Breweries on Planet Earth."

Now, let the record show, I am not disparaging Stone Brewing Company. A fine brewery, I enjoyed a Stone IPA quite recently. And I don't fault BeerAdvocate for producing such a poll. Quite the opposite, I far prefer BeerAdvocate to their rival RateBeer.com (for reasons not worth discussing here) and applaud them for constantly giving voice to the opinions of the public, regardless of what those opinions might be.

However, as the above Stone Brewery example exemplifies, for reasons currently undetermined, this power to the people poll is powerfully flawed. As good the Stone Brewery may be, five beers in the top 25 is a beyond Herculean feat -- unless, of course, Herrcules was moonlighting as a ballot box stuffer. Likewise, a number of blogs pointed out that 23 of the top 25 "Breweries on Planet Earth" are American. Take that, rest of the globe, with your 95% of the human population!!

The moral is two-fold: 1) Public opinion polls are usually best left as the strongest of debate fodder, and 2) though room exists for us to respect the opinion of both beer experts and Joe Sixpack, it's best to keep these opinions in balance. We don't want a mutiny on the ship, but the captain is there for a reason.

Want some debate fodder of your own? I've reprinted the Top 10 breweries from the BeerAdvocate poll below or you can read the list yourself and let us know what you think.
  1. Stone Brewing Company
  2. Three Floyds Brewing Company
  3. Victory Brewing Company
  4. Brewery Ommegang
  5. AleSmith Brewing Company
  6. Russian River Brewing Company
  7. Great Divide Brewing Company
  8. Allagash Brewing Company
  9. Bear Republic Brewing Company
  10. Great Lakes Brewing Company
[Top 10 list via BeerAdvocate Magazine]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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