Evaluating Beer

Jeffrey over at Why do I Bother? made this comment a few days ago:

With my love for beer I was thinking of adding a beer review feature to my blog on a weekly basis or so. Do you know of any good resources for developing a rating system for beer tasting?

Personally, I always fall back on The Master, Charlie Papazian. His New Complete Joy of Homebrewing has a 50 point beer scale. With all due respect, I am summarizing it here. Please note that each category is based on how appropriate the beer is to the style.

THE 50-POINT SCALE
By Charlie Papazian

Bouquet/Aroma 1-10 points:
malt (3 pts)
hops(3pts)
other fermentation characteristics (4 pts)

Appearance 1-6 points:
Color (2) Clarity (2) Head retention (2)

Flavor 1-19 points:
Malt (4)
Hops (4)
Balance (5)
Conditioning/carbonation (3)
Aftertaste (3)

Body 1-5 points

Drinkability and Overall Impression 1-10 points

The 50 point scale depends on a familiarity with the style. So the closer the beer gets to the style, the higher the score. Since I am not a Certified Beer Judge, I don't like that scale. However, The Master also included a 20-point scale that is more subjective.

THE 20-POINT SCALE

Appearance 0-3 points

Aroma/Bouquet 0-4 points

Taste 0-10 points
Hop/malt balance (4)
Aftertaste (3)
Mouthfeel (3)

Overall Impression 1-3 points

Over at Beer Advocate, they rate beers. Here's a link to their system. It's very simple.

I hope this helps!