I love beer. This does not make me a beer expert, it makes me a beer fan.

So, you ask, if I am not a beer expert why am I “rating” beer?

It’s a good question. The simple answer is I rate beers that I drink to keep track of my likes and dislikes. I actually take notes in a little leather-bound notebook.

I use a pen and paper.

Crazy right?

I’ll sit down and crack open a beer (or pop a bottle, or wait for the bartender to bring it, etc.), pull out my little notebook and pen, take a few sips and start writing. I’ll note the flavors I’m picking up, the strength, the body, etc. I basically decide if I like it or not and why. That’s it. That’s how I rate beer.

I know a little bit about brewing and IBUs and Original Gravity and all of that, but I have no intention of getting that technical – at least until I start home brewing. Who knows what will happen then.

When I rate beer I use the Untappd approach (follow me @robrasmussen22 on Untappd btw). Every beer will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5. This is where I get to insert a bit of my personality in the system. For this particular rating system I’ve decided to reference Star Wars characters to indicate just how good (or bad) I found each beer to be.