Help: Voting/Scoring/Recommendations

• How should I vote on a beer?
• What do these numbers (5.0, 0.0, -5.0, unr., 3.4, etc.) mean?
• Why is everything "unr." (unrated)?
• What is this "Recommended" list?
• Why is my Recommended list empty?
• I've tried everything on my Recommended list - how do I find new, highly-rated beers?
• Why does a beer that I have disliked show up in my Recommended list?
• What are these other lists (Interests, No-interests, and Temp)?

You have three options: liked, shrug, and dislike. It is generally advised that you vote this way:

Like anything that you enjoy drinking. If you saw this beer available somewhere, and you would seriously consider ordering it, vote like.

Shrug anything you're indifferent about. If you would only consider ordering this beer if it were the only thing on the menu that you didn't dislike, it's probably a shrug.

Dislike anything you'd rather not drink. If you wouldn't order this beer even if it were the only thing on the menu, vote dislike.

Additional voting tips:

• Don't vote on things you haven't tried - you may cut yourself off from good suggestions.
• Shrugs don't affect your grouping. The shrug option is just a way to mark that you have tried a beer, but don't have strong feelings about it.
• If you know that your tastes vary greatly depending on the situation, consider creating a second account to keep votes separate. Then, for example, you can like sweet stouts and dislike IPAs in your "dessert" account while you dislike sweet stouts and like IPAs in your "dinner" account.
• You may also want to check out the notes on homebrew.

These numbers are your personal rating for each beer, and they are given on a ten-point scale. A rating of 5.0 means we're sure you'll like a beer, while -5.0 means we're sure you'll dislike a beer.

Ratings between the ends are fuzzier. A rating greater than 0.0 means we think you're more likely to like the beer than dislike it. A rating less than 0.0 means you'll likely dislike the beer. Exactly 0.0 means we're unsure - members in your group disagree about it.

A rating of "unr." means the beer hasn't been rated by anyone in your group. Go out and try it - you may bring valuable information to other members.

A beer with "unr." in the rating column indicates that BeerRiot doesn't know how to rate that beer for you. Either you haven't voted on enough beers for BeerRiot to get a feeling for you yet, or your tastes are drastically different than all of the other members. Try and vote on some more beers, or double check your previous votes.

The beers on your highest rank Recommended page are the beers that have the highest rating for you. More simply, they're the beers that BeerRiot thinks you'll like the most.

The beers on your middle Recommended page are the beers that we're unsure wheter or not to recommend for you. Either people are very indifferent about them, or very divided about them. In either case, trying one of these and casting your vote is very likely to improve BeerRiot's recommendations for you.

The beers on your lowest rank Recommended page are the beers that have the lowest rating for you. More simple, they're the beers that BeerRiot think's you'll dislike the most. Not to say you shouldn't try them, of course. In fact, if you find that the beers on your highest rank Recommended list don't fit your preferences well, tasting and voting on your lowest-ranked beers is a great way to give BeerRiot a hint.

There are three reasons BeerRiot may not list any Recommended for you.

First, BeerRiot has no idea how to rate beers for you if you haven't voted on anything yet. Go find a few beers that you have tried, vote on them, and then check back.

Second, BeerRiot may be filtering all beers that you have already voted on from the Recommended list. We recommend this view to help you find new beers to try. If you want to see beers you've voted on in your Recommended list, just check the boxes for "Likes", "Shrugs", and/or "Dislikes" in the Include panel to the right of your list.

Third, BeerRiot just doesn't know what to recommend for you. Either you've already tried all of our suggestions (!), or your tastes are drastically different than all of the other members (!!). Start trying other beers randomly (it's fun, trust me), double check your previous votes, or be adventurous and try something from the low-rank pile.

Uncheck the boxes for "Likes", "Shrugs", and/or "Dislikes" to the right of your Recommended list, then click the Filter button. Everything you have voted on will be whisked away and replaced with new beers.

It could be a number of things. If you're new to BeerRiot, it probably just means we don't know enough about your tastes yet.

If you've been here a while, it just means a majority of your group disagrees with you. It may be that the last time you had the beer, it was paired with the wrong food, or came from a bad tap. You may want to consider trying it again under different circumstances.

If it really bothers you, just uncheck the box for "Dislikes" in the Include panel to the right of your top list. BeerRiot will remove all of the beers you have disliked from your Recommended list and replace them with something better.

What are these other lists (Interests, No-interests, and Temp)?

We got many requests from people to give them some way to save beers for later, or remove them from their Top list, without having to vote on them. This is BeerRiot's solution.

In the upper-right of every beer page, you'll find a panel with three checkboxes - Interest, No-interest, and Temp. These represent three lists into which you can place any beer for later review. You can use them any way you please, but we recommend the following:

• Interests - Put beers here that you really want to try. This gives you a quick way to refresh your memory of things to look for before heading to the pub.
• No-interest - Put beers here that you're simply uninterested (or unable) to try. If you're never going to get to South Africa for a local brew, or a beer is no longer made, you can file it here to filter it out of your Top list.
• Temp - I recommend dumping stuff in here that you want to remember, but don't want to pollute other lists with. Making a list for a party? Researching a tour? Drop those beers in here, and you'll have them available when you want them. What's the harm in an extra list, eh?

To review any of your lists, just click "Your Lists" at the top of the page. Once there, check the boxes at the right for the lists you want to see.

You can also filter any of these lists out of your Top list by unchecking their boxes while you are viewing the Top page.