NEWS

Jesse Hughey

Baltika 9 is still the lowest-graded beer on the Hophead Beer Scoring System. Was it really that bad?

​Now that I've graded more than 50 beers since introducing the Hophead Beer Scoring System, it seems a good time to take a look back at all of them and list them in order.

The system (which I have called by a different name in every post, a running gag nobody has ever commented about -- I can only assume you were all too incapacitated by laughter to type) is explained in this introductory post. Basically, beers are graded by Appearance, Nose, Taste, Body, Finish, Style/Originality and Party Factor, with the most important criterion, Taste, weighted at a possible 40 and other criteria at up to 10 apiece. Party Factor, the alcohol by volume divided by the price per 12-ounce serving, is the great equalizer, with cheap high-alcohol beers able to score up to and even above 10 and pricey low-ABV brews hampered by 1s or 2s.

The idea was to give a numeric grade that would range from 0 to about 100, with anything above an 80 being a good to very good beer and anything above a 90 being outstanding. Grades of 100 and even above are theoretically possible, but with great beers invariably having not-so-great prices, I don't envision this ever happening.

I think it's working out pretty well for the most part, though there are some beers with high grades that I don't remember liking quite that much, and some low 80s that I remember liking a lot more. I've thought about doing something to tweak the Party Factor, such as doubling it to give great beers a better chance of hitting 100. But that would entail going back to every post and doing more math. I'd rather just continue being a hard-ass grader.

Actually, with only a six receiving "failing" grades of under 70, maybe I'm not such a hard-ass. Or maybe it's because I don't rank beers I know I'll hate. I should probably go ahead and rank some especially shitty beers just to have some 10s or 20s to bring the curve down. At this point, the lowest grade is a 44, while the highest is a 95.

After the jump, the list arranged from highest to lowest.

Flying Dog Raging Bitch, October 20, 2010
Total: 95

Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball, April 23, 2010
Total: 94

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, June 3, 2010
Total: 93

Harpoon Leviathan Baltic Porter, April 29, 2010
Total: 93

Urthel Hop-It, July 16, 2010
Total: 92

Baird/Ishii/Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA, July 28, 2011
Total: 92

Magic Hat hI.P.A., August 19, 2010
Total: 92

Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA, May 21, 2010
Total: 91

Samuel Adams LongShot Mile High Barley Wine Ale, April 15, 2010
Total: 91

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11, April 14, 2011
Total: 90

Kulmbacher Eisbock, April 23, 2010
Total: 90

Sockeye Red IPA, July 9, 2010
Total: 90

Samuel Adams LongShot Old Ben Ale, April 15, 2010
Total: 90

Franconia Kristal-Weizen, July 21, 2010
Total: 89

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 10, November 4, 2010
Total: 89

Dubuisson Scaldis Belgian Ale, October 27, 2010
Total: 89

Kodiak Brown Ale, July 9, 2010
Total: 89

Southern Star Buried Hatchet Stout, July 21, 2010
Total: 88

Ska Nefarious Ten Pin Porter Easter Version, June 3, 2010
Total: 87

Harpoon 100 Barrel Single Hop ESB, May 21, 2010
Total: 87

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, August 5, 2010
Total: 86

Real Ale Devil's Backbone Tripel, July 21, 2010
Total: 86

Magic Hat Hex Ourtoberfest, August 19, 2010
Total: 86

Rahr Stormcloud IPA, August 11, 2010
Total: 85

Abita Jockamo IPA, August 5, 2010
Total: 85

Samuel Adams Wee Heavy, March 18, 2011
Total: 85

Celis Grand Cru, October 20, 2010
Total: 85

Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Ale, April 1, 2010
Total: 83

Avery Karma Ale, June 23, 2010
Total: 83

Harpoon Leviathan Imperial Red, May 21, 2010
Total: 83

Samuel Adams Noble Pils, February 10, 2011
Total: 83

Foret Organic Saison, June 23, 2010
Total: 83

Real Ale Empire (Barrel-Aged Lost Gold), August 11, 2010
Total: 82

Jason Fields & Kevin Sheppard/Tröegs/Stone Cherry Chocolate Stout, July 28, 2011
Total: 82

Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall 2010, August 19, 2010
Total: 82

Magic Hat Blind Faith IPA, May 21, 2010
Total: 82

Brother David's Triple, April 8, 2010
Total: 81

Rahr La Grange Farmhouse Ale, September 8, 2011
Total: 80

Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen, June 23, 2010
Total: 80

Arctic Rhino Coffee Porter, July 9, 2010
Total: 79

Saint Arnold Summer Pils, August 5, 2010
Total: 76

Magic Hat Demo IPA, February 10, 2011
Total: 74

Samuel Adams LongShot Lemon Pepper Saison, April 15, 2010
Total: 74

Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale, April 29, 2010
Total: 72

Magic Hat Odd Notion Ginger Golden Ale, May 21, 2010
Total: 72

Bridgid's Brew, April 15, 2010
Total: 71

Mama's Little Yella Pils, March 4, 2010
Total: 69

Harpoon Summer Beer, April 29, 2010
Total: 65

Magic Hat Vinyl Lager, February 10, 2011
Total: 65

North Coast Brewing Le Merle Saison, July 16, 2010
Total: 58

Magic Hat Wacko Summer Seasonal, May 21, 2010
Total: 52

Baltika Grade 9 Extra, March 4, 2010 
Total: 44