Latest Rankings Get This Kalamazoo Beer Drinker’s Competitive Ire Up
Any second now I may type "them are fightin' words".
This Kalamazoo lover of beer (me) is normally a pretty level-headed person... in the same way that, say, a Michigan or Michigan State fan normally is a pretty level-headed person except for those one or two days of the year when they play each other or play that school that thinks is so cool it can call itself "the".
Where I'm going with this is, I saw a story where Grand Rapids did really well in some Beer Advocate rankings.
Tell Your Statistics To Shut Up
That's a line from a classic book, Ball Four. But we all have grown up knowing there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics." Well, I've been on the Beer Advocate site, too, and you can make statistics say almost anything you want them, too.
The numbers that Grand Rapids beer fans are excited about is when you filter out the rest of the world and the rest of the United States, and you rank by user ratings. And sincere props to Founders for topping that filtered list. But keep in mind, some of these beers on the list had only 5 or ten people rating them, while a beer like Two Hearted had over 15,000.
And before I get back to this mindless rant, let's throw some love at the folks at Dark Horse in Marshall, who have had some tough times and their Plead the Fifth Russian Imperial Stout is ranked 5th. Also some love for Transient Artisan Ales in Bridgeman for putting two of their beers in the top ten. And a reminder to me that Kalamazoo's Bell's still has five in the top 50.
But when you filter for the entire United States among the most popular beers, there the story and the rankings change a bit, and yes, Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout is first, but Two Heart is third, but the real eyebrow-raiser is how well Hopslam does. Its actual rating is higher than Two Hearted.
Still, remember, this is just bragging rights. Our teams may not be very good, but our beer is. Time pour a cold one.