Our Beer Review Process

“How do I even begin?!”

At least, that’s the question that kept going through my head when I first started to put pen to paper on this article, in order to give you a glimpse into our “beer review” process at the Yupfeed. It’s a question that had you asked me even five years ago, I’d have probably had a far easier time explaining to you. And almost paradoxically, that was because there were fewer objectively good beers on the market.

For what it’s worth, this could be argued to be the golden age of beer. The market for craft beer has saturated. In Chicago alone, several craft breweries have shut down, and that seems to be the trend at a national level. And while it may not necessarily be good for the individual producers, it means that what is on the market is what was either great and selling proportionately, or just selling regardless of quality. And frankly, our job is to help you choose the right ones for you.

Before we get any further, I feel it’s important to address a simple fact. For the moment, it should be noted that when we review beers for the Yupfeed, we’re reviewing beers that are available in either the Chicago or Greater Detroit marketplaces. When we review wines and spirits, it is generally assumed that bar a few factors that are entirely beyond the control producers, at worst, you should be able to call the producer directly and get a shipment to your place of work or residence. And to the extent of our knowledge, that’s not really possible with craft beer. This is due to a number of factors ranging from local laws, quality control, and most often the inability of craft producers to ship their products long distances.

The beers that we do select are often bought at places like Bitter Pops, 8 degrees, and other cicerone operated shops. And generally selected more or less randomly, but within the confines of a given style of beer. Here’s the other bit that should be noted. While we will occasionally post reviews of beers we ourselves may not like, we will never post a review for a bad beer. This site is about quality. And if we deem something to not be to our standards, we sure as hell will not post it thinking it would live up to yours.

Our “flashcard” contains the name of the beer, the producer, the style, the weight, the IBUs (International Bitterness Units), the three dominant flavors, and where it was purchased. This will hopefully give you the quick insight you need if you’re just making a quick purchase. In time we may add a “glassware” segment to this, but to be quick and honest about our tasting process. We typically sample beers in 18 oz or larger wine glasses, typically 3-5 oz at a time depending on the number of beers that we’re sampling and how many people are conducting the tasting. As well as allowing for some time for the beer to warm up, as to be able to taste it across temperature ranges.

 

With that all said, the first of our beer reviews will most likely be up this forthcoming weekend. ‘til then, cheers!