I ran across a great op-ed piece today in the August issue of Wired.  The author is not a huge fan of ratings and reviews.  Hmmm...

Actually, Mr. Colin makes a very good argument against all these rating, review, and like flags that cover everything from Pepsis to parking tickets.  In short, he thinks that it kills incentive to experience something for the first time since you can virtually live the experience through the reviewer.  "Oh, I've never been to that bar before, I saw it only got 1 star out of 5 on Yelp!"  Wow.  Livin' large, aren't ya?

Yes, I can see where (mostly) objective reviews like Consumer Reports have their place - we do want to know if something we are about to spend our hard-bilked - er, earned - cash on is worth a damn.  However, as society and media keep preaching to be rebels and non-conformists, why on Earth would you pass on something just 'cause someone else didn't like it? I mean, that would kinda be conforming, right?  ;)

Also, on a more practical and less philosophical note - squeaky wheels.  Yep, I said it.  Most people that are happy with a place, product or service never go out of their way to praise it.  On the other hand, you can pretty much guarantee that every single pissy customer is going to rate, review, blog about, and whine about your offerings.  Which means that, in my opinion, every good vote weighs at least 10x more than every negative one I see online.

And yes, the oysters at AJ's rock.

And I'm not sure what all the hype is about Sweetwater; I just don't taste it.

Personally I'm eagerly awaiting the release of Monday Night Brewing's stuff - I was an early beta taster.  (Sorry, I just couldn't pass a gimme like that!)