When is the battle of the beers...

[corysdad]

When does the battle comence? Seems to me that its in the early spring.

[steveh]

Only if Stan and his crew have found a better way to deter ballot stuffing!

S.

[corysdad]

So there may not be a battle this year? Dang, I am looking forward to that event.

[steveh]

Can't answer the question definitively. I just know that Stan was looking into different alternatives after last year, but I'm not sure what was found or decided.

BTW - Last year's BoB was in March, but I think the year's before was earlier.

S.

[fretlessman71]

Bob?? Who the heck is Bob? And what's he doing in March?

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Bob?? Who the heck is Bob? And what's he doing in March?

Brewers on the Bluff, if you're a home-brewer in Lake Bluff, IL. Battle of the Beers, if you're surfing this forum and this particular thread...and you're not a complete doofus. ;)

S.

[fretlessman71]

Dang - I'm out on all three counts...

[Bruno_78]

Hey! No talking about doofuses without me being involved!!!

I hope something gets resolved with the BoB this year. I didn't participate last year either, and am looking forward to another opportunity.

[fretlessman71]

Come to think of it, I didn't participate in last year's event mainly because I didn't know it was going on!

I don't know how they would avoid stuffing the ballot box issues... maybe limit the voting to members who have posted on the board in the last 6 months or something, and keep an eye on the "influx" of people joining in the week or 2 before it begins, just so someone can't have multiple usernames on here, or something like that.... I'm not a tech-head; maybe staronstage could help - I think he's pretty good with computers. I'm sure there are several of you out there just as good, and ALL of you better and more educated than I on the subject.... there's just GOTTA be a simple way...

[studentofbeer]

im not sure how the voting worked before, but the two easiest ways to limit ballot stuffing would seem to be filtering IP addresses of the people who vote, so that the same IP can't vote more than once, and requiring people to register before they vote, so you have to create a username (with a unique email perhaps) in order to vote.

neither would get rid of all ballot stuffing, but it should help keep it to a minimum.

[steveh]

Originally posted by studentofbeer
im not sure how the voting worked before, but the two easiest ways to limit ballot stuffing would seem to be filtering IP addresses of the people who vote, so that the same IP can't vote more than once, and requiring people to register before they vote, so you have to create a username (with a unique email perhaps) in order to vote.

neither would get rid of all ballot stuffing, but it should help keep it to a minimum.

That's what's been done previously, though I'm not sure it was limited to RB.com member's only, but the stuffing was out-of-hand for Grant's Mandarin Hefeweizen.

S.

[fretlessman71]

Hmmmm.... is that Mandy Hefe any good? Thought I saw some the other day...

[chazwicke]

I'm thinking that Gumballhead should just automatically be awarded beer of the year.

[studentofbeer]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Hmmmm.... is that Mandy Hefe any good? Thought I saw some the other day...

nah, i bought a bottle for my gf, cause she liked pyramid's apricot and she didn't like the mandarin hefeweizen at all. i agreed. it is a pretty tasteless beer with a sort of out of place citrus smell that doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the actual beer. it's like a bad brewpub blonde with some bad syrup added. i don't mean it's bad in that it tastes all that bad, it's just bad in that it doesn't really taste much like beer.

[hops99]

she didn't like the mandarin hefeweizen at all. i agreed. it is a pretty tasteless beer with a sort of out of place citrus smell that doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the actual beer.

Agreed 100%.

Don't waste your money. Anyone try their Deep Powder, though? I'm curious, and have heard a few good things about it.

[newportstorm]

To me, sure I knew what was going on but it was fun to vote and see/read about the individual battles. No way to ever deter ballot stuffing. I never took the BoB too seriously - nothing but an invented title on the line, really. I know DFH has used it as marketing for the 90 Minute IPA in the past, but I don't pay attention to "medals" and "awards" when buying anyway. Hopefully, it comes back around NCAA tourney time.

Ignore the idiots who have nothing better to do than be on line all day (wait...that's me :p ). Let's have a little fun.

Cheers!

[Jake]

Originally posted by steveh
Only if Stan and his crew have found a better way to deter ballot stuffing!

S.

Don't know how he would be able to stop that when I was able to vote three times in this last election;)

[corysdad]

I agree with newportstorm, it was fun and I was introduced to many new beers to locate and try. I didn't realize that there were any shananagans going on til now. But what the heck, lets do it...

[staronstage]

Bwahahaha ... so according to a few female friends of mine, BOB doesn't stand for Battle of the Beers. It stands for Battery Operated Boyfriend!

So this entire conversation could really be read a whole new way. :)

[newportstorm]

Just appeared today - good timing:

http://www.realbeer.com/battleofthebeers/index.php

Cheers!

[chazwicke]

I sent in my recommendation for Gumballhead. Thanks for the heads up.