I am a fan of good beer. In this post I am going to talk about my ideas for how to improve websites that offer ratings for different varieties of beer, and how I think recommender systems would improve their service.
Why I care
Whenever I’m asked what kind of beer I like, I experience a moment of awkwardness. Because I don’t just like good beer, I hate bad mediocre beer. Usually the person asking is a beer noob and I don’t want to sound too snobby by throwing beer jargon at them they probably won’t understand. So I say something along the lines of “I like the more expensive stuff, like from small breweries or imports.” The response is usually something about Sam Adams. I used to enjoy Sam Adams Boston Lager, but I can barely stomach it anymore. There are a couple Sam Adams brews that aren’t half bad, but the Boston Lager no longer cuts it for me. (more…)
