Getting the Most From Your Beer

Creative Commons Photo Credit: Alex Mahan

Although many of you are experienced beer drinkers, I wanted to offer some tips for the newbies on how to make the most of your beer drinking experience. If you choose to follow some of these suggestions, I want you to try it at home, where you don’t have to worry about bar patrons watching or judging you. Once you’ve tried these things at home, it becomes easier to apply them to drinking in the bar without making a big production.  That being said, if you are at a bar known for having a good selection of great beers, don’t worry! Other people will be doing the same things you’ll be doing.  However, if you frequent such bars on a regular basis, a lot of this may be review. One thing to keep in mind throughout this is that beer drinking and enjoyment is very subjective and personal.  Something that you perceive as being a really great beer, just might not do it for some of your friends, while others will likely agree. As long as YOU enjoy what you have in your hand, that’s all that really matters.

So, before heading home to try expanding your beer drinking enjoyment, stop by your local bottle shop and pick up a bottle or pack of something good.  Perhaps it’s something you haven’t had before, perhaps it’s an old standby you’ve come to take for granted, either will work.

Once you get it home, there are a couple of things to consider.

1. Outside Effects: If you are just getting over a cold, or recently burned your tongue, or for any other reason have dulled senses, pop that beer in the fridge and wait a few days.  If you just downed a pot of coffee, finished chewing gum or smoking, do yourself a favor and allow your palette to reset before enjoying your recent purchase, no matter how excited you are.  You’ll thank me for it!

 

2. Glassware: You’ll be pouring this beer into a glass.  If you pop the cap and swill it straight from the bottle, you won’t be able to see or smell the beer which are huge contributors to your overall impression.  Although many breweries specify particular glassware for their beers, based on what characteristics they want to emphasize, for our purposes any glass that curves in slightly at the top will work.  In some bars in Belgium, it is commonly reported that you will be asked to wait if the appropriate glass for the beer you ordered is not available.  If you feel like that red plastic cup will be good enough, open up that sleeve of cups and take a deep whiff.  Mmmmm… plastic.  We want the aroma we pick up to be due entirely from our beer, not from our choice of glass.  Using a glass that curves in at the lip (snifter, red wine glass, tulip glass, whatever you happen to have on hand) will help to concentrate these aromas as we drink.  A standard pint glass doesn’t really have all that much going for it other than that they are durable. Now that you have an appropriate glass out, give it a visual inspection.  It should be CLEAN.  A beer in a poorly washed glass isn’t going to be at it’s peak.  Handwashed and rinsed may be best, as dishwasher rinse aid may interfere with proper head formation.  Give it a sniff.  You shouldn’t pick up any off aromas from your glassware itself.  Our wine glasses are stored on a pine shelf, and they do tend to pick up a resiny aroma around the rims, so I always wash or rinse them before use.

 

3. Temperature – This is a big one, and one that is maybe the hardest to get over ingrained habits with.  In general, as beer warms up, more and more flavors and aromas will begin to assert themselves.  The analogy that I think of in terms of beer flavor and aroma and temperature is cheese.  This analogy may work better for the hardcore cheese lovers and foodies out there, but I think that it is fairly appropriate.  Cheese in general should be served close to room temperature to allow the palate to pick up on all the nuances and characteristics.  If you were having a cheese tasting and everything was served as frozen cubes, it would be hard to tell what you liked about one cheese from another. For a big complex beer, you want to give it a chance to show you the full depth of it’s complexity.  Other beers that are less complex may be better served at a cooler temperature, and many craft and specialty beers will include recommended serving temperatures on the bottle.  In my opinion, the only beers that should be served ice cold are the beers you don’t really want to be able to taste anyway.  To me, this also includes frosted glasses at bars.  If I want my beer that cold, I’d add ice cubes.  For our little beer sensory experience, I’m going to recommend pouring it cold (refrigerator temp), and then cupping your glass in your hands to allow it to gently warm up as you are drinking.  This way you are able to experience the same beer at a range of temperatures, and see where it hits a sweet spot for you.

OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way, go ahead and pop that beer open and pour yourself a glass.  Just pour it on in, don’t worry about producing too much head, and if your glass doesn’t fit the whole beer, no problems… more for later.  Alright, now that you’ve got yourself a nicely poured glass, raise it to your face and… STOP.

You didn’t drink yet did you?  No?  Good.

First smell your beer.  Just get your nose right in there and inhale.  Think about what you are able to pick up just from the aroma.  Can you pick out characteristics from the malt?  From the hops?  What does it remind you of? Don’t worry if you don’t feel like you have the vocabulary or beer jargon down enough to describe it, remember this is a personal experience and no one else is watching. Now that we’ve smelled it, hold it up and look at it. Note the color of the liquid, the color of the head, the overall appearance.  Now smell it again.  Do you pick up anything else?

Now that we’ve used our eyes and nose, we can finally taste the beer.  Don’t bother with a dainty sip, don’t worry about getting foam on your lip, go ahead and take a good mouthful. Don’t swallow it yet though. Let it roll around your tongue.  What flavors are you able to pick out?  Think about what you are tasting as the beer warms slightly in your mouth. If you didn’t take too big a gulp, you can try breathing through your mouth a bit while moving the beer around (don’t choke yourself!) Finally, swallow the beer.  What flavors show up in the finish?  Are they different from your initial perceptions?  How long is the finish?

From here you can continue to drink your beer as it gently warms, continuing to think about and reflect on the beer you are consuming.  Presumably a lot of effort and care went into creating the finished product in front of you, take the time to fully appreciate and enjoy the experience.  And while you may not take the time to do this for every beer that you drink, at least when you are trying a beer for the first time keep some of these things in mind and think of what it is about the characteristics of the beer that creates your overall perception and opinion of that beer.  It’s a little more work that just knocking a beer back, but I hope you’ll find it’s worth it.