| Storing Beer |
| The Right Beer for the Right Occasion |
| Proper Serving Temperatures |
| Choosing the Right Glass |
| Pouring Beer |
| Evaluating Beer |
| Judging Beer |
| Hosting a Beer-Tasting Party |
Whether you buy your beer from the local beer distributor or brew it yourself, your beer will obviously need to be stored for a short time unless you plan on drinking it all at once (and there's nothing wrong with that). Beer's primary enemies are heat and light. If beer is stored too warm, it will spoil prematurely. Furthermore, major temperature fluctuations will have a negative effect on the quality of the beer as well. Light will destroy a beer's hop character and imparts a tell-tale "skunky" aroma to beer (think Heineken). Where there's light, there's frequently heat, so light is a double threat. Therefore, regardless of whether you plan on storing your beer for a day, a week, a month, a year or a decade, beer must be stored in a dark, quiet place where it can remain undisturbed at a steady temperature. Wait... store beer for a decade? We'll get to that in just a bit. Sit tight.
Proper Temperature
Believe it or not, your refrigerator is not the best place to store your beer. The average refrigerator is usually set at about 35º F - too cold for the recommended storing and serving temperatures of most beers. Experts vary on the exact proper temperature at which to store a beer. However, the following is a general guideline. Store lighter beers such as fruit beers, pale lagers, blonde ales, cream ales, Belgian pale ales or Belgian tripels at 40-45° F. Dark lagers, lambics and wheat beers can be stored up to 50° F, but it's OK to throw them in with your lighter lagers and ales. Most other ales, porters, stouts, strong lagers and real ale can be stored at 50-55° F. More potent ales, such as strong ales, barley wines, imperial stouts and strong Belgian ales, can be stored at 55-60° F. If possible, an entire refrigerator should be dedicated to beer storage. Ideally, that refrigerator should have a temperature regulator. If not, get a fridge as close as you can to 45° F and leave it for your lighter beers, then use a cool cellar for your heavier beers. Whatever you do, avoid temperature changes.
How Long?
There's a reason for the late trend in "born-on" dating. It's the same reason most brewers don't vintage-date their beers. Most beers are not meant to be stored for long periods of time. The quality of most commercially-brewed beer begins to degrade after about 6 months on the shelf, so unless indicated on this page or elsewhere, your beer should be consumed as quickly as possible after leaving the brewery. Therefore, you should probably wait to buy commercially-brewed beer until you actually plan on drinking it. That way you're more likely to get the freshest beer possible (assuming your local beer distributer rotates his stock properly). That said, certain beers will benefit from a storage period.
Bottle-conditioned beers are, by definition, beers that are allowed to age in the bottle for a short period before being consumed. Homebrewed beers are a perfect example. With bottle-conditioning, the brewer allows the remaining yeast in the fermented beer to referment in the bottle and naturally carbonate the beer. Homebrewed beer won't have time to carbonate properly if it's consumed immediately after bottling, so it must be conditioned several weeks or even months before it's ready to drink. Bottle-conditioned commercially-brewed beers are no different in process. The only difference is that the conditioning occurs at the brewery so that the beer is ready to drink by the time it hits the market.
Certain styles of beer are also appropriate to age before drinking. The classic example of a beer that will improve with age is a barleywine. Because of the preservative nature of their high hopping rates and high alcohol content, barleywines lend themselves perfectly to long-term conditioning. As a barleywine ages, the strong flavor characteristics apparent in a young barleywine soften as more subtle, complex flavors are allowed to develop. A well-aged barleywine is one of the treasures of the beer world. Trappist ales - high quality and hand-crafted - are another good example. The same concept applies - aging brings out more complex flavor characterisitics in the beer.
Up or Down?
There is debate among beers experts whether bottles sealed with corks as opposed to bottle caps should be placed on their side or upright. Some experts equate corked beer bottles to corked wine bottles and recommend resting the bottle on its side - thus the term "laying down." Laying a beer down allows the beer to soak the cork, thereby preventing it from drying out and allowing beer-spoiling air and bacteria in.
However, others feel that laying a beer down is either unnecessay or potentially bad for the beer for several reasons. First, the cork is already almost completely impermeable to air and water and the bottle has its own internal humidity level, so soaking the cork isn't really necessary. Second, exposing the beer to the cork can impart unwanted off-flavors that may ruin the beer. Finally, storing beer upright prevents exposing the beer to air (a soaked cork is a permable link between the air and the beer) and, therefore, slows or stops oxidation.
Because there is debate, that means both methods have their merit, so decide which method you prefer and go with it. Just be sure to observe the temperature guidelines discussed above.
The Right Beer for the Right Occasion
At this point, allow me to bring this discussion back down to earth. Remember that we're drinking beer here, so don't take this so seriously. You can drink any beer any time for any reason or no reason at all. However, it is undeniable that certain beers go better with certain situations. For example, after a long day working outdoors in the hot summer sun you would probably prefer a thirst-quenching wheat beer or a refreshing blonde ale rather than a thick cherry stout or a strong winter warmer. However, that winter warmer would be much more welcome on a cold December evening and you'd definitely rather have that cherry stout to complement your chocolate cake when it comes time for dessert.
Beers by the Season or Situation
Again, any beer can be enjoyed at any time. However, certain beers are best enjoyed at certain times of the year or in certain situations. For example, breweries frequently release their lighter seasonals during the warm months and their stronger varieties in the cool months. The common appelations "summer brew," "Oktoberfest" and "winter warmer" are a testament to this concept. The following is a list of beers that are appropriate for certain situations (all credit for this list must go to Michael Jackson's fantastic book "Ultimate Beer"):
Pairing Beer with Food
Because of the huge variety of beers available, there is always at least one beer that will complement the meal you are eating. Again, it must be stressed that you can enjoy any beer you want with any meal you want. However, just as drinking beer is not (always) simply about getting drunk, eating is more than just refueling. Eating and drinking are about enjoying. The food you're eating should not prevent you from fully enjoying the beer you're drinking with it and vice-versa. Therefore, beer aficionados and culinary experts have joined forces to recommend certain beers with certain types of meals. See below (again, all credit to Michael Jackson - the Michael with the pint glass, not the pedophilia):
Lucky for you, the temperature at which you store your beer is also the same temperature at which you should serve your beer. The flavor and aroma of a beer cooled to 35° F in a refrigerater will be masked by the cold temperature. In addition, chill haze may form in a beer stored at colder temperatures. Only when the beer reaches its appropriate serving temperature will the delicate flavor and aroma characteristics of the beer appear fully. Therefore, beer stored in your everyday refrigerator should be allowed to warm up a bit before serving.
Again, the same rules that applied to beer storage also apply to serving beer. Serve lighter beers such as fruit beers, pale lagers, blonde ales, cream ales, Belgian pale ales or Belgian tripels at 40-45° F. Dark lagers, lambics and wheat beers should be served up to 50° F. Most other ales, porters, stouts, strong lagers and real ale are best served at 50-55° F. More potent ales, such as strong ales, barley wines, imperial stouts and strong Belgian ales, can be served up to 55-60° F. Generally, the stronger the beer, the warmer the acceptable serving temperature.
One exception to the suggested serving temperatures of beer that I have come across are gluhkrieks. Gluhkriek, a relatively obscure sub-style of beer, is basically a Flemish brown ale flavored with cherries. There are only two commercial examples that I personally know of in the entire world. Liefman's Gluhkriek - brewed in Belgium - is the standard for this style of beer. However, the Belgian-influenced Canadian brewery, Unibroue, brews a gluhkriek under the name Quelque Chose. Both are absolutely fantastic. In the tradition of mulled ciders and wines, it is suggested that these beers are best when served about 100° F. However, serving a gluhkriek at the traditional temperature for fruit beers - 45-50° F - would not be inappropriate either. I've had gluhkrieks both ways and either way truly works just fine.
Just as your everyday refrigerator is not the appropriate place to store good beer, good beer should never be consumed directly from the bottle. And a pint glass is not the proper vessel in which to serve every style of beer. Beer should be served in the glass that best accentuates its flavor and aroma profile while allowing the proper amount of head and carbonation to develop. Unless you are in a restaurant or bar that specializes in good beer, you're not likely to have your beer served to you in the appropriate glass. However, if you're doing the serving at home or serving yourself, it's worth getting this right.
Beer glasses come in an infinite number of shapes and sizes. Belgian beers are noted for the fact that every single beer has its own unique glass recommended by the brewery. However, there are some basic shapes that all glasses are based upon. For example, many Belgian ale glasses are simply some variation on the style of glass known as a tulip. Below are pictures and descriptions of the basic beer glass shapes:
Flutes
are best-suited for fruit lambics and gueuzes - beers with a wine-like
bouquet. The tall, thin shape of this glass helps preserve the
effervescent head and channels the fruity aromas directly to the
drinker's nose, while the stem allows the drinker to hold the glass
without warming the beer.
Goblets
are used for Trappist ales and abbey-style beers. These beers are
frequently highly-carbonated, so the wide shape prevents the beer from
pouring with too large a head which would block the drinker from the
beer. With both a wide bottom and a stem, the beer can either be warmed
by cupping the bottom of the glass in the palm of the hand or left cool
by holding the stem. The chalice, basically a thicker goblet,
is the king of beer glasses.
Mugs
are used primarily in bars and taverns. Mugs are appropriate for most
basic ales or lagers. However, I would never serve a more sophisticated
style of beer, such as a gueuze or a Trappist ale, in a mug - they're
undignified. The shape of the mug does not necessarily accentuate the
flavor or aroma characteristics of the beer. The mug is actually a
practical drinking vessel. The handle prevents the drinker from losing
his grip on the mug should his hands become too slippery from eating.
The dimples in the dimpled pub mug seen to the left also help prevent
the glass from slipping out of the drinker's grip.
Pilsners
- as the name suggests - are well-suited glasses for lagers. are tall,
narrow glasses, slightly tapered at the bottom and slightly wider at
the top. Some pilsner glasses are straight while other flare out
slightly at the top. The thin body of a pilsner glass allows the proper
amount of head to form. The head then traps the delicate hop flavors
and aromas for the drinker to enjoy.
Pints
are the standard glasses in which most British and American beers are
served at home and in bars. Like a short, wide pilsner glass, pint
glasses are slightly tapered at the bottom and slightly wider at the
top and hold approximately 12 to 16 ounces of beer. The slightly wider
mouth prevents an overabundance of head and allows the drinker to
consume larger draughts of beer at one time. The nonick bugle pint
shown to the left is large enough to fit an imperial pint-sized draught
of beer (19 ounces) and has a slight bulge near the top to allow for
easier handling.
Snifters,
usually used in connection with wines and brandies, are also
appropriate drinking vessels for strong ales such as imperial stouts
and barleywines. The narrow neck allows somewhat of a head to develop
and traps the aroma while the short stem and rounded bottom allow the
drinker to cup the glass in his hand, thereby warming the beer to the
desired temperature.
Tulips
are the glass of choice for most Belgian ales. As many Belgian beers
are highly carbonated, the round bottom allows the beer to pour without
too large a head while the narrow neck harnesses whatever head is
poured and acts as a net for the various aromas that would otherwise
escape from the beer. The long stem allows the drinker to keep the beer
at serving temperature. Tulips may be flared, as seen to the left, or
not.
Weizens
are - as the name would suggest - the shape of glass recommended for
German wheat beers. The shape is designed to allow a very large head to
develop. This head will trap then showcase all of the complex aromas
typical of a good-quality weizen. However, weizen glasses are also
difficult to master. It is very easy to pour the beer with too large a
head. The glass may need to be turned almost completely horizontal to
prevent excessive head development
Before you serve your beer, make sure the glass is clean. This may sound intuitive, but soaps, oils and lint will affect head retention and possibly flavor. Beer glasses should be hand-washed thoroughly with light soap, not harsh cleansers, then rinsed extremely well with hot water and allowed to drip dry. Drying the glass with a dish towel will leave lint behind that will affect head retention.
Just as beer should be stored and served at a certain temperature and presented in the proper glass, beer should also be poured with the proper amount of head. Your average American light lager drinker (and a painful number of bartenders) think that beer should be poured with as little head as possible under the assumption that the foam gets in the way. However, pouring beer with the proper head level will allow for the slow release of the beer's unique hop, malt and yeast aromas, which adds to the overall enjoyment and experience of drinking a good beer. Therefore, pouring a beer properly is just as integral to enjoying a beer as any other way you treat the beer.
As indicated in the section above on beer glasses, the head level will be determined in part by the type of glass you're serving the beer in. If you're using the proper glass, you're more likely to acheive the proper head level. However, the suggested way to pour a beer is basically the same regardless of the style or glass:
Tilt the glass on a 45° angle. Gently pour the beer at the middle of the inside wall of the glass. You may need to pour the beer more slowly or quickly or tilt the glass more horizontal or vertical. Regardless of how you pour the beer, the key is making sure that you end up with the proper amount of head.
So what is the right amount of head to pour? It is largely a matter of personal preference. Furthermore, certain beers - such as Belgian beers or German weizens - will develop and retain more head than others. However, to properly enjoy and evaluate a good beer, there must be some head poured with the beer. As with the recommended storage and serving temperatures and glasses, the suggested amount of head is style-specific. However, there are three basic categories: ales, lagers and wheat beers. Ales should be poured with about 1/2 inch to 1 inch of head, lagers with no more than 1 to 2 inches of head and wheat beers should develop about 2 to 3 inches of head. Again, using the proper glass and pouring the beer properly will help you achieve these levels.
Now that you've taken the time and made the effort to store your beer properly, serve it at the recommended temperature, use the beer glass recommended for the style and pour it with the appropriate amount of head, all that's left to do is actually drink the beer - the whole point of buying or brewing beer in the first place. Most people only ask themselves one question when drinking a beer. However, there's much more to evaluating and enjoying a beer than "Is it good?"
There are four categories that you should consider when evaluating a beer: appearance, aroma and bouquet, taste and overall impression. After a few sips, your senses will be dulled to the particular characterisitics of the beer. Therefore, it is important to evaluate your beer with the first few sips, not after you've had 2 or 3 bottles of it. To review the characteristics that any given style of beer should exhibit, check out the Association of Brewers Beer Style Guidelines.
Appearance
When considering the appearance of beer, you should also look for head retention, color and clarity. To evaluate the appearance of a beer, simply hold it up to the light and look at it. The light will shine through the beer and reveal its true colors. For example, a Scottish ale looks dark brown sitting on the table, but holding it up to the light should reveal a deep garnet color. Color should be appropriate for the style you're drinking. The beer should be clear, unless it is a hefeweizen or some other style of beer in which yeast is appropriately served in the glass with the beer. Chill haze is usually unwanted in most beers styles.No head retention or excessive head retention may be inappropriate.
Aroma and Bouquet
After evaluating the appearance of the beer, the next step is smelling the beer. In beer parlance, the word "aroma" refers to the smell of beer imparted by grains and yeast. In the aroma you may perceive sweet, malty, roasted, toasted or chocolate smells. On the other hand, the "bouquet" of a beer is its smell relative to the hops used. In order to get at the aroma and bouquet of your beer, gently swirl the beer in the glass. This will release the malty aromas and hoppy bouquet. Again, aroma and bouquet should be style-appropriate.
Other characteristics may be perceived through smell as well. Esters - fruit-like odors - are common in ales but shouldn't be overwhelming and may be considered a fault in some beer styles. Certain smells should not be perceived in the beer at all. For example, a strong butterscotch aroma is an indication of diacetyl, a chlorine smell indicates chloropenals and a corn or cooked vegetable smell indicates DMS.
Taste
Now for the best part - drinking the beer. Keep in mind that the complex flavors of your beer will come forward most readily if the beer is being served at the appropriate temperature and in the appropriate glass. There are four main flavors the tongue can sense - sweet, salty, sour and bitter.
The area of the tongue that detects sweetness is on the tip of the tongue. Therefore, the sweetness of the beer is usually the first flavor that you will come across. The sweetness in the beer will be imparted by the malts, grains, sugars and fruits used. Esters may also create an element of sweetness in the beer as will very floral and herbal hop flavors. Make sure such flavors are proper for the style of beer you're drinking.
On the sides of the front half of the tongue, we can sense saltiness. Salty should never be a flavor that defines a beer. However, an excessive amount of mineral content in the beer could impart a salty off-flavor.
On the sides of the tongue right behind the salty-sensing areas are the areas of the tongue that detect sourness. Some beers, like lambics or Flemish brown ales, are supposed to be slightly sour. However, sourness is not appropriate in all styles.
Finally, right before the beer goes down the throat is the area of the tongue that senses bitterness. This is where the hop character will be revealed. Tannins, grains and minerals may also impart some bitterness to the beer.
The flavor of beer can be very complex. Therefore, when evaluating a beer, it should be allowed to cover the entire tongue before being swallowed. Remember that the flavors you sense should be style-appropriate. Review the Association of Brewers Beer Style Guidelines if you're not familiar with a certain beer style's flavor profile.
Overall Impression
Now that you've looked at, smelled and tasted your beer, you must have an overall impression of what that beer is. The most important and personally subjective category of all, overall impression likely determines whether you will drink that beer yourself or recommend it to someone else in the future. Overall impression includes but goes beyond the sensory input discussed above. You're now looking for intangibles. For example, is the beer drinkable? Is it "moreish" - does it leave you wanting more? How is the mouthfeel? How do the appearance, aroma and taste blend together? In other words, you're trying to get a... well, overall impression of the beer.
If you care to do so, you may want to record your impressions for future reference. If you plan on doing this, it might be helpful to note whether you had the beer in a bottle or on tap, the size of the bottle and the age of the beer. You might even want to record whether you had the beer by itself or with food. All of this information will impact the beer, so it will also impact your perception of the beer.
Formally judging beer goes beyond look, swirl, sniff and sip. All of those processes are still involved, but instead of merely creating a mental impression or jotting down a few notes, you actually score the beer based on how well it adheres to the Style Guidelines. Charlie Papazian - the father of the American homebrew movement - suggests two different systems for two different needs - a 20-point scale for simple home scoring and a 50-point scale for beer competitions.
The 50-point scale is broken down below. Simply add the points awarded to each section to determine the overall score. A score of 40-50 is excellent, 30-39 is very good, 25-29 is good, 20-24 is drinkable and 19 or lower is poor.
A slightly less complicated scoring system is suggested for home use. Under this scoring system, a score of 18-20 is excellent, 15-17 is very good, 12-14 is good, 9-11 is drinkable (barely) and anything scoring less than a 9 is considered poor.
Now that you have all of this wonderful knowledge about how to enjoy beer to its fullest, I'll bet you're dying to show it off for your friends... or maybe not. Well, this section will give you tips on how to enjoy sampling several different types of beer over the course of the evening, whether you're drinking by yourself (and there's nothing wrong with that) or with others. However, as with everything else, there are suggested ways to best handle a situation like this.
It's very simple. As a general rule, start with the beers lightest in flavor intensity to strongest saving the richest and strongest beers for the end. If you're having dinner along with your beer, remember that the flavors of the food you're eating will alter the way you perceive the beer you're drinking, so try to observe the rules suggested in the section above entitled The Right Beer for the Right Occasion. If you're not eating along with your drinking, plain unsalted crackers or bottled spring water are good to clean the palate for the next beer. No more than six beers should be sampled in one night as "palate fatigue" will set in, your senses will become dulled and you won't be able to accurately evaluate the beers you're drinking. (However, once you've evaluated the beers, feel free to drink 2 or 3 of each.)