And why am I so concerned about where my beloved beer winds up once I give it away for friends to try? First we have to take a look into the why beer should be handled a certain way and how that can impact the flavor. I spoke with a gentleman over the weekend who recently came back from a trip to Belgium. Beer heaven, or haven we both agreed, Belgium is a country where visiting beer lovers never seem to have enough time to experience all it has to offer. He explained to me that you'll often see locals sipping the same beer over a one or two hour period and that you can obviously spot a tourist as they down five or six different brews in the same time span before rushing off to the next pub.
So is there a right way to drink beer? Yes and no. For some, drinking beer doesn’t involve plastic, aluminum or a headstand on top of a keg. But for 75% of the beer bought in this country, and for probably the same amount of drinkers, beer is simply an alcohol delivery system in a can. Buy it cheap, serve it cold, and drink it fast – that’s the mantra of the average beer drinker in America. What most people don’t know (or refuse to believe), is that great beer is a beverage that requires care in serving and drinking, and it doesn’t involve aluminum.
First, beer in this country is simply served too cold. Images of ice, snowy mountain ranges, and cold water dominate the mainstream beer ads, giving the impression that beer should be cooled to as low as physically possible before being consumed. In truth, most beer (good beer, anyway), benefits from being served warmer than you’d think, helping to bring out the flavors in the beer. Have you ever held an ice cube to some part of your body to numb it? That’s what ice cold beer does to your taste buds, shutting down any chance of you tasting anything pleasant in the beer. Anywhere from 45 degrees to 55 degrees is perfect, depending on the style. As a good rule of thumb, the higher the alcohol content, the warmer the beer should be served.
Second, beer is all too often served out of the completely incorrect vessel. No, an aluminum can is not appropriate to drink beer out of. I know what you’re saying: “Oh, well, I only drink it out of the bottle – it tastes better that way” – nope, sorry. Drinking beer through a 1 inch glass hole is a horrible way to experience decent beer, and you might as well save yourself a few bucks and drink water. Do yourself a favor – next time you have a beer, pour half of the beer into a glass, and leave the other half in the bottle and see which tastes better. You’ll never go back to the bottle.
So, what should you drink great beer out of? For me, there are four basic glasses that one should have on hand to accommodate most styles: pint glasses, pilsner glasses, brandy snifters, and champagne flutes. Most low alcohol beers, such as pale ales, amber ales, brown ales, stouts, porters and IPAs will be fine in a pint glass. As alcohol increases, such as in Imperial Stouts and Porters, Barleywines, and Strong Ales, a snifter is great. Pilsners (real, true pilsners) work great in the pilsners glasses, along with other like-flavored styles. Lastly, fruited beers and lambics are perfect out of a champagne flute.
If you’re going to drink great beer, make sure to drink it right. Put away the funnels and the solo cups and serve it how the beer wants to be served – from the right glass, at the right temperature. The only caveat is this: if you’re drinking cheap, mass-produced beer, don’t waste your money on glassware – nothing’s going to help!!
Lastly, bottle-conditioned beers contain living yeast, and have a layer of yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle. This sediment can usually be seen when the bottle is viewed from the bottom. Many believe that only Hefeweizen should contain active yeast, but there are many styles that taste superior after bottle conditioning. In fact, all my beer is bottle conditioned simply because I lack the funds for forced carbonation and really enjoy drinking living beer. A bit of living yeast in the bottle will actively keep beer fresh by eliminating unwanted compounds, consuming harmful oxygen, and producing carbon dioxide. Yeast also absorbs and consumes the healthy antioxidant plant constituents that are derived from barley and hops. If the yeast is removed from the beer, much of the healthy constituents may be removed. Yeast also provides B vitamins, which are removed from your body when alcohol is metabolized. Some people may find beer yeast to be unpalatable. If so, pour the beer slowly as to not disturb the sediment. I often pour about half of my beer out of the bottle and it is extremely clear without filtration or fining agents. True conditioning! I'll enjoy half of the other half as a cloudy beer with a bit of a yeasty finish-this can be quite complex and pleasant, depending on the yeast used to ferment the beer. The final quarter or less of the beer is up to you. Many homebrew enthusiasts choose not to partake. Others give the remaining beer a swirl, a pour and a taste, not wanting any of their hard earned work to go to waste. Unfortunately, it's this same yeast that enjoys stability once the beer is carbonated and conditioning. That doesn't mean sitting it your garage, on the seat of your 90 degree car for four hours while you rune errands, sideways in the produce bin of your refrigerater because that's the only place left in your fridge (otherwise occupied by a 12-pak of Miller Light), in direct sunlight on your counter for three weeks or in a cabinet over your stove. Once fully carbonated, beer loves to be cellared at say 50-55 degrees and mostly consumed right around that temperature or slightly lower, depending on style as mentioned above. If you don't have a cellar, simply refrigerate it, keeping the yeast on the bottom, and let it warm up a bit toward ambient temperature prior to drinking. Prost!
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