The term Beer itself includes different varieties, sometimes radically different from each other in taste, color and aroma.  Each of these varieties has its own fans, its own serving ritual and, of course, its own appetizer. Nevertheless, there is something that unites them – common rules of storage and consumption. It is about them that I will tell you today.

Storing beer

All food products have their own storage regulations. With beer, the storage requirements are much stricter. The most important thing is to keep beer away from light. The hops present in beer are afraid of light, so ” light strike beer” dramatically changes its flavor. For this reason, beer is bottled in dark-colored bottles, but they only reduce the impact of light. It is very important to store beer at room temperature. High temperature as well as direct light strongly affects the taste not for the better. Even if you have unexpected guests and you don’t have cold beer, never put it in the freezer! Rapid cooling breaks down the structure of the beer and impairs its flavor.

Beer glassware

Unfortunately, the image of a person sipping beer from a bottle or can is becoming usual. You can see it in movies, in bars, on the street… However, no one thinks about how much they lose when they drink beer from a bottle.

There are different glasses for each type of beer, and often even for each brand of beer. The glasses are used to highlight certain features of the beer. Its color, beautiful foam, clarity, aroma. Sipping beer from the neck of a bottle or from a can, we can’t see any of this. We cannot enjoy it for its beautiful color, clarity, snow-white foam. The aroma, as well as the taste, pass us by, because we do not even enjoy its magical smell, but just pour it into our mouths. Beer “washes” all the taste receptors on our tongue and does not let us focus on the flavor.

In such cases I always have a question: why drink beer if you can’t feel and enjoy all its beauty? Maybe it is better to drink water from a bottle?

How to properly drink beer

Fill the beer into the appropriate glass. Lift it up and look at the light. Look at the color, the brilliance of the beer. Good beer should shine and play in the light. There’s a reason beer storage tanks are called Bright Beer Tanks.

Smell the beer. The first inhale, the first feeling is usually the truest. Take a sip. Stop. Listen to your sensations. The aftertaste that remains in your mouth after taking a sip is also important. There should be no sour or bitter taste in your mouth. The beer should not have a musty or a metallic aftertaste.

P.S. Different kinds of beer often differ dramatically in taste and flavor. Sometimes what is characteristic in one sort should not be in another, but there is a general rule for all: even the sourest kind of beer (they very popular now), should not be like vinegar or have a spoiled taste. Popular nowadays IPAs, are often very bitter, but even in this case bitterness should be pleasant.

Beer temperature

Beer is not vodka and it is not drunk ice cold. Different kinds of beer should be served at different temperatures. Lagers are recommended to drink at a temperature of 8°C – 10°C. Strong ales are best drunk at a higher temperature. There is a direct correlation between beer strength and serving temperature: the stronger the beer, the higher the serving temperature.

Our home refrigerators are usually set to a temperature of around 4°C -5°C. Therefore, it is recommended to take the beer out of the fridge well in advance and let it warm up a little. Overcooled beer has a watery flavor.

Food for beer

Doctors recommend drinking a bottle of beer daily with a meal, not before or after. It does better that way. But beer is not a medicament, so we drink it not only during lunch. Nevertheless, beer should be accompanied by an appropriate appetizer.

Belgian Trappist ales go well with cheese, at the Munich beer festival beer is served with fried chicken, a good lager can be served with pizza, salted nuts go well with beer.

Someone may argue, what about salted fish? If you want to quench your thirst by beer, go ahead! But keep in mind, in this case you enjoy the taste of fish, not beer. Salted fish makes you thirsty and blocks the flavor of this noble beverage.

Summary

Finally, I would like to say that everything written above is advice and recommendations, albeit by a professional with many years of experience. It is not a dogma.

Enjoy your beer! Don’t drink it on the go and in dirty entrances. Drink Beer with nice beautiful people, friends, your loved ones. Do not turn the mystery into everyday life and Beer will love you back!