Beer

There is no doubt about it, beer is always best served fresh. Equally as important to the taste as freshness, is how beer is stored.

1. Store your beer in the proper position. This means straight up, not on its side like wine. By storing the beer in the straight up position, you are ensuring that the sediment (yeast) stays on the bottom. Also, by storing your beer in the straight up position, it will oxidize less and inevitably last longer.
2. Store your beer away from the light. Oddly, ultra-violet light or blue light can cause it to be “light struck” or go “skunked” , meaning the taste is less than desirable. This is why the overwhelming majority of beer producers use dark bottles such as green or brown to store their beer.
3. Keep it cold! Over time, heat not only accelerates the aging and developing of flavors but over time, spoils the beer. For the best quality beer, storing it at a constant temperature of 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal.
4. Rotating is not just for bars and grocery stores. Most beers have a use by dates, some beers even have born on dates. It is important to pay attention to these dates because they are an indicator as to whether or not the beer was made for immediate consumption or long term keeping. Rule of thumb. Non-pasteurized draught beer about 45 – 60 days refrigerated. Pasteurized draught beer about 90 – 120 days refrigerated. Refrigerated bottled beer – 6 months. If not refrigerated – 3 months. When in doubt – taste test.

Click the link below to watch a pretty cool video on how to pour a beer properly, why it is important and how it affects your body when you don't.

How to properly pour a bottled beer.

Technique, Temperature and Taste are the three key elements when being served or serving a beer. However, it all starts with a beer clean glass. As a beer enthusiast, before you take your first sip of beer look for the tiny bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. This is normal and good. On the other hand, if you see large bubbles sticking to the sides of the glass from the top to bottom, this is not a good thing. This is a sure sign that the glass has not been poured properly. After a few sips as the beer level goes down, a lacy ring should remain on the glass. This is a clean glass.

Technique is all about the pour. For a draft beer, the glass should be at a 45-degree angle so the beer can flow down the side until it hits the middle of the glass, then tilted straight up.

Temperature the beer indicates if it has been stored properly or not. Cold beer of course indicates that it has been stored properly. It is far better to be served a beer that you consider too cold by preference and let it warm up than be served a warm beer that has no chance of recovery.

Taste is relative to the drinker, as we all have different taste preferences. There are a few key elements that will guide you as a true connoisseur of beer though.

• Is the beer the proper temperature?
• Are you drinking a new style of beer? If so, become familiar with the tastes of that style.
• If you are drinking a personal favorite and it tastes “off”, then it most likely is.
• Is your beer in date?

If everything looks good and tastes good, then cheers! Have another!