Beer 101 Part 2 of 2

How to taste and judge beer

1. Decant:

Once you have your beer, the first step is to decant, meaning pouring from a bottle or can to the appropriate glassware. There are many types of glasses for beer, so the easiest way to learn what style goes with what beer is to simply do a search online. A pint glass will work for most if you have no others available.

2. Look:

Color: We know how toasted the malts are based on the color.

Head: The amount of foam when the beer is poured.

Head-retention: The amount of head left over after the beer settles.

Lacing: Foam clinging to the sides of the glass (named for it’s resemblance to Belgian lace curtains).

3. Smell:

Nose: It is said that nearly all of what we call ‘taste’ comes from our sense of smell, so smelling the beer is important and will help you determine if the taste follows the nose.

Swirling: Just like wine, if you swirl the beer briefly, you will release the aromatics and get a better idea of the overall flavors.

4. Taste:

Mouthfeel: It means what it sounds like — how the beer feels in your mouth and the density of the body. Heavy? Light? Carbonated? Flat?

Carbonation: The amount of carbon-dioxide bubbles can greatly affect the taste and mouthfeel of the beer.

Balance: There is a beginning, middle and end to every taste. In a well-balanced beer, the equilibrium comes from malt sweetness during the first sip, the flavors come through while the beer sits in your mouth before you swallow it, then the hop bitterness comes just on the end as you swallow or lingers on the tongue just afterward.

Don’t forget temperature is a major factor in the flavor profile. The beer will not smell or taste as strongly of the key flavors if it is too cold, and it will go flat if it is too warm. Finding the balance will allow you to truly understand what the brewer intended for his or her beer.

Overall: Aside from just liking the way it feels, smells and tastes, you have to compare the beer in question to other beers within the same style. If you say you like Keystone and give it a 5/5, also keep in mind other American light lagers as a comparison, such as Yeungling, which most would rate higher, and use something like that as a comparison.

Now that you know how to judge a beer, go off and try a couple!

— Compiled by Lucas Sacks, staff writer, ldsacks@syr.edu

Published on March 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm