A Pint Half Full

I'll be the first to admit, I'm no expert on how beer is made or on the types of malt/hops/yeast are used to brew different types of beer, or how to develop specific flavors using these same ingredients.  There is aLOT of science and art into creating beer and it can get really technical, just like music or cooking.  Eventually, I'd like to start getting into the intricacies of brewing beer myself but right now, I'm trying to learn beer appreciation and develop my palate by getting my hands on anything remotely interesting.

Naturally, taste, scent, and anything else related to the senses is very subjective so the reviews I write are only based on a very personal experience.  So I wanted to outline how I approach each beer and give some guidelines on how to taste and enhance your beer drinking experience.  There are alot of good resources you can find by googling to get a good guide on how to taste beer.  A couple good links are here (check out the flavor wheel halfway down the page) and here (beerutopia.com - check out their Beer 101 section).  I hope that these methods will help in finding beers that you like and can enjoy on a deeper level rather than just "sucking down a few cold ones".

I will just highlight some of my main methods here and what I use for the reviews.  With beer, it's all about releasing aroma in the beer in order to help open up your palate to taste all the flavors.  Second is the taste and allowing the the beer to reach all the corners of your mouth.  Third is the finish after your swallow.  Alot of the more subtle flavors and balance of the beer an be tasted in the aftertaste.  This is probably oversimplistic but works for me.  Read on for more details.

1. The Pour - Some might say that a good pour is one without much head so that you get more liquid (I think I learned this in college, bang for the buck or something).  But it's all about the head.  Create turbulence when pouring the beer to create head.  It helps to release aroma in the beer and also is an indication of the maltiness (or sweetness) of a beer: thicker means more malt and typically, more flavor.  Also notice the color to whet your appetite.
   


2. The Aroma - Take a good long sniff.  Sometimes, if there's too much head, it may mask the aroma.  Let it settle a bit, swirl the beer, and take another whiff.  Alot of times the hops are what you will smell.  A strong dark beer may yield malt in the aroma.  The scent will open your taste buds and help with tasting the beer.
   




Smell those ingredients!

3. The Taste - I drink from the glass while maintaining a sniff.  This way I get the aroma PLUS taste mixed together.  Let the liquid coat all areas of your mouth and let it warm up a bit.  This helps bring out the flavors and allows the beer to be tasted by the sweet/salt/sour parts of your mouth.  In addition, the carbonation actually helps with the taste of acidity, thus balancing the sweet and bitter from the malt and hops (link to NPR article on carbonation).  Also, notice if the beer tastes "thick" (a la Guinness) or "watery" (a la Bud Light).  
   


4. The Finish - Now I swallow the beer and let out a big "aaaaahhhh".  Just kidding.  Finish your drink and keep on tasting!  I notice that in some more hoppy beers, the hop bitterness or grassiness will linger.  Sometimes, in really balanced beers, the malt sweet tones are still there to counteract the bitterness.  Or does the flavor just disappear, leaving a clean, crisp feeling in your mouth? 

These are just some of the things that I try to notice in all the beers I drink.  Glassware can aid in trying to get everything out of the beer.  As you can see, drinking straight out of a bottle will most of the time reduce enjoyment of the beer.  Use a glass when possible.  Of course, there's a whole world of subtlety and different ways to describe what you just tasted.  But hopefully, these guidelines will help in the first step to a deeper appreciation of beer.