Monday, 20 July 2009

• Tips To Help You Actually Enjoy Beer

  Hi everyone! We recently posted an entry on Acquiring the Taste of Beer. One of our IRLF commenters shared some great tips on his knowledge of beer! Thanks stubrock! Check it out his comment below:
  

  

  Too many American beers advertise themselves as the "coldest", "icy", or as having "drinkability". These are poor attempts at making you think that if you nearly freeze something, drink it from the bottle (effectively limiting how much you can smell it, and therefore actually tasting it), and down a half-dozen of them, you can "acquire" the taste. Really, these are all necessary steps in order to even get one down, much less enjoy it. Here are some tips to help you actually enjoy beer:
  

  1. Don't buy beer that doesn't even name itself. Here's what I mean: Beer has several names and faces, depending on the style in which it is brewed, ingredients used, etc. ALL beer is either a Lager or an Ale, and everything else falls into one of these two categories. Lagers are usually lighter in body, crisp, and meant to be enjoyed at cold temperatures (38-48 degrees). Ales are fuller in body, usually more malty (bread-like), and can be enjoyed chilled, but not very cold (50-55 degrees is what I prefer). Lagers include bocks, maibocks, hellerbocks, octoberfests, etc. Ales run a fuller spectrum, going from light to dark: Pale Ale, India Pale Ale (IPA), Amber, Brown, Porter, Stout, Extra Stout, etc.

  Most affordable (cheap) beer in America can't advertise itself as anything! This is because insetad of following guidelines for a particular style, breweries (Namely Coors, Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Pabst, and Yuengling) substitute corn and rice (cheaper ingredients) in order to achieve an alcoholic beverage with a light body. Basically, if it calls itself an Ale, IPA, Brown, etc., it's going to taste a lot better than something that simply labels itself "Chill" or "Ice". Make sense?

  2. Don't drink anything which is available in a 12-pack. There's a reason some beers cost almost the same or less than a pack of Cokes or Pepsi. It's because they're made with crap ingredients. These beers aren't made for enjoying the taste. They're made (and packaged) with the intention of quenching your thirst when you're downing nachos and hot wings. They don't want you to savor any of the flavor. Some are even advertised with having "wider mouths" so that you can pour it down faster! Ha!

  3. Don't be afraid of spending more money for better product. I mean, seriously. Have you priced individual soft drinks, lately? $1.20-$1.50? How much do you pay for a fountain drink at any fast food place? And that's just sugar water, really. But for some reason, people that beer, something which takes talent and craft and hard work to brew, should cost less! Even if you pay the same money per serving, about $1.25, you're not really stretching your wallet to pay a base of about $7.50 per six-pack. Usually, no matter the style or brand, if you pay money, you'll be rewarded.

  4. Explore. There's something like 3,500 breweries in the United States alone. There's got to be something you like. To say all beer is the same, or that you haven't had one you like, it just means you haven't tried enough. Go to a bar or pub (a respectable one with as many beer options as possible) and ask to sample some of the beers on draught. DON'T ASK FOR ANYTHING YOU'VE HEARD OF. Craft beer doesn't have millions of dollars set aside for commercials and ad campaigns. If you really need to put your product on a blimp to make people drink it, it doesn't say much for the product.

  5. Taste. Pour your beer into a glass before drinking it. Being able to smell your beer helps to bring out all the flavors. And if you don't like a certain beer, don't believe the LIE that you have to acquire the taste for beer. If you don't like it, it means it sucks. Don't drink it. Just move on to the next beer, and see how you like it.

  I hope these tips prove helpful for you and anyone else reading them. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, etc. I can also recommend several beers that you would probably love, if you'd like.
  

  Thanks.

  stubrock
  
  

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