Beer -- Beer Tasting Tips -- Theory, Part I Articles | Beer

By: J.Morgan

Tasting is about the last thing in the world most beer drinkers would think they need advice on. But to get the most out of the experience, emulate professional winetasters and strike out into new territory. Learn what the pros know...

Start with a clean, dry glass for each brew being considered. Some argue that having the glass at the same temperature as the brew is best, since it prevents altering the liquid as it's poured. Experiment both ways, with a glass colder than and at the same temperature as the beer container.

Prepare to think about a few of the major characteristics of a beer, and focus on at most one or two for a given sip. Appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, flavor and aftertaste all play a part in the experience, along with more subtle aspects.

Appearance

Humans are visual creatures. What they see strongly influences their subsequent perceptions.

A brew that appears golden, bubbly and has an inch of white foam will generate one expectation. A glass of dark brown with a creamy brown two-inch head will create another.

Blind taste tests often produce surprising results. Many have identified their favorite brew as dull or even distasteful. Drinkers who wouldn't normally enjoy a strong Belgian have rated one highly during label switching tests.

Further, the long standing debate about the pros and cons of cans versus bottles has very little basis in objective criteria. Since the 1980s, cans are lined with a type of plastic that prevents any detectable influence of the metal on the beer.

Yet many continue to prefer bottles, even when the liquid inside is exactly the same and even when the brew is poured into a glass first.

Aroma

The sense of smell is many times more sensitive and complex in humans than the sense of taste, even given the varied sensitivity of different parts of the tongue. In any good taste test, before the liquid enters the mouth it hits the nose.

Though beer aromas aren't usually described in terms of a bouquet they have distinctive odors. (As more evidence that perceptions are influenced by factors other than pure taste, consider that even the use of the word 'odor' is likely to suggest something foul.)

Though hops are added as a means of offsetting the sweetness of malt, they also serve to produce aromas that add to the total. Hops, after all, come from a flowering, viney plant with cones. They can impart floral, spicy or citrusy odors.

Malts likewise influence the aroma. Roasted as part of the process of breaking down the grain buds to produce malt sugars, they can be light and grainy or dark and chocolatey or even burnt.

Continued in Part II...