The Beer Basics

Before you begin to really delve into your beer palate, you probably should know some of the beer basics. To look at it simplified, Beer is comprised of 4 basic ingredients: water, yeast, hops, and malts. Hops, a type of flowery plant, make beer taste bitter and malts, wheat that has gone through specific "malting" procedures, make beer taste sweeter. As I mentioned in my last posting, every beer is different with its own recipe, but these four ingredients tend to be present in all. The best way to drink/taste a beer is in a glass. So before you sip anything, find a nice pint glass to pour it into. Be sure to pour the beer against the inner side of the glass so that you create what is called the "head" (the foam on the top of the beer) that is about an inch thick. Similar to tasting wine, there are steps to take for tasting beer. As BeerAdvocate.com states, there are four steps to tasting a beer which are looking, agitating, smelling and tasting. While looking at a beer, focus on the color, consistency and the head of the beer. Agitating the beer consists of swirling the beer in the glass. This may cause more subtle aromas to escape as well as test the carbonation, consistency and head. Smelling the beer is a really important step in the tasting process, because smell largely influences the taste of something. Really take some time to focus on the aroma and the various notes that are present. Finally it is time to taste your beer. As you take a sip, do not swallow it right away. By letting it linger in your mouth it allows the beer to run over your palate and various taste buds. While tasting, think about the "mouthfeel" of the beer; meaning, focus on how smooth or dry the beer feels. Now, swallow your beer. As you do so, note any lingering tastes or new tastes that were released during this finish. After this, you have completed tasting a beer and have the reward of enjoying the rest of your glass! One last tip for tasting beer is that if a beer is too cold the taste can become muted. Well hopefully you feel confident now to get out to a local beer shop for some tasting.

Drink Responsibly!

- The Brewnette