Beer tasting should be a full olfactory experience. However, many factors can alter your senses impacting on your overall experience. For instance, tobacco, strong perfumes, salty or greasy food can overstimulate your senses making them less sensitive to delicate beer flavors. Here are five beer tasting tips to take your beer tasting and drinking to a blissful level.
1. Serve at the Right Temperature
The temperature of a drink determines how it releases its aroma and flavor. If you serve your beer too cold, you will lose its aroma. The cold will also numb your taste buds muting or masking tastes. Conversely, if you serve your beer too hot, its flavor will be too strong. You will also lose the liveliness of the beer bubbles, and your drink will not be as refreshing as it should.
Serve your ales cold and your lagers cold. Also, follow the master brewer’s recommendations indicated on the bottle.
2. Pour it Properly
Proper pouring helps pull out aromas, release flavors, loosen and stimulate carbonization and form and retain a good head of froth. If you pour too gently, aromas will be lost. If you pour too hard, you will drive away carbonization prematurely.
For best results, tilt your glass to between 20-40 degrees. Start swirling gently and let the drink squirt to the bottom of the glass. Gradually get more aggressive. When you have a suitable foam, let the rest of the drink smoothly slide down the side of the glass. Aim for an excellent 2 cm head and make sure not to fill the glass too much.
3. Engage All Your Senses
Our senses are closely tied, and they jointly influence our perception. Drink under good lighting to enjoy your beer’s color and clarity. Listen to the sharp hiss when you open the bottle and the intoxicating glug of beer smoothly pouring into the glass. Watch the foam forming and collapsing on the surface of the beer. Before taking your first sip, take a moment and smell the beer. Note how the drink feels on your lips and the texture of the beer in your mouth.
4. Take Your Time
After sipping, don’t swallow your beer immediately. Allow the drink to wander and explore your palate. Note the mouthfeel. Taste the sweetness at the front of your tongue and the bitterness at the back. Try to detect other flavors. Continue appreciating those flavors and aromas.
5. Choose Your Drinking Atmosphere and Company
Beer is best enjoyed in a comfortable, calm, and friendly atmosphere. At such times, your body and mind are not distracted, and your acute senses are not blurred. You are comfortable both physically and mentally and ready to experience your beer.
Come and practice these beer tasting tips at the Edmonton’s International Beerfest. The celebration is at the Shaw Conference Centre on April 1-2, 2016. Many beer exhibitors and music bands will be in attendance to ensure a full supply of beer and music. Buy your tickets online.
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While beer is either ale or lager, each of these styles has an infinite array of aromas, mouthfeels, flavors, colors, and appearances. Consequently, beer exceeds all other beverages concerning variations and varieties. It’s therefore a perfect candidate for matching with food. Here are a few reasons to pair beer and food:
1. Serving food with beer makes every bite a joy
Here is how beer does this:
– It cleanses the palate and keeps it ready for the coming food.
– Beer enhances the flavor in food by subtly complementing the sweet, tempering the spicy and lifting the oils.
– Every kind of food can pair nicely with some beer.
2. Though flavorful, beer has a low alcohol content
With a moderate level of alcohol, beer is:
– An excellent choice at social events
– A good choice to match food where drink pairings are served
– A refreshing drink in warm weather and a comforting selection in cool weather.
3. Pairing beer and food is relatively easy
When matching beer and food, you only need to make four basic considerations namely:
Cut – offset the dominant flavors in food by proper beer selection
Contrast- highlight flavors by choosing pairs that are remarkably different
Complement- finding pairs that go together ‘naturally.’
Match intensity and strength- Typically, delicate dishes go with delicate beers and flavorful food with assertive beers.
Pouring & Glassware
As you pair food and beer, pouring and choice of glassware is also crucial. Make sure you have a minimum of two fingers of foam when you are done pouring your beer. A beer head holds the brew’s flavor in the glass. It also ensures a fuller taste and a smoother beer. To build a beer head, keep your glass upright on the table and let the brew splash down the center of the glass.
Regarding glassware, select your glassware to complement the type of beer you choose. Typically:
1. A flute glass enhances and showcases carbonation.
2. A goblet or chalice is designed to maintain head and offer deep sips.
3. A mug or stein is easy to drink out of and holds plenty of volumes.
4. A pint glass is easy to drink out of and easy to store.
Additionally, follow the following glassware rules to enhance the whole experience:
1. Reserve your beer glasses for beer alone and never serve other beverages in them.
2. Always serve your beer in a wet glass.
3. Never wash your beer glass with soap.
4. Never dry your beer glass, rather turn it upside down to drain out water.
You can learn more amazing things about pairing food and beer at the upcoming Edmonton International BeerFest. The event is set for April 1-2, 2016. Buy your tickets online and get ready to celebrate beer in an entertainment-filled atmosphere.
Photo Credit: FreeImages.com/ Afonso Lima
Beer has been conspicuously absent from health bulletins. Bless science, for now, we know that beer has its fair share of nutritional and health benefits. For starters, there is strong evidence suggesting that beer can increase good cholesterol. The primary ingredients in beer can also contribute proteins, carbohydrates, B vitamins, and potassium. Beer also contains polyphenols, calcium, iron, phosphates, and fiber.
While beer has undeniable health benefits, not all beers are created equal. Brewers use different recipes and brewing techniques impacting on the brew’s benefits. Here are some of the brews that have proven good for healthy living.
1. Blueberry Ale from Blue Point Brewing Company
Fresh blueberries are a major ingredient in this fruit beer. These handpicked blueberries come with many health benefits. For instance, they contain useful antioxidants. Consequently, drinking this refreshing brew can help you neutralize free radicals.
2. Pumpkin Ale (Schlafly Brewery)
This amber contains butternut squash and pumpkin. The brewer then spices it with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. Pumpkin and cloves contain antioxidants. Nutmeg has also contributed to healthy living for many years.
3. Ruby Redbird – Shiner
This lager beer’s ingredients include grapefruit and fresh ginger. Grapefruit has numerous nutritional benefits while ginger is a home remedy for different ailments.Among other things, it relieves migraines and morning sickness.
4. Juniper Pale Ale (Rogue Brewery)
This pale ale contains whole juniper berries. The fruits can help improve digestion, promote renal health and lower blood sugar. Additionally, Rogue Brewery does not use chemicals, preservatives, and additives in all its products.
5. Sah’Tea (Dogfish Head Brewery)
9th-century Finnish beer inspired this brew. Ingredients for the beer include juniper berries, ginger, and tea. As mentioned earlier, these ingredients have numerous proven nutritional and health benefits.
There are many reasons to enjoy beer. Celebrate your favorite brew or taste a new flavor at the Edmonton Beerfest. The popular festival is on April 1-2 at the Shaw Conference Centre. As always, it’s all about beer and total entertainment.
Photo Credit: FreeImages.com/ Bjørn Børresen
Human beings have enjoyed beer for many years. Consequently, we have developed an intricate relationship with this popular beverage. The relationship has its equal measure of facts and myths. Here are some of the biggest beer-related misconceptions, and why they are false.
1. Beer will make you grow a Beer Gut, Cocktails Won’t.
According to a study authored by Dr. Kathryn O’Sullivan, the “beer belly” phenomenon is a myth. During the study, the nutritionist found no conclusive scientific evidence linking beer to weight gain. She also noted that beer has fewer calories by volume than spirits, wine, and even orange juice.
Though many people doubted O’Sullivan’s findings, other leading nutritionists agree that beer bellies are due to excessive calories from different sources. Beer has its calories, yes, but there are other calories-laden food and drinks to avoid. And, cocktails have significantly more calories than beer.
2. Beer Should be Served Very Cold.
There are many misconceptions on the temperature beer should be stored and drank. One of the myths is that beer should always be served cold.
Since there is no consensus on the proper serving temperature, experiment with different temperatures until you establish your preferred serving temperature for different beer styles.
Regarding chilled beer, remember that your taste buds will become dead to the taste of beer that is too cold. You won’t taste the beer as you should, and that means less enjoyment.
3. To Enjoy Beer, Drink it From the Bottle.
To enjoy your beer, you should involve your taste buds and your sense of smell. A beer bottle is too small for the drinker to get a whiff of the beverage. Drinking beer from the bottle is, therefore, akin to drinking red wine out of its bottle. You can’t evaluate your drink this way.
4. Beer Is Simpler than Wine.
This misconception derives from the fact that you only need water, malt, yeast and hops to make beer. While beer is essentially a four ingredients product, modern brewing is like cooking. Like the chef, the brewer has the license to experiment. Craft brewers add all manner of things to beer, and that is not possible with wine.
5. All Dark Beers Are Heavy.
Most people assume that all dark beers are heavy. Contrary to this opinion, dark beers are not dark because they are intense. They owe their color to the roast level of the malt used to make them.
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Beer and wine divide the world so spectacularly. Each of these popular beverages has its dedicated connoisseurs. Debate on which of the drink is better continues and here is our voice:
On getting you drunk
A medium glass of wine and a pint of lager contains roughly the same alcohol content. For a drink to get to your head, it needs to go to your stomach from where it’s absorbed into the bloodstream. If you hold other factors constant, wine enters the blood stream faster than beer. The verdict here is: a glass of wine goes to the head more quickly than a pint of beer.
On giving you a potbelly
Alcohol contains sugars and calories. A standard glass of wine contains about 130 calories while a pint of beer contains about 180 calories. Beer can, therefore, lead to weight gain faster than wine. However, moderate drinkers of either of the drinks need not to worry. And no, beer doesn’t cause men to develop breasts!
On producing the worst hangover
A hangover is certainly a drinker’s most formidable enemy. Research on what causes a hangover is ongoing. Present scientific evidence points at dehydration and fermentation byproducts known as congeners. Darker drinks are believed to contain more congeners. Perhaps, that is why dark spirits such as bourbon seem to give a worse hangover than crystal clear vodka. Still, regarding a hangover, there appears to be no difference between different types of beer and wine.
On health benefits
Wine dominates the health bulletins. There is news for instance on how wine has helped French people ward off angina despite their diet. The health benefits of wine are linked to the polyphenols in wine. It’s believed that wine lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Although, beer has fewer health advocates, it also contains life-sustaining polyphenols. On scale red wine leads followed by white wine and beer respectively. Drinking in moderation is, however, important.
Beer has an illustrious history. There are even anthropological suggestions that our taste for beer led us to farm grains. That may have led us to agriculture and into civilization. Browse through Edmonton’s International Beerfest, and learn many amazing beer facts. You will also learn about Edmonton’s International Beer Fest. Beer fests are a fantastic time to meet brewers and other connoisseurs. They’re an excellent time to taste new flavors and get thoroughly entertained.
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Beer does some amazing things in batter for deep-fried foods. The CO2 gas in a can of Bud keeps things light and airy, and helps the batter cook fast, meaning the cod underneath can emerge moist and properly à point. But what kind of beer?
Aggressively hoppy beers (West Coast IPA, for example) can leave those zucchini fritters trailing a bitter aftertaste, but that doesn’t mean your best option is a bland factory macrobrew. A deeper, richer flavor can be important in some battered fry foods—think of the malty, bready flavors in a porter, for instance, in that batter for sweet apple fritters. Here, in random order, is a brace of beers you should consider adding to your fry-batter mix.
1. PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon)
Cheap, accessible, and classic, this pop-top macro lager adds CO2 without aggressive flavor, and a hipster credibility that might be the perfect accessory for your semi-ironic Midwestern Friday fish fry.
2. Coors Banquet
Another macro lager (see PBR, above), this Golden, Colorado classic gives you unobtrusive flavor and a big, fizzy lift.
3. Old Milwaukee
A Wisconsin fish fry calls for a Wisconsin macrobrew. Also, for the cost of a craft-brew 6-pack, you can lug home a 24-pack. Plenty for the batter, plenty for you.
4. Deschutes Brewery’s Bachelor ESB
British bitters aren’t actually bitter, they’re rich and malty, with a bready taste that works really well in batter. This Deschutes Bachelor gives a nice golden-brown color to the finished coating, too.
5. Widmer Brothers’ Drop Top Amber Ale
Amber ales are relatively sweet, but in a batter surrounding the right food (fennel or zucchini slices, for instance) it tastes exactly right.
6. Samuel Smith’s Pure Brewed Organic Lager
Fish and chips taste extra-English when you pop a bit of this in the batter. This pale, malty lager adds fizz and a bit of subtle richness without asserting itself too much.
7. Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager
Clean and crisp, with a nutty bit of caramel at the end. This is a pedigreed craft brew to devote to your fry-up, so wait till your guests arrive to tip it into the bowl.
8. Portland Brewing’s MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale
The hops give this one a floral quality—they’ll be lost in the cooked batter, but the caramel-edged malty sweetness should survive nicely.
9. Newcastle Brown Ale
Roasty, with a lightly malted flavor, scant caramel and zero bitterness. Perfect choice for a vegetable fritto misto.
10. Asahi Super Dry
Crisp and elegant, but with a richness you feel mid-palate. Tip some into calamari batter and sip the rest.
Source: 10 Best Beers to Use in Beer Batter Recipes
Photo Credit: Pixabay
