The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer by Ashley V. Routson

Author:Ashley V. Routson [Routson, Ashley V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Published: 2015-05-31T21:00:00+00:00

Time of day matters: When you taste beer can have a surprisingly big impact on your overall perception of it. Think of your nose as if it were powered by batteries: the more you use it, the less juice it has. As you go about your daily life, your nose is experiencing all sorts of sensations—fresh cut grass, car exhaust in traffic, your co-worker’s Chinese takeout, your boyfriend’s cologne, the sweaty gym, and so on. By the end of the day, your nose is drained from its eight-hour-long smell-a-thon. This is why midmorning is typically the best time of day to do a pro-style beer evaluation. Give your nose and tongue just enough time to wake up, but not enough time to exhaust it to the point of no return.

Don’t ruin your palate: This might sound obvious, but do not drink coffee or smoke cigarettes right before you taste beer. It is, however, important to eat before tasting beer. Alcohol on an empty stomach can quickly impair your ability to properly evaluate beer, after all. Just avoid spicy and heavily seasoned foods, especially garlic. Opt for a nice, bland, oatmealy breakfast.

Neutralize yourself and the room: Avoid wearing perfume, cologne, lotion, lipstick/gloss, hairspray, body spray, and pretty much anything that smells like anything. Even neutral ChapStick is a no-no since oils can flatten the head of a beer. Fragrance-free shampoos, soaps, and deodorants are ideal, but really, as long as you didn’t just jump out of the shower your normal products are likely just fine. As far as the room goes, you want to make it odor free, of course. You should also make sure it’s not too noisy or crowded, and that it’s well lit. As any test-taker knows, noise can quickly affect your concentration. And if you can’t clearly see the beer, you’re robbing yourself of key visual data.

Use tasting glassware: In some situations, using a plastic cup is unavoidable. However, if you’re organizing a tasting in your own home, use clean glassware instead—and do not use the same glass for multiple beers unless you thoroughly clean it between pours. Proper glassware typically doesn’t matter in this case, especially since you’ll likely be pouring small quantities. (Speaking of which: If you plan to taste multiple beers, definitely limit yourself to small pours.) Personally, I find brandy snifters to be a nice choice for a tasting glass. You can easily swirl the beer around the glass, agitate it a bit, and get a good whiff of its aroma. However, if you are evaluating one beer in its entirety, pouring it into its recommended glassware will of course be the closest way to evaluate it under its own ideal serving conditions.

Cleanse your palate—heck, cleanse your nose: It’s always smart to have a glass of water as well as some unsalted water crackers or white bread on hand. In multiple beer tastings, you’ll need all the help you can get to neutralize and refocus your palate. Sometimes, when tasting and evaluating several beers in a short period of time, you’ll find it’s not just your mouth getting tired.

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