Gift Ideas for the Beer Lover in Your Life
We've created a page to help those who are trying to find the perfect gift for the beer lover in their life. Regardless of your spending budget, or your knowledge of beer, there will be something you can feel comfortable buying. To visit our beer gift page, just click on the following link: Beer Gifts
"Good people drink good beer." - Hunter S. Thompson
Beer Tasting
If you've either been invited to a beer tasting party, or you'd just like to learn about new beers, basic beer tasting skills will help. Before you start with a tasting, there are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, don't eat just before or during tasting, or do a tasting in a smoke filled room. Lingering tastes and smells can distort the beer's flavor. If you taste a number of beers, start with the lightest colored beer, and work up the scale to the darkest. It's best to cleanse your palate between beers with water. Finally, make sure you serve the beer at the temperature appropriate for the style of beer.
Never taste a beer directly from the bottle, always pour it into a glass. Some beer connoisseurs believe that you should always use a brandy snifter for tasting because it enhances the characteristics of the beer.
Others believe you should use the glassware choice appropriate for the style being tasted. Whichever you choose, make sure that your glass has been appropriately cleaned. For more details on glassware choices, and proper cleaning, visit our glassware page. When you pour your beer into the glass, start with the glass at a 45° angle, and bring the glass upright as you pour. Adjust your pour speed to try and create a head about two fingers high.
Before taking a sip of your beer, take note of its appearance. Is the head thick, or thin? What color is it? How long does the head last? What does it look like as it dissipates? Is the beer cloudy, or clear? How heavy does the carbonation look? Next, sniff your beer. Does it smell primarily of hops, or malt? Most beers have several different aromas. What foods, herbals, spices, or other scents can you detect in the beer? Can you smell the alcohol, and if so, is it heavy or light?
When you take your first sip, make sure you take in enough to cover your entire tongue. Pay very close attention to the initial sensation. The initial flavor of beer can be quite different from the finish. Try to distinguish between the flavors. Also, not how the beer physically feels in your mouth. Is it silky, fizzy, or chewy? Does the beer taste well balanced between hops and malts? How is the aftertaste? Is it pleasant? Can you taste the alcohol? If so, is it strong? Does the carbonation feel right?
Before you take your next sip, jot down a few notes about what you've tasted. See if you notice something new on your next sips. Also, see if you confirm what you tasted earlier. Try to get as many notes as possible within the first four sips, because your taste will start to lose acuteness after the fourth sip. Unlike wine tasting, you should definitely swallow your sips.
Remember when tasting beers, there is no right and wrong. Your thoughts on the beer, and your opinions of it, are just as valid as anybody else's. Drinking a beer is like viewing a work of art. Different people will see it differently. So, step outside of your normal drinking routine and taste some new beers. There's a lot of gems out there waiting for your to discover them.
Storing Your Beer
Generally speaking, beer is not intended to be aged. However, some beers do require a bit of aging to reach peak flavor. If you have a beer that would benefit from some age, or if you just have too much stock, there are some basic directions that will help keep your beer in optimal condition.
First of all, store your beer upright, even if the beer comes in a bottle with a cork in the top. Unlike a fine wine, you do not want to store your beer on its side. Secondly, when storing beer, do not allow it to be exposed to heat or light. Beer that has been exposed to light (including artificial light sources, such as fluorescent bulbs) can become "light struck", which gives beer a "skunky" taste. Brown bottles provide much more protection from light damage than green and clear bottles, which is why good beer is sold in brown bottles. However, beer in brown bottles still needs to be protected from light. Exposure to heat sources can cause oxidation in your beer, which will give it a "cardboard" taste. Store your beer between 35° F and 60° F. Keep in mind that if you store at the higher end of this temperature range, the yeast will remain active and accelerate any aging effects. If you live in a cooler climate, you can store your beer in a cellar, but for warmer climates, you will probably need refrigeration to keep your beer safe.
Most larger scale breweries pasteurize their beer, which kills the yeast and allows for longer storage life. However, most microbrews and hand crafted beers are not pasteurized. So, if you have a fine beer on hand, don't store it...drink it.
Think Globally - Drink Locally
Can drinking locally brewed beer, rather than massed produced beer save the planet? Probably not, but there are some benefits beyond drinking better beer. We make our beer choices based on what our tastes prefer...and rightfully so. However, if you're interested in the green movement, being eco-friendly, sustainability, and the like, locally brewed beer is a much better choice than a mass produced beer that was made far away.
The "greenest" option for beer is to drink the one that is brewed closest to your current location, and is served on tap. Draft beer is packaged and shipped in re-usable kegs, plus it's served in glasses that are re-used, rather than bottles that typically end up in a landfill. Locally brewed beer dramatically cuts down on the amount of fuel consumption and pollution created by shipping beer across the country. They say an average beer travels over 1,000 miles from the brewery to your mug. That's a lot of beer miles!
Another green option for local breweries is the use of "growlers". A growler is a re-usable half-gallon glass jug. Many brew pubs and microbreweries will sell you a growler of beer to take home that you can bring back for repeated refills, typically at a discounted price. Make sure you clean your growler well before getting it refilled. Hot water alone works best, because soap can leave behind residue that will ruin your beer. Beer doesn't keep well in a growler, so try to drink it within a few days of purchase.
If you don't have a local brewery that makes beer to your satisfaction, you could take drinking locally brewed beer a step further, and brew your own. Drinking local beer won't save the planet, but it will help. Since even the small steps we take to save the environment are important, think globally by drinking locally. Worst-case scenario is you'll find some really great local beer, and keep your money in the local economy.
Save the earth...It's the only planet with beer!
