How To Serve The Perfect Beer
Introduction
The perfect beer pour is part art, part science. It all starts with clean glassware--you can’t serve a good beer if you don't have nice glasses to hold it in! Beyond cleanliness though, there are some best practices that will make sure your beer experience is as pleasant as possible every time. Here are my tips for how to properly serve draft, canned and bottled beers at home:
Clean glassware
The most important factor in serving beer is having clean glassware. This means that your glasses should be free of any dings, scratches or streaks before you use them for beer. Because you’re going to be pouring liquids into these fragile vessels, it’s important that they are perfectly clean and dry before serving them up to thirsty customers who want nothing more than a cold brewski!
The first step in making sure that your glassware is properly prepared for service is to wash it with soap and water. You can also use an ammonia-based cleaner if you have one handy (like Windex). After washing the glasses with soap and water or ammonia solvent, rinse them thoroughly until all traces of soap have been removed from the surface of each glass. Do not allow any type of residue on either side of a glass because it will affect how well the head forms when poured over top of each one later down this road map!
Once washed thoroughly with soap/water mixture; rinse off all dirt particles left behind after the cleaning process has been completed successfully! Take extra care during this step so as not to accidentally miss any lingering dirt particles, otherwise they may end up being served alongside someone else's favorite beer style - not good for business at all!!
Pour at a 45 degree angle
Tilt your glass at a 45 degree angle and start pouring beer in the center of the glass. When you get about two inches from the top, straighten up the glass and allow your beer to lightly effervesce against the side of your glass (like a champagne flute) to create a nice, big, foamy head that will last throughout your drinking experience.
Pour from 12 inches away
For draft beer, this means 12 inches above the glass; for cans or bottles, hold them at least a foot above the glass when pouring. Pouring too close to your glass will create small bubbles and destroy that large, fluffy head that traps aroma. Also, always pour beer down the middle of your glass so you don’t disrupt that beautiful foam head.
How full should my pint be?
A 16-ounce pint should be filled to 1 inch below the rim of the pint glass and leave room for foam at the top.
- Hold your glass at a 45 degree angle, 12 inches above your beer.
- Slowly pour down the middle of the glass, not too close to the rim, to avoid disrupting your foam.
- Your 16 oz pint should be filled to 1 inch below its rim and leave room for a frothy top!
Conclusion
Now that you know the basics of how to serve beer, we’re going to dive into all the nitty gritty details. You might be thinking: “But I don’t want to spend my whole day cleaning a glass!” Don’t worry—we have a solution for that too.