Whoever first say , " if you love something , set it free , " definitely was n’t talk about beer . If you love the stuff as much we do , you want to keep it close and make trusted nothing bad ever happens to it , at least until it ’s resting safely in your belly .
Keeping beer safe and sound can be crafty business , so we put together this helpful list of basic dos and don’ts ( OK , mostly don’ts ) for preserving the beau ideal inside that gorgeous bottle .
You’re literally drinking it ice-cold
Every time you put a hexad in the deep freezer , a cunning brewer loses his wings . Freezing - cold temperatures do n’t corrupt your beer , per se , but they do numb the hell out of your sense of taste bud . All you ’ll get is the bare minimum of flavors , missing out on all those insidious layer brewers work so hard to create just for you . And do n’t even get me started on frosted visage . If you want to salute beer , look up the ideal temperature kitchen range for your chosen style and shoot for that . If you need to drink half - frozen carbonated water , pink yourself out , just leave beneficial beer out of it .
You’re storing and/or buying it warm
Many beer styles are extra vulnerable to drastic ( i.e. , 20 degree or more ) swings in temperature . Keeping bubbly , lighter styles like American lagers , Pilsners , kölsches , session beer , pale yellow beers , and some pallid ale in a warm spot can , over time , mute their effervescent carbonation grade and muddle their flavors . Those kind of beers merit their fridge clock time . Buying those styles warm is an even greater concern , since unchilled beer may have gone through any turn of temperature changes throughout their lifetime and are less likely to be as clean as the electric refrigerator guys . If your local nursing bottle shop only stocks warm , prefer for less - delicate , higher - ABV , and maltier beers like barleywines , majestic stouts , cask - aged stuff and nonsense , and the similar and then give thanks me later .
You’re using the wrong glass
Little - experience fact : the only thing pint glasses do well is keep your beer from shed all over your lap and sometimes they ca n’t even manage that ( see : every span of jeans I own ) . The understanding American bars be given on these useless vessels is because they ’re cheap , relatively long-lived , and easy to transport . In most beer - centric European countries , however , just about every character of beer is assigned its own specifically designed , corresponding glass . prescribe a Pilsner in a beer - centrical Europe country and it arrives in a marvellous , gracefully taper chalk , minute at the base to showcase its frail color and preserve its theme song gamy carbonation and wider at the top to advance a frothy , aromatic oral sex . So if you want to regale that $ 9 guile beer like the special Plectrophenax nivalis it is – and , by all means , you should – essay to get your hands on an appropriate glass .
You’re drinking it on the rocks
Who are you , Bloomberg ? block up it .
You’re aging the un-ageable
Such a greenhorn move . So you need to become a existent , bona fide beer geek , yeah ? First things first : you have to stock your brand - newfangled cellar with some top - tier , enviable beer , the kind of stuff that sends your fellow forum ranters into drivel fits of jealousy . That ’s an excellent move – as long as you ’re treating it ripe . Aging beer intend to be drunk fresh is a big no - no in the craft beer world , as each flair reacts reasonably differently to the effects of clock time . A number of maltier , heartier beers , like boozy barleywines , royal stout , Belgian strongs , most cask - older brew , and some sours and Scotch ales , can grow plenteous and more complex , something many beer toper really appreciate . The ease – light lagers , kettle sourness , hefeweizens , and anything hop - forward like pales , IPAs , and imperial IPAs – tend to degrade over time and should never be stashed away .
You’re exposing it to sunlight
This is also a grown one . Hops , like a lot of plant life - based textile , love sunshine on the vine but are n’t so magnanimous on it once they ’re curve lax . Hops moderate isohumulones , short - sensitive little buggers that , at the first lead of cheer , break down and start to discharge some of the same unappetizing chemicals produced by , you guessed it , skunks . For this reasonableness , light - hued or clear glass bottles are always , always a sorry idea ( though , curiously enough , citrus tree lean to neutralize those skunky flavors … ) . Instead , check that you ’re sip your hops - dud from a brown nursing bottle or , even secure , a good old can . And if you ’re planning to do your drinking outdoors , ensure to drop your stockpile in a fly-by-night spot .
You’re drinking it past its prime
commemorate Bud ’s whole " Born On " cause ? Turns out it was on to something . Believe it or not , beer , like most practiced thing in this world , has a ledge life . This go double – the pits , quartet – for hoppy beer like IPAs , pales , and hoppy lager . Over time , record hop get down to pass off into malarky , yield that previously juicy , nuanced , ironical - hopped wonder about as interesting and nuanced as chewing on a piece of pine barque . And that would just break in its piteous , hard - work brewer ’s center . That ’s why Stone began supply its genius Enjoy By serial publication , so drinkers could approximate just how long they had before their treasured beer went to the south ( also because everyone loves a beer called 4/20 ) .
You’re ignoring dirty taps
If I ’ve read it once , I ’ve said it 10 billion times : do not toast tap beer pour from dingy lines . Even an oversaturated beer snob like me loves dive streak – they ’re the best ! They ’re so dark and fun and they play the best medicine and always have that console toilet - water system - nacho olfactory perception going on … but I stray . What I ’m trying to say is : be deliberate where you drink on draft . Unless the right way maintained , draught lines can build up nasty bacterias which not only completely kill an otherwise dead potable brewage , they can also , in rare showcase , make you sick . So if your gut is telling you that a taproom ’s occupation have n’t been flushed in over a month , go with it and require for a bottle ( your catgut will literally give thanks you ) .
You’re shotgunning it
Have a little class , bruh .
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Lee Breslouer/Thrillist
Flickr/Anthony Patterson (edited)
Matthew Albanese/Thrillist
Flickr/Darien Graham-Smith
Flickr/Four Brewers
