Beer – Drink more bliss

I reckon that we’ve made a great leap forward in our collective relationship with beer in recent years. I like to believe that we’re rapidly evolving away from a swill-as-fast-as-our-gullets-can-move relationship towards one that is more respectful of the fire that we’re actually playing with. Alcohol is, after all, a drug; and while its effortless availability and affordability might suggest otherwise, it’s also a luxury that we should be prepared to handover a decent chunk of change to enjoy.

In the last decade or so, we’ve seen a massive increase in the proportion of our local beer cellars that are dedicated to single bottles or cans. These are usually produced by smaller breweries and can cost as much – if not more – than a full six-pack of an offering from an industrial brewer like Lion or DB.  Choosing to take home one or two bottles (instead of six or 12) rightly comes with an air of expectation: you expect that first sip of the fancy stuff to result in an involuntary thigh-slap, and perhaps an expletive or two.  If the beer doesn’t have that effect, then you might feel that you’ve been a bit short-changed.  

But here’s the thing: it isn’t always the brewery’s fault if its offering doesn’t take you to nirvana. This month, I want to share three habits that you can form to maximise your chances of first sip bliss. They require a minimal amount of effort, and really can turn a good beer-drinking experience into a great one.

1. Check the best before date. For paler beers (think lagers and pale ales), most breweries in New Zealand will slap on a date that is 12 months after the day that it was packaged.  However, beers with hop character are generally best when they’re fresh – so the closer you are to that best before date, the less hop character you’re going to get. This is less important for darker beers, which (like red wine) tend to improve with a bit of age.

2. Pay attention to temperature.  If you’re drinking your beer just above freezing, then you won’t taste a thing – which defeats the purpose of spending your hard-earned moolah on decent beer. There’s a reason the English serve their cask-conditioned beer at cellar temperature: it’s because that’s the temperature where delicate fruity esters like to dance. Different beer styles pop at different temperatures. Take those big hoppy beers out of the fridge about 10 minutes before serving, and give those big stouts at least half an hour.

3. Put it in a glass. If your buddy offers you a glass for your bottle of Pilsner, replying that “It’s already in a glass, mate” is neither clever nor particularly funny. Drinking from the bottle or can is fine, but it just isn’t the optimal way to enjoy a well-made beer. For starters, the act of tipping a beer into a glass causes some of the CO2 within the beer to come out of solution and to form a lovely white head. As such, pouring your beer into a glass with a bit of vigour can prevent that awful bloated feeling (and associated burps) by reducing the amount of CO2 that you’re stuffing into your tummy. But perhaps most importantly, by drinking straight from the bottle you self-restrict your sensory experience of the beer – by both minimising the aroma (only so much can escape from that little opening) and completely eliminating your ability to look at the thing that you’re drinking. Beer is inherently beautiful, so why turn down the chance to see it in its birthday suit?

Jason Gurney