How To Taste The Best Craft Beer
When it comes to the best craft beer, the last thing you want to do is chug it. Craft beer is not the same as the ordinary beer that you might buy at your local grocery store. Instead, this kind of beer is full of unique hints and aromas that are unique from brewery to brewery.
For that reason, it is important to appreciate the nuances of craft beer as you would with fine wine. But how should you go about tasting craft beer in the first place? Keep reading more below to find out.
The Best Craft Beer: Pick Up the Scent
Before you even take a single sip of beer, you will first want to consider the beer’s scent. This is important because getting a whiff of the beer will give you a good impression of what the beer might taste like. Also, taste and smell are two very interconnected senses.
Even if you sip the best craft beer in your area, you won’t be able to appreciate the taste if you don’t smell it first. You might miss out on some important flavors throughout the tasting process. When first detecting the scent of craft beer, you will want to see what the most obvious scents are.
For example, is the beer mostly citrusy? Or does it smell more like pine trees or grass? Once you detect the overarching aromas of the beer, you can consider the smells more and pick up on more delicate scents.
If you smell citrus, try and see if you can pick up any specific citrus fruits like orange or lime. Once you’ve finished picking up on the beer’s aromas, it’s time to move on to tasting it.
How To Taste
As mentioned before, the last thing you want to do when tasting craft beer is gulp it down. If you drink your beer too fast, all the flavors will wash right over your taste buds and you’ll miss out on all the excitement. Instead, you will want to take your time and enjoy the taste and aroma of the drink.
Your first impression of the beer is very important. The first impression is when the strongest flavors of the beer will hit your tongue. For example, you might taste overarching flavors of pine and mushrooms in the first sip, but your first impression only captures a fraction of the flavors that the beer has to offer.
Once you go in for your next sip, you will have the chance to go beyond the initial flavors and explore the more intricate notes of the beer. You might pick up hints of oak, vanilla, cherry blossom, and so on. Smelling the beer while tasting it will give you the chance to connect these two senses and come up with more complex thoughts about the craft beer.
Keep in mind that when tasting the beer, its temperature matters. Some beers taste better when cold while others should be a bit warmer to explore the full flavor profile. Use water to clean your palate if you are trying several different types of craft beer. Finally, be careful what kind of food you eat with the beer since the food can interfere with the beer’s flavor profile.
With these tips, you’re sure to be able to taste craft beer like a pro.
