Searching for a short Craft Beer Guide with the key Dos and Dont’s? Well, you’ve reached the right place. You want to take care of your craft beer and ensure it is at its best. Stanley Park brewing share some do’s and don’ts to make the most out of your craft beer.
The Short Craft Beer Do’s Guide:
1. Take More Than One Sip
One of the things you should be doing is giving yourself more than a single sip. Craft beer can have strong aromas. The flavors found in these beers can be both complicated and daring. The aftertaste you may experience can bewilder. Therefore, you want to give it some time to sink in. Allow yourself to enjoy multiple sips before making your judgment.
2. Drink At The Right Temperature
As we referenced in the 1st round of Beer Facts we discussed, you don’t want to drink your beer at the coldest possible temperatures. When your beer is too cold, it could cause a decrease in the intensity of the flavor. Coldness can numb the tongue and cause your taste receptors to not work properly.
Thus, by overchilling your beer, you could be numbing your ability to experience the full taste of the beer. You will find a lot of beers like British Ales and Bocks opening up when they are served slightly chilled. You can find even more Facts in our blog post to see what the recommended temperatures would be.
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3. Use The Right Glassware
The glass you use can impact the overall taste of your beer. There are plenty of different shapes and sizes of glassware including the imperial pint and even the tulip glass. They are all aesthetically pleasing, but choosing the right one can make a difference in helping you experience maximum flavor. It can do so in many ways. For one, it can help provide more surface area for the beer to breathe or it can even keep the beer at a cooler temperature.
4. Look at ABV
When you are buying craft beer, you want to look at the ABV found in a specific beer. You will find a lot of really potent brews and some that aren’t as much. According to Beer Snobs, a lot of IPAs for instance may feature double-digit ABV. Because of this, you want to be careful about how many beers you are drinking with high ABVs.
5. Drink Your Beer Flight In Order
When you will be doing some taste testing, you want to be sure you are drinking the beer in order. Typically, you want to start with drinking the beers that are the lightest in flavor and those that have the least amount of ABV.
That way, you don’t overwhelm your pallet from the start. From there, you should move onto beers that are stronger in flavor, darker, and that contain more ABV. You want to go in order and avoid mixing them up because you will only muddy your palate.
6. Take Notes
When you are conducting a taste test, you want to take some notes. This might sound nerdy, but it is something that can help you figure out what you like and dislike. To make things even easier, you can use an online beer rating system which will allow you to keep track of things automatically.
The Short Craft Beer Don’ts Guide:
1. Don’t Store Your Beer In Light
One of the things that you should avoid doing is storing your beer in direct sunlight. This is one of the easiest ways to make your beer go bad. You don’t want it to get touched by sunlight which is why a lot of manufacturers will use dark bottles.
2. Don’t Store Beer Too Warm
You don’t want to store your beer anywhere that is going to experience high temperatures. For better taste, you should be looking to store your beer in an area that is at or below room temperature. The warmer the beer is stored, the quicker it will go bad.
3. Avoid Drinking On An Empty Stomach
One of the biggest rookie mistakes is drinking on an empty stomach. You want to give yourself something to eat before drinking. That way, it will slow down the rate at which your body metabolizes the alcohol. This will keep you from feeling tipsy after a single beer. This can help you enjoy your beers more and worry less about the negative effects of alcohol on your body.
4. Avoid Wearing Cologne or Perfume
You will find any strong smells will interfere with your ability to enjoy your beer. With craft beers, the aroma is a part of the experience. Avoid being around strong odors when sampling this type of beer.
5. Don’t Drive
It’s very simple, if you are drinking, don’t drive.
Want to read more Craft Beer-related posts on NYSF? Check out our review of Taproom No. 307 which has great craft beer, or our coverage of NYC’s Craft Beer Festival, back in the days before COVID-19…
