The Perfect Pour

On Monday the Beer Man played Golf in upstate New York. It was a glorious day and all had a great time. No persons or animals were injured or maimed in the process. No cheap, yellow, watery beer was consumed within his field of vision. A glorious day indeed! The Golf occupied the better part of his day, but the true highlight was the Beer Man’s short visit to Half Time in Poughkeepsie, New York www.halftimebeverage.com .

For a beer aficionado Half Time is the closest that you will come to Beer Nirvana. They advertise having over 1000 different beers and they just might have that many, and then some. I had only about 30 minutes to browse and managed to score some great beers to try. I will share my finds with you in a future column, but suffice to say they represent an eclectic mix. I picked out styles ranging from German Altbier to Oak Aged California Imperial Pale Ale. At Half Time you are encouraged to break six-packs and mix and match. Beer Man did so gladly. So much quality beer choose from, so little time to make the choices (loud audible sigh).

As promised last week, let’s take a brief moment to talk about properly pouring a beer. We talked about Glassware in the last column. Assuming you have the appropriate glass at hand, make sure it is clean. (Hot water, clean sponge, dish soap, rinsed carefully then air dried and never chilled.) Why so clean? Hygiene considerations aside a dirty glass, containing traces of oils, dirt or residue from a previous beer, may inhibit head creation and destroy or alter the beer’s flavor. Why not chill the glass? In most cases beer is best cool, but not too cold. A chilled glass will inhibit your ability to taste the beer. Some beers require more or less chilling to properly express their charms. Do your homework, read the instructions on the brewers packaging or go to http://www.beeradvocate.com/ for serving suggestions including the type of glass that the beer requires.

To start the pour, hold your glass at a 45° angle.

Pour the beer, targeting the middle of the slope of the glass. If the head does not start to form on its own don't be afraid to add some air by increasing the distance between the bottle and the glass as you pour.

At the halfway point bring the glass vertical and continue to pour in the middle of the glass. This will induce the perfect foam head.

Having a head on a beer is an essential part of a proper pour. Head formation releases the beer’s aroma and adds to the visual presentation. Again you may also want to gradually add distance between the bottle and glass as you pour, to coax the beer into raising a good head. Experts agree that an ideal head should be an inch to an inch and a half (two fingers). Each beer is different so some experimentation is in order here.

Particular care must be exercised when pouring some bottle-conditioned beers. Such beers may have a considerable amount of yeast sediment in the bottle. With such brews you may wish to watch closely as you pour. Holding the bottle to the light as you pour is helpful. If you don't like yeast in your beer you can stop pouring when you see the sediment coming into the neck of the bottle. Now regarding the sediment in bottle-conditioned beers, first and foremost it is a good thing. In the case of some beers the yeast is an integral pert of the presentation. For example in the case of the Belgian White Beer or the German Hefe-Weizen the yeast flavor is part of the beers character and you actually may wish to interrupt your pour and swirl the last inch or so of the beer around the base of the bottle to loosen as much of the sediment as possible. This last yeasty solution is then poured into the glass. The beer will appear cloudy and have a rich fruity aroma.

After some experimentation you will know exactly what the inclusion of yeast does to alter the aroma, the clarity and the taste of each beer you like. You may decide you like certain beers better with or without yeast, regardless of style. Brewers yeast is also high in vitamin B-12 and many other nutrients.

Thank you all for your kind e-mails and suggestions. Should any reader have questions about this column or previous columns drop me a line.

Next time … A Beer Man road trip perhaps?

Until then think global and drink local.