Beer: Encyclopedia II - Beer - Packaging and presentation

Beer - Packaging and presentation

After brewing, the beer is usually a finished product. At this point the beer is kegged, casked, bottled, or canned.

Unpasteurized beers containing live yeasts may be stored much like wine for further conditioning in aging barrels to allow further fermentation and development of secondary flavors. A long conditioning period is common for Belgian ales and cask-conditioned real ales. It is not uncommon for strong beers to be aged a year or more.

The conditions of serving have an enormous impact on a drinker's experience. The most important factor is temperature: colder temperatures inhibit the chemical senses of the tongue and throat, which prevent the drinker from fully experiencing the beer. Conversely, beer served too warm may have the opposite problem: strong beers in particular may taste overly alcoholic and harsh, while lighter beers may seem flat and unappealing. Every style has an ideal serving temperature.

Besides temperature, choosing an appropriate container is also important. While casual drinkers of beer often drink straight from the bottle or can, serious beer drinkers always pour their beer into a glass before imbibing. Drinking out of a bottle severely inhibits aromas picked up by the nose, which are as important as the flavours picked up by the mouth. So whether on tap or from a bottle, the beer is first poured into a glass, mug, or stein. As with wine, there are specialized styles of glassware for each style of beer, and some brands of beer even produce glassware intended for their own beers. While any glass is preferable to a bottle, aficionados claim that the shape of the glass influences the perception of the aroma and the way in which the beer settles, similar to claims by drinkers of brandy or cognac. It is important to keep beer glasses clean. While glass is completely non-porous, its surface can retain oil from the skin, aerosolized oil from nearby cooking, and traces of fat from food. When these oils come in contact with beer there is a significant reduction in the amount of head (foam) that is found on the beer, and the bubbles will tend to stick to the side of the glass rather than rising to the surface as normal. This is the same reaction as would happen if you found yourself with too much foam and used the oil from your brow to dissolve it.

Lastly, the pouring process is important to a beer's presentation. The rate of flow from the tap or other serving vessel, tilt of the glass, and position of the pour (in the center or down the side) into the glass all influence the end result, such as the size and longevity of the head, lacing (the pattern left by the head as it moves down the glass as the beer is drunk), and turbulence of the beer and its release of carbonation. Heavily carbonated beers such as German pilsners or weissbiers may need settling time before serving.

Some stouts and British ales, most famously Guinness, are served from a "nitrogen tap". This tap uses a nitrogen/carbon dioxide mixture, rather than standard carbon dioxide, in order to obtain a creamier mouthfeel. These beers will be poured in two stages, with a pause to allow settling. In an attempt to simulate this process at home, Guinness introduced the widget can in 1991; recently, Guinness has expanded the concept with the "draft in a bottle" system.

Real ales have their own packaging requirements: These beers specifically are unfiltered and unpasteurized, and are typically served with a beer engine. A beer engine is simply a tall handpump that is used to transfer beer from keg to tap. Because shelf life is shorter, publicans may be required to perform additional duties regarding managing inventory and beer quality.

For most bottle-conditioned beer styles, it is recommended that you pour slowly at a low angle, without glugging, leaving behind the undesirable yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. There are certain styles (notably hefeweizen) where it is usual to add the yeast back in, for the considerable flavor and mouthfeel it imparts. Typically the person serving the beer will pour 90% of the contents, and swirl the remaining part in the bottle to dissolve the sediment before pouring it into the glass.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Packaging and presentation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki