There are many things that can get attached to an idea or experience. I presume the more precious or particular the key advice, the more likely you are dealing with a barnacle that needs scraping off the hull of your given ship of life.. or a consultant hunting for someone to bill. Like this mystic wisdom about pouring your beer:
There’s more to pouring a beer than you may think. Pouring a beer improperly can pollute wonderful aromas, cause an improper release of CO2, and hinder the flavors of the beer. If you want your beer to fulfill its potential, consider this advice...You want to cock the glass a certain way depending on the style of beer. If the beer is highly carbonated, tilt the glass at a 45 degree angle and start pouring down the side. Wait until a third of the pour you want is in the glass, then tilt the glass upright and pour in the center. If the beer is lower in carbonation, start pouring downwards into the center of the glass earlier. A head the width of two fingers is a good rule of thumb for what you are looking for, Deman says.
I have never been particularly anal about how to pour a beer but even I would not look for a two inch head on a low carbonation style like mild. You'd drive the life out of it. But no doubt I've been a lifetime beer polluter and had no idea. Better rule of thumb: do what you like when you pour your beer and it probably works for you.
Comments
Barry M - February 12, 2010 6:57 AM
Funny, that. Some recent books I've perused, like Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer, and a recent drive, Beer Naturally from the Irish Brewers Association, all say pour it straight in with none of this 45° nonsense (which is how I tend to pour, give or take 45°s).
Like you, I'll pour it how I damn well please, and at least if I pour it the same way every time, there's an equal amount of pollutants, so everything evens out, relatively speaking. :D
Travis Graham - February 12, 2010 8:31 AM
You'll never get a two finger size head at a bar/restaurant, unless it's a specialty place. Bartenders are too worried about their customers thinking they're trying to gyp them.
Matt - February 12, 2010 11:07 AM
I guess I have been a polluter all my life as well.....
The Professor - February 12, 2010 12:02 PM
I always pour straight down, in a slightly oversized glass. I do that because I _want_ to release the co2 ... there is usually too much carbonation for my taste in most American bottled beers, and this is the remedy for that.
Beer Drinker - February 12, 2010 1:53 PM
I couldn't agree more. The other thing you can always do is drink it right from the bottle! or can!
Bailey - February 14, 2010 5:24 AM
I don't have a ritual or anything, but I know when I've got it right for a particular beer. The other day, I poured a bottle conditioned beer very gently into a super-clean glass and watched a head just emerge as if by magic. There is something in the theory that 'volatile compounds' (e.g. hop aromas) dissipate if the beer's mistreated but, to be honest, by the time a bottle has travelled any distance, been thrown around in a warehouse, and then stuck in a fridge for three months, nothing I can do while pouring it is going to do *that* much more damage.