It sounds strange. How can anyone drink beer wrong? What can possibly go wrong with downing beer! The standard protocol is to buy beer, sup it down, buy another beer and repeat. From brewing beer and marketing it, to tasting it and serving it, there is a lot of effort that goes into making beer. If there is an art of making beer, there is an art of drinking it too.
Here’s how you might have been drinking beer wrong all your life:
1. Beer is not meant to be chugged. It’s supposed to be sipped slowly.
Mostly the regular beer kinds we get in the market are light malted. So it is meant to be drunk quick and cold. But when we have a darker malt , it is best to let it sit for some time and let its temperature rise. That brings the aroma and taste out of it. You will probably discover its perfection in the last sip you saved.
2. Did you know you’re supposed to ‘chew’ your beer?
Sounds batshit crazy, right? But’s there is a point behind it. The left and right side of your tongue releases sweet and bitter taste. The front part is where the salt receptors are. Keep the beer in your mouth and let it move inside for sometime. Get set for some kick ass mix of flavour.
3. Beer is not meant to be had without food.
One, the natural carbonation of the beer will cut through and cleanse your taste palate. And two, believe it or not, it has lesser calories than wine.
4. Beer. Food. Beer.
In that order.
You need to follow this pattern. Pop in some food and wash it down with beer to create a fresh palate for that authentic hit of food again. Follow this mantra and repeat. Neat!
5. Your beer is fresh till it has a foam top.
You’re supposed to drink up before the foam dies.
Do not lose the foam. It is the foam that will prevent the bubbles from escaping, and keep it fresh. Up your beer game with the foam on!
6. Tandoori chicken does not go well with light beer.
Basically, the golden rule is to eat lighter food with lighter beer.
Team up a sweet malt with spicy flavours to give a fresh, sharp kick to your palate. For example, steal a Pilsener for a plate of tempura prawns. Pilsener has a lemon-y taste to it and gives rise to small tight bubbles, which helps in cutting through the rich fat batter right through to the flavour of the fish.
All of us thought beer is a fun drink but it really is not one without rules. I hope this helps you in making your beer better. Guzzle your beer down, in style. Cheers!