How To Pour Beer: The Perfect Pint of Beer With Easy Steps

How to pour beer is a process that depends on the beer you are pouring. Moreover, learning to properly pour a beer is one of the first steps to enjoying your favorite beer. If you happen to not know how to pour beer correctly, you may even end up with a poor beer.

We understand this, and that’s why we wrote this guide to help you get your crisp glass of beer, so keep reading to find out the proper way to pour a beer.

How To Pour Beer: The Correct Way of Pouring Beer Into a Glass

Here’s is our step-by-step guide on how to pour beer correctly into a glass:

– Step 1: Select Your Beer and Inspect It

Grab your favorite beer and check for signs of spoilage or damage to the bottle or can. While inspecting a bottle of beer, you should look out for the following: 

• White flakes floating above the beer
• Chips in the glass
• A ring of gunk near the neck of the bottle

If you notice any of these, it would be best not to serve the beer. However, if your beer looks okay, check to see if the cap is still intact.

Also, try to figure out how to take the cap off; will you need to twist it off, or would you have to use a bottle opener? If the bottle has a cork top, gently pull the cork after loosening the wire that holds it in place.

Your beer may contain yeast, and a layer of sediment at the bottle’s bottom will indicate this. You can gently roll the bottle to loosen up some of the yeast before pouring. Otherwise, you can retain some of the yeast at the bottom of the bottle if you’re not a big fan of it.

– Step 2: Choose the Right Glass for the Beer

To make your drinking experience more enjoyable, choose a specialty glass. While there’s nothing wrong with drinking beer from a traditional pint glass, specialty glasses alter the flavor and feel of the beverage.

Choose an Artois Chalice, for example, to keep your beer cooler and the foam head longer than conventional glass. Or reach for a tulip glass if you’re more concerned with accentuating the aroma of the beer. The fragrance of the beer is concentrated in the short neck of this glass.

Some brewers make glasses exclusively for their beers. Sam Adams, for example, has a Boston Lager glass designed to keep your beer cool and avoid flatness.

Remember always to choose a “beer-clean” glass. Your beer will look, smell, and taste right only if you have a clean glass.

– Step 3: Have Your Glass Held at a 45-Degree Angle To Begin

You may wonder how to pour beer without foam. Foam is an essential part of your beer, so you should not try to eliminate it. However, you can control the amount of foam you get.

Holding your beer at this angle allows you to manage the amount of foam produced. Tilt the glass so that the stream falls down the edge of the beer bottle. This will ensure that you have a gentler pour and prevent froth from filling the entire glass.

The goal is not to stop the foam from forming in the first place. Releasing some foam while pouring is preferable since it prevents the beer from foaming in your stomach, and eliminates bloating in the process.

More of that lovely, hoppy scent will be released with a good head of foam. IPAs, Porters Pale Ales, and Lagers all benefit from this process.

– Step 4: Hold Your Beer Bottle or Can Mid-Glass and Pour Vigorously 

This will help you prevent contamination while guaranteeing a stronger beer stream. When pouring from a bottle or a can, hold it about one to two inches above the glass rim while pouring.

Try as much as possible not to pour down the side of the bottle. Pour right to the middle of the glass to get the right amount of force. A timid pour will trap gas and prevent foam from forming.

Moreover, you even can tip your bottle or can over to allow the beer to pour out relatively quickly. Hence, a stronger stream. However, do not pour too vigorously to stop the beer from splashing out of the glass.

– Step 5: Gradually Tilt Your Glass Upright To Make a Foam 

You may do this much earlier or later while pouring, depending on how much foam you want. For a small head of foam, it is best to tilt the glass when it’s about two-thirds filled. Straighten the glass early (for example, when it is around one-third to half-filled) if you want more foam.

– Step 6: Stop Pouring as Soon as the Foam Gets to the Top of the Glass

Allowing the foam to overflow will result in waste of the drink itself. Keep an eye on the foam and stop right before it gets to the glass’s lip as you pour.

Let the froth settle for a few minutes if you wish to get some more beer into your glass. Then fill the glass to the brim.

Now, enjoy the flavor and aroma of a perfectly foamy glass of beer!

Pouring a Perfect Pint of Guinness Beer: Sticking to Tradition

It is best to pour using the Guinness harp logo present on your glass as a reference. Since the logo acts as a pouring guide, a branded Guinness glass will help make a genuinely perfect pint of Guinness. After all, optimizing the visual and olfactory appeal of Guinness beer is all about making the ideal pint.

Here are the steps to follow:

• To make a 45 degrees angle, tilt a branded Guinness glass. Aim for the harp logo with the tap or beer bottle.
• Allow the liquid to bounce off the harp by opening the tap or pouring from the bottle.
• When you get to the bottom of the harp, carefully begin to tip it upright.
• Stop when the liquid reaches the harp’s top.
• Allow the nitrogen bubbles to escape the beer, creating the classic Guinness gradient effect. Allowing the beer to settle is a good idea for any stout.
• Fill the glass to the brim by turning the tap valve away from you. This will give a slower flow while allowing you to pour straight down into your glass. This way, you will get a lovely domed shape head.

How To Pour Beer: How Do You Pour Specific Styles of Beers?

While pouring beer follows the same essential steps, you need to add some twists to some beer styles.

Let’s take a look at them! 

– A Slow Pour Opens up Pilsners’ Flavors

A German pouring approach will help you improve the flavor of a pilsner. To increase the flavor of a pilsner, use this German approach.

A leisurely pour develops a nice head to help you taste the whole delicacy of the hops. Since pilsners are particularly hoppy, a dense foam preserves fragrant hops’ flavor notes.

This is how you do it:

• Pour directly down the middle of the glass to get the most foam. We understand that it may appear to be paradoxical! Aim for a beer-to-foam ratio of 1/3:2/3.
• Allow the foam to settle for about two or three minutes before pouring more beer to avoid overflowing.
• Pour additional beer into the glass from the top.
• Allow the foam to settle for another two or three minutes.
• Fill the glass to the brim and take a sip.

– Get All the Sediments With Your Beer When Pouring a Wheat Beer

Wheat beers’ taste is dominated by sediment from barley protein and brewer’s yeast. Hold your beer bottle upside down at 45 degrees.

Then, flip it around a few times to swirl the sediment before you start pouring. As a result, you will have the sediment suspended, making pouring into your glass simpler.

Here are the steps to follow in more detail:

• Begin pouring by holding the glass at a 45-degree angle.
• Pour until 3/4 of the glass is full.
• Swirl the bottle around to dislodge the sediment.
• Pour straight down and to the middle of your glass to finish it off.

How To Pour Beer From Tap: Pouring Draft Beers

Pouring a draft beer is quite different from when your pour beer from a can or bottle. After selecting the right glass, gently grip the tap marker from below. This will give you better control of the beer flow.

Furthermore, you should be using a quick, smooth move, and open the tap completely to get a full stream. Opening the tap halfway may give a foamy beer with more bubbles.

Always remember to hold your glass at a 45-degree angle. You also need to keep track of the amount of beer left in the keg. This will ensure that you don’t end up having a glass of beer with dregs and foam. So, understanding how many pours are possible from various keg sizes is vital.

Conclusion

This guide covered the correct way to pour a beer from a bottle, can, or tap. We also dived into some specifics based on certain beer styles.

Here’s a summary of the steps you should follow:

• Select your beer and inspect it
• Choose the right glass for the beer
• Hold the glass at a 45-degree angle
• Pour vigorously into the center of the glass without touching the glass
• Gently tilt the glass upright as it begins to fill up
• Stop when you get the right amount of foam
• Pour Pilsners beers slowly to open up their flavors
• Get sediment in your glass whenever you pour wheat beer
• The Guinness harp logo will guide you while pouring a Guinness beer

Properly pouring beer will help you maximize its texture, feel, and flavors, so be sure to use the steps given in this guide the next time you are pouring a beer as your taste buds will appreciate you.