I grew up with the mistaken notion that the colder the brew at serving the better it will taste.
I recently brewed a porter and added a substantial amount of coffee at bottling. The sample from the bottling bucket tasted good. After the beer was carbonated and chilled in the fridge and served in an ice-cold mug the coffee flavor was very bitter. In fact, I didn’t look forward to drinking more of it.
When I only had a sip left in the mug, I was interrupted for a few minutes. When I went back and had that last sip (which had warmed up appreciably since there was only a small volume of beer in the mug) it tasted much better.
Now I’m much happier with the taste and have learned a good lesson.
I know, I know. I’ve read elsewhere that it tastes better a bit warmer, but I’m a guy that has to learn most things the hard way.
Only crap beer tastes better at freezing temperature. Why do you think there is such an emphasis on frost and cold in the mega-lager commercials?
I recall having a Rabid Rabbit from 3Floyds a few years ago that was served way too cold. It actually tasted like poison! However, by the end of the glass when the beer had warmed considerably, it was a truly delectable beer. Serving temperature is an important factor in beer perception.
I had a similar experience with a Chocolate Coffee Porter last winter. I keep my kegs in the fridge out in the garage so here in NW Indiana I have to be careful they don’t freeze. Well I poured the wife a pint and tasted it and I couldn’t pick up the Chocolate, Roast, Coffee or Cocoa in the beer. And yeah it tasted bitter and thin. I took a temp reading with my digital thermometer and the beer was 32*. I pointed out to her that was the problem and we let it sit out and warm up to 40*. By 38* the beer was night and day difference in flavor. Good experience to see first hand.
+1. Porter and stout really need to be a few degrees warmer than most beers to be evaluated. Even a glass of hoppy beer seems more bitter and hop forward when it’s really cold, then as it warms the malt character emerges.
I love storing my beer in the root cellar in the winter. Its in the forties and that’s great for my winter favorites: porters, stouts, RIS, dark Belgians.
I keep my beer a little colder in the summer than I do in the winter and tend to drink lighter colored beers more frequently in the summer than I do in the winter. Generally most beers definitely taste better around the 45 degree mark but sometimes an ice cold lager sure hits the spot (like when you pull one out of the cooler on a hot summer day canoe trip). But there are no dark beers I enjoy drinking that cold.
In the depths of winter (Lake Erie) I usually will pull a pint of beer from the frigid garage prior to reading a couple books to my kids and putting them to bed all the while leaving the beer to warm up on my kitchen counter. When I get back downstairs the beer is right around 48F and perfect for beginning to enjoy the aroma and flavor.
Same here. Lake Ontario near Syracuse. I keep my beers in 6 pack cartons in the garage. I’ll pull them inside before I do my son’s bath. Right around 50 when I’m done.
Savor it while you can guys, before you know it you’ll be buying them beers at a pub for their 21st birthday. It seems like yesterday my boy was a little one and now he’ll be 25 in two months and married next August. I was in college and law school when he was little so when he went to bed it was a pot of coffee and stack of books that awaited me, not a beer.
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