Despite the prevalence of draft beer, it’s surprising how many locations still find it hard to nail the fundamentals. The manner in which a beer is poured significantly influences not only the final taste experience, but it also has financial implications for a bar, either increasing revenue through additional sales or lowering it due to wastage.

Many major beer producers even send their employees to establishments to coach their teams, as that ensures their brews preserve their intended taste after leaving the brewery in a keg. I know this firsthand as I used to test and coach bar staff when I was an on-trade sales representative for Heineken. The brewery poured a lot of resources into training us about the science of beer and achieving the perfect pour. Years afterwards, I managed a 24-tap brewpub for BrewDog, where I had to become well-acquainted with operating and troubleshooting draft beer systems, while ensuring pouring standards amongst the staff.

Throughout my career, I’ve encountered as much poor advice as I have good, having to rely on the sagacity of master brewers and sheer trial-and-error to understand how to efficiently pour every style of beer—while ensuring top-quality. The tips below cover the most essential aspects of pouring a perfect beer, and, even though there’s no substitute for hands-on experience, they offer a sturdy basis for learning to pour like an expert.

Read more: 13 Liquors Your Home Bar Should Have

Before we think about pouring beer, it’s essential we start with a clean glass. While a dirty glass has obvious implications in terms of hygiene and visual appeal, there are several other issues that arise from using an unclean vessel.

Any residual elements in the glass have a chance of impacting the taste and aroma of the beer, and while it may still be palatable, it won’t taste the way the brewer intended. The proteins in beer are crucial as they play a part in forming and maintaining the foamy top; something known as “head retention.” We’ll cover the importance of head retention shortly, but for now, it’s important to know that residue within the glass will stop these proteins from forming a tight, creamy head.

Even the smallest particles in a glass can impact carbonation (the fizziness of the beer). Carbon dioxide interacts with imperfections on the glass in a process called nucleation which causes bubbles to form where we don’t want them. This leads to excessive fizz and a loss of carbonation.

Fortunately, there are a few tricks we can use to identify a dirty glass. Aside from a visual inspection for things like lipstick marks or fingerprints, we can pour a beer and check if bubbles are forming on the outside of the glass. We can also rinse a glass with water and coat the inside with salt, which won’t adhere to surfaces where there are residual fats and oils.

Experiencing a pollute glass occasionally is normal, but knowing the signs can spare your pour. If you notice that your majority of glassware is unclean, your glasswasher might be the cause.

Note that a glasswasher should exclusively be used for glasses. Anything that contacted food should be washed separately because the oils and fats can create a layer on the glasses, and residual food can add undesired flavors and smells. The same applies for coffee and tea mugs as coffee oils and milk fats can likewise damage your beer glasses.

If your glasses aren’t clean after washing, ensure to recheck your washer’s cleaning chemicals and if they’re replenished. Even though every glasswasher differs, most need some type of detergent for the washing stage, along with a rinse aid for spotless drying of the glasses. Don’t forget to keep your machine filled with dishwasher salt for preventing limescale, particularly if you have a hard water supply.

Lastly, it’s a good practice to use a glass refresher – those small water fountains that spritz the interior of a beer glass before pouring. These eliminate any remaining residue from the glasswasher, and wash away dust from a glass that’s been sitting unused for some time.

Once your glassware is ‘beer clean’, the next step in ensuring a great beer-drinking experience is using the correct glass for the beer you’re serving. The style and shape of beer glasses influence far more than just what meets the eye; they have a substantial impact on the overall drinking experience.

It’s common to find established beer brands with glassware swathed in their logos. Whenever these are available, they’re undoubtedly the best choice for that specific beer. This is because brewers invest considerable resources designing these glasses – all aimed at enhancing certain aromas and handling carbonation levels. A good example is the intentional nucleation found in most lager glasses. The glass base carries enamel markings meant to spur carbon dioxide agitation, leading to a consistent stream of bubbles.

Your basic pint glass will serve just right for a majority of ales, while light lagers would require pilsner glasses to encourage carbonation and allow for a frothy head. In some instances, especially with Belgian ales, a tulip or chalice-style glass is the glass of choice. The bulbous shape of these glasses helps lock in the complex aromas, while their stems stop the drinker’s hands from warming the beer during consumption. The Teku glass stands out as the ultimate choice when sampling robust, intricate beers. This wine glass-styled vessel is specifically designed and crafted with beer tasting in mind.

In conclusion, consider researching the best glasses for particular beer styles and ensuring your selection covers the types of beers you plan to serve.

Understanding the way our beer dispensing system functions is as crucial as maintaining the quality of our glassware. In simple terms, we refer to our storage and delivery system of beer from its keg to the glass as the dispensing system.

We make use of carbon dioxide, or a combination of both carbon dioxide and nitrogen for moving beer from the keg through the beer delivery lines in most dispensing systems. This is apart from the hand pump systems in use for cask ales. The beer will pour slowly affecting our level of service and making it difficult to achieve a perfect froth if the pressure of gas is too low. On the contrary, if the pressure is too high, the beer might ‘fob’, which means it comes out frothy from the tap.

All dispensing systems typically enable us to adjust the pressure for every individual keg and the beer line. This is crucial because the requirements for different types of beer kegs and beer vary. Take for instance, German Hefeweizens require a higher carbonation and froth level, so they call for more pressure compared to smooth ales.

Even though stainless steel kegs have been a standard for many years due to their ability to endure high pressure levels, it is not unusual to come across key kegs today. Key kegs are made of a pressurized plastic keg that contains a beer sac, with the gas pushing the beer from outside. However, these do not have the durability to endure high pressure levels like a steel keg.

The final factor to consider prior to pouring beer is the temperature of the dispensing method. Depending on the types of beer you serve, there may be multiple steps in the system that focus on achieving and preserving the right temperatures.

Though there are some exceptions, most places serving draft beer have a specific cellar kept between 11 to 13 degrees Celsius. While this is acceptable for varieties such as Belgian or cask ales where we don’t aim to drown complex aromas and flavors, most beers need extra cooling. For these, beer lines pass through an external cooler that brings the beer down to around 3 to 7 degrees Celsius. Finally, beers meant to be served almost ice cold – often mass-produced lagers – the beer is cooled one more time by a device beneath the bar taps.

Temperature is significant for several reasons. Firstly, we don’t want to serve flavorful beers too chilled because this can negatively affect the taste and aromas. Beer that’s too warm will also foam excessively when poured and is more likely to lose its carbonation and taste flat, which can enhance the alcohol flavor. Additionally, higher cellar temperatures can hasten the beer’s aging process, leading to undesirable off-flavors.

We’re now ready to pour the beer. But before we turn on the tap, we need to consider how we’re holding our glass.

One of the key principles in the hospitality industry when it comes to serving drinks is that the customer owns the top two-thirds of the glass. This implies that as a server or bartender, your hand and fingers should only be in contact with the bottom third of the glass. This is done to maintain hygiene by avoiding contact with the section of the glass close to where the customer will be drinking from.

Once we adopt the practice of holding the glass by its lower third, it’s then time to hold it at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the tap. The aim is to position the nozzle as near to the inside of the glass as you can, but not in contact with the glass or the beer. Later on, we’ll delve deeper into the rationale behind this technique. At this point, it’s imperative that the beer slides down the inside of the glass. Begin the process of slowly adjusting the glass to an upright position when it’s halfway full. As soon as the glass is completely upright, it should have about half an inch of space remaining. This space will accommodate the formation of the head on top of the beer.

We need to be cautious not to increase the gap between the beer tap and the glass excessively, as this may introduce too much air into the beer. This could cause fobbing and adversely affect the ability of the beer to retain its head.

Once the glass is properly angled at 45 degrees and positioned close to the tap, we are set to initiate the pouring. But remember, it’s important to fully open the tap.

Imagine a garden hose. When we squeeze part of it while it’s in use, the water’s flow speed decreases. But at the same time, to maintain balance within the enclosed system, pressure rises. Neither slowdowns in flow or increases in pressure are desirable when dispensing beer. If the beer flows too slowly, it wastes time and decelerates service. The beer also gets agitated due to the heightened pressure and constricted outlet, leading to unwanted foaming, wasting beer and time spent waiting for the beer to calm, or pouring a new one.

Ensuring a correct and consistent flow rate is vital in maintaining the beer’s aromatic compounds and the right level of carbonation according to the particular beer style. If the tap is full throttle and the beer exits too rapidly, you might need to re-adjust the flow and pressure controls in the cellar until the pour rate is appropriate. It’s also a good rule of thumb to check the flow rate of an open line when changing kegs, especially when a new type of beer is placed that might have distinct pressure or flow needs.

If you’ve watched draft beer being poured, it’s likely you’ve seen a bartender perform movements like swirling the glass or lifting it under the tap, apparently to form a foam on the beer. Creating the perfect foam is crucial, but this method of doing so is not ideal.

To understand why, let’s delve deeper into the functions of gasses in beer. We know that carbon dioxide enhances the beer’s texture, carbonation, taste, and smell while aiding in retaining a good foam. From a brewer’s perspective, the carbon dioxide created by the yeast during fermentation helps balance the beer’s pH to avoid unwanted tastes. It also bars oxygen from entering the beer, which could oxidize it and give it a stale flavor.

Swirling the glass while pouring introduces unnecessary oxygen into the beer. Though oxidation doesn’t occur instantly, this added oxygen reduces carbonation and alters the beer’s taste and texture, causing it to taste flat. The subdued carbonation also reduces the beer’s taste and fragrance. Concurrently, the surplus air in the beer is consumed by the drinker, often resulting in bloating. This discomfort will likely deter a customer from ordering another beer, negatively impacting profits.

We previously discussed that the beer tap’s nozzle must not contact the glass or beer during the pour. Learning why this is important helps to debunk the mistaken belief that this method effectively forms a beer head.

Indeed, immersing the nozzle in the beer generates more foam by disrupting the liquid surface and liberating more carbon dioxide, but this action has repercussions. While it releases carbon dioxide─often excessively leading to over-foaming─it likely facilitates the introduction of too much oxygen, a substance we want to avoid. Direct contact between the beer and the nozzle could also pose a contamination risk. Despite the tap’s interior being clean if your lines are appropriately maintained, beer on the tap’s exterior fosters bacteria growth, which we don’t want infiltrating our drink.

An exception to this rule exists: when using a cask ale beer engine with a swan-neck nozzle. These cask ales ferment continuously in the cask, relying on natural carbonation without the need for external gas sources. They only require low pressure for pouring, minimizing the risk of excessive carbonation compared to high-pressure keg systems. However, it’s crucial to clean the nozzle with a fresh cloth between pours.

We’ve covered a lot regarding the importance of beer head retention, and now we’ll dive into why it’s crucial and how to maintain it consistently. Primarily, the head serves as a defense mechanism that traps carbon dioxide inside the beer and prevents oxygen from creeping in, sustaining the carbonation for a prolonged duration.

Furthermore, the head aids in preserving volatile compounds of the beer that largely contribute to its aroma. If the beer lacks a robust head, these compounds evaporate rapidly, denying the drinker the opportunity to fully savor their scent. The feel of a compact and creamy head in the mouth is an essential part of the beer drinking experience. Also, when it engages our taste receptors, it helps to neutralize excessively sweet or bitter notes, courtesy of the proteins present in the beer. Under general circumstances, approximately 5% of the glass should contain beer head. But depending on the beer variety, like Belgian ales or German wheats, the head could often be much more substantial.

We’ve mentioned several incorrect ways of creating a beer’s head, and truthfully, if your glassware is pristine and your equipment is set up correctly, the process of pouring the beer itself should automatically result in an ideal head. If the beer requires additional head, you can crack the tap to enhance the foam. Some taps are designed to produce similar results by pushing them forward.

Try to deliver the poured beer to the customer immediately, as its temperature begins to rise and taste less refreshing as soon as it exits the chilled beer lines.

Properly dispensed high-quality beers in clean glassware are characterized by a lasting head. However, this doesn’t persist indefinitely. The diminishing head signals the fading of aromas and carbonation, leading to a less enjoyable drink. If you notice this, it’s a significant sign that your service speed fails to satisfy all customers.

Uncontrollable factors sometimes slow down beer serving speed – think of a customer requesting a big round or having to replace a keg during service. Yet, there are strategies to maintain a steady beer flow. For substantial orders, you can pour the round in parts or pour it entirely, leaving room at the top for the head. This way, you can speedily top them up before serving. In busy, high-volume bars, a runner is crucial ─ someone who can distribute drinks immediately they get prepared, and tackle issues like keg replacements or cellar problems, while the bartenders continue serving.

See the original article on Tasting Table.