The temperature of the water used for making hot or cold drinks has a huge impact on their final taste. There are many reasons to care about how hot or cold your drinks are. The chemistry of different beverages causes their flavors to lose tastes at certain temperatures. Even the safety of some drinks is dependent on storage temperature.
If you want to get the very best out of each beer you taste, then you’ve got to find its sweet spot; the temperature at which you find the beer to be at its most tasty and refreshing. The first rule is to ignore what the beer maker tells you is the best serving temperature for your preferred beer.
It always comes down to personal preference. For instance, some conventional people often say that stouts are best enjoyed at something close to room temperature, or on the warm side, while Pale Ales are generally best enjoyed on the cold side.
Knowing each of your favorite brew’s ideal d temperatures help you to have a optimum drinking experience! This knowledge comes from experience.
Some beer freaks (who are some of our favourite customers) even go so far as to have a dedicated beer fridge set to just the best temperature for their favorite brews.
When trying a new beer for the first time, start with the fridge’s default temperature setting, say a temperature of around 4°C, drink slowly, and let it warm as you go along. Pay close attention to the beer’s tastes at each interval, and take the beer’s temperature when you find the sweet spot for yourself. Make a record of it, and go on to the next beer you enjoy. Keep repeating that process till you’ve covered all your favorites.
Beer raises in temperature about 2°C every 10 minutes after it has been served at an ambient temperature of 23°C. This environment is a common temperature point that you will find in most air-conditioned environments. This signifies that if a beer is served in a glass at 3°C, then in 20 minutes the brew will still be cold enough to drink at 7°C without the help of a stubby holder. Placing a warm hand directly on the glass will transfer heat directly to the drink, so try your best to place it on a table between sips.
The colder the beer, the less you’ll taste it
The chemical compounds in beer that give it flavor and aroma are proportional to its temperature. The colder the brew, the lower the carbonation release, and the more the flavors and aromas of the beer tend to be suppressed. Icy cold beer also numbs your palate, making it harder to discern many of the beer’s subtle flavor nuances. The flavor balance is also consistent with the the beer temperature. For example, a stout served icy cold is likely to taste very bitter, whereas drinking it at a slightly warmer temperature improves the balance between the malt sweetness and the roast bitterness. It’s no accident that mass-produced lagers with a long shelf life are generally served icy cold. You’re drinking them for their smash-ability, not for the complexity of their taste. These type of beers generally don’t taste very good served at anything other than ‘arctic fresh’!
Higher alcohol volume beers generally taste the best warmer
High alcohol beers are fuller bodied and more complex in flavor, which is best savored when consumed at a warmer temperature. On the flip side, lower alcohol beers are lighter bodied and less big on flavor and are often taken for reasons other than their ‘mmmm’ factor, such as for refreshment or staying under the alcohol limit.
In Conclusion, When in doubt remember this rule of thumb: light body beer tastes better when cold, while full body and highly alcoholic Australian and European styles taste better a few degrees warmer.
Drink your Asian/American beers straight from the fridge, but the Aussie and European brands do well when taken out of the refrigerator and allowed to rise in temperature by a few degrees before drinking. Counter-intuitive, we know. Try for yourself and let us know how you go!