Beer Temperature & You

1. 5
2. If it's a porte, stout or quad, I like to take my time. Warmer stouts, porters and quads really bring out the flavors. Lighter beers like IPA's, trippels and lagers are better colder.
3. No

 

The crappier the beer the more important ice cold is to me. I know some folks who swear by drinking it warm to semi-warm, mostly specific brands, but too warm does not work for me. I drink my beer to fast to worry about it getting warm as well, so no koozie needed!

 

1. 4.75 - But of course it depends on the beer.
2. Summertime at home - Yes. I sit in a 3 season room to drink so I do tend to drink faster. I stick to lower ABVs
Wintertime at home - No. I sit in the same room and there's no heat, so the beer doesn't get warm and I drink slower. And the sky is the limit for ABV.
At a restaurant or bar - Depends on who I'm with and how interesting they are.
3. Never

 

This sounds so dirty!

 

Wow...23 minutes, huh? Not 22.5?

 

No. 1 - 4-ish? I am equivocating for a reason (at least in my mind). I like IPA's and the "farmhouse" styles cold, generally speaking. The reason for the lack of commitment - I start everything cold, especially the first time, and I like to experience the beer as it warms to decide for myself what temperature I enjoy it most. Good example - Backwoods Bastard was just a continuous revelation as it warmed up. The suggestion serving temps are just that to me - somebody else's idea of what I might enjoy. I try to find what works for my personal taste. So yes - important, but I find my own sweet spot.

No. 2 - I actually drink faster when it's cold. When I am enjoying a big stout, for instance, I tend to slow down and savor more as it warms up to "proper" temperature.

No. 3 - not even the dreaded reach-around. I drink slow (except when I don't) so things tend to take care of themselves.

 

I pour all my beer straight from the fridge and let it warm up naturally as I review.

 

5
I drink just about everything at 50-55 degrees, taking it out early in the winter to put in the cellar or 10-15 minutes early in the summer to hit that temperature. Virtually all beers appear to have better aroma and taste for me in that temperature range. Ironically, the only time it becomes a real issue is when I get it on draft, and then like to wait around warming it with my hands until it not longer too cool.

 

I pour my beers into a glass straight out of the fridge.
I drink through them at no set pace, and have no reason to try and keep it cold as I think you get more of an experience drinking through it cold to warm.

 

Well, I thought we were talking about beer... to each his/her own, I suppose.

In seriousness...

1. Probably 4.5/5 - In other words, it's important to me insofar as I am aware of the temperature and like to compare how a beer changes as it warms up, although I typically don't like IPAs and super-hoppy styles to get *too* warm. Others, I like to be at room temperature by the time I'm finishing them off.
2. Expanding on my answer for Q1, I tend to take my time drinking big styles that taste great when warm--barrel-aged beers, barleywines, stouts, and especially beers with additives, as the flavors from the additives tend to shine more when warmer. I drink IPAs and other hop-forward beers a little faster though.
3. I use my hand to help warm beers that I want to be a little warmer than they are when they come out of the fridge. And I use a coozie/koozie/coozy/koozy when I'm drinking at a softball game or tailgating or other situation where I'm out in the sun and drinking straight out of the bottle/can and care more about the temperature and refreshing qualities of the beer than pulling every last drop of flavor out of it.

I'll wait for your whitepaper on The Habits of BAs and Beverage Temperature, OP. I expect charts and graphs too.

 

1) 3- Depends on the beer. First beer of the day may be lighter and it's fairly cold and goes down quickly.
2) 1- Depends on the beer. No cut and dried answer. If the beer is a good temp at the beginning, I don't sweat it.
3) 0- My beers don't last long enough for me to need gadgets to help with temperature regulation. If it's too cold at the outset, I'll let it warm a touch.

Good luck with this research. I'm sure that it's meaningful, somehow.

 

1. 4 - Although its different temperatures for different styles.

2. Not really - Different temps reveal/hide various different facets of the brew, I like enjoying the evolution. Unless that bitch is an AAL, in which case I'm grabbing the funnel.

3. I'll cup my brew to warm it. I'll sport a koozie if I'm slugging a budweiser or the like.

 

5 - Especially important for my preferred styles of Imperial stout, barleywine, and Belgian strong dark/quad

Not usually, ABV probably plays a greater role

A snifter, if that counts. It facilitates more, shorter pours and increases the warming of the beer. Its also releases more aromatics, which makes it my favored glass for high ABV beers.

 

Despite my enjoyment of all things craft beer, temp still hasn't become a major focus of mine. I'll drink a pilsner at cellar temp and a stout that's straight from the fridge. I don't prefer either in that manner, but I'll do it without thinking much of it.

 

1. 5
2. depends on everything. I noticed I drink more slowly as beer temps rise, so I do sort of hope to finish a pint within an hour of pouring.
3. No.

 

1. 4
2. No
3. No

 

1. 4.5
2. Sometimes, if it's too cold I'll hold off
3. No

 

1) I'd say a 4

2) yes, because for me, as more "hops-forward" beers warm, they get less and less drinkable. I loved my first Two Hearted Ale right after I cracked it, and even halfway through was enjoyable, but the last sip was a pinecone-flavoured liqueur. Conversely, porters & stouts can get more complex as they warm beyond their recommended serving temp, and some beers can be just as lovely even though a lot of the complexity leaves as they warm, such as the Founder's Curmudgeon, which I found to be remarkably complex at first sip, yet by the end, it was "only" an amazing malty ale.

3) I try not to hold the glass too long.

 

1) 4
2) No
3) No

I like beer, the taste changes as the temp changes but it's all good.

 

I helped a friend move in yesterday and at the end of it all we needed a sour to drink , so he popped a room temperature 3F Kriek, which was amazing at that air-conditioned room temperature (kind of surprised he just popped it out of nowhere).

Earlier, we had fridge Rosabi and Cocoa Vanilla Retribution. He had cracked a Barrel Aged Naked Evil BBW that had warmed to room temperature and was excellent (aged for a bit).

To each their own, but when I'm at home drinking, I do the whole fridge to glass review. Depending on what I'm doing, how I like the beer, and how much of it there is, I will drink it over a period of time.

p.s. 4 (or 3), I think it is good to see how a beer tastes over a range of temperatures, and no.