Beer tastes better when you pour aggressively.

A larger head might affect aroma but the taste should be the same...

 

Anything from Lost Abbey! Well someone had to say it.

 

It's not too surprising that the mouthfeel would change if you took a lot of the carbonation out, but touting this as a general recommendation is a bit silly.

 

can't taste properly unless you're smelling properly too. hence bigger aroma, bigger flavor, better beer. that's my logic anyways.

 

Sorry, but one experience doesn't prove an all inclusive claim like that. I tend to prefer beers out of the bottle as opposed to on tap anyway so I really don't want my bottled beer to be like it is on tap.

 

Yeah, was gonna say, you might just be letting more carb out so it's less prickly on your tongue and seems smoother, but in reality you're not affecting the beer much. The biggest thing this will do is release aromas, but it shouldn't be a major factor in actually drinking the beer.

 

Love the fact you are 21 and suggested this. Dont know why I find amuzing. But I do.

Cheers!

 

Aroma and taste are pretty much entwined, as anyone knows who's ever had a cold and couldn't taste anything until the condition went away.

 

A vigorous pour does actually change the flavor of the beer. It's preached about often in home brewing media to do the vigorous pour to bring out aroma and release some co2 out of solution to create some head. I've tried it several times with several different beers, but I gotta say I still prefer the slow , easy pour and less foam with full carbonation personally.

 

The Randy Mosher method is to pour the beer directly down the center of the glass, and refill the glass as the head dies down a bit multiple times. It creates a thick, creamy head with a beer that has less carbonation but you get a LOT more aroma out of the beer. It takes a little longer, and you get some looks from some people who have never read "Tasting Beer" but it's what I've been using these days.

 

Mosher is not the only one to favor that sort of pour:

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Bud definitely tastes better poured this way IMO. Less of that tart, sour-apple taste and a softer mouthfeel. (Cue the BMC criticism pile-on and colorful descriptors such as "dog/horse/insert-your-favorite-barnyard-animal" piss.)

 

I believe in aggressive pours!

I love seeing what the beer is gonna do (visual creatures, right?) - I don't want any overflowing beers, mind you, but I usually have an idea what to expect... I know I can dump my Old Rasputin into a Duvel tulip and it'll look magnificent with not a drop lost; but I'd never dump a Duvel into my Duvel tulip because it'll end up all over the place.

I do three types of pours - the down the middle dump (for beers I know won't overflow, but might not produce much head if I don't - barleywines spring to mind), the "proper" side pour that gradually get's tilted up (like you kinda have do for a Duvel, for example), and then the one where you pour down the middle but have to pause because the head forms big and fast (usually a beer I'm not familiar with will get a down-the-middle pour, but if it froths up too vigorously, I pause, let it settle, pour in a little more, let it settle, etc.).

I've read somewhere (either online or in a book) that a down-the-middle pour, letting the head settle and then adding more beer gradually, produces a creamier beer, flushing out excess carbonation, and also, because it takes a few minutes to finish the pour, allows the beer to warm slightly from a fridge temp. I would think that any pour with a lot of head probably brings out a lot of the aromas.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are plenty of beers and beer-drinkers that this doesn't apply to.

 

I also agree in aggressive pours! I read the same thing in Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. Great book and I pour nearly all of my beers directly down the middle now.

 

I read Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. In his book he talks about using and aggressive pour on every beer and letting the head settle and then resume pouring. He also says that at some places it is considered incorrect if you receive a beer that you ordered too quickly, because the person pouring it did not pour it correctly allowing plenty of time to let the beer "open up" by using and aggressive pour. I've also read it in several reviews on this site. That being said, I have started using the aggressive pour most of the time.

 

A buddy of mine coined the phrase"make the center of the glass your bitch".

I'm a believer.

 

To contrast Mosher, Jackson if I remember correctly believes pouring too aggressively on pale ales and IPAs drives some of the bitterness out of the beer and into the head releasing volatiles. This is not a good thing. I pour at the 45 for roughly 1/2 the beer, then full upright adjusting speed of the pour to get a nice full head.

 

Can't resist...

Hospoda in NYC serves only Pilsner Urquell, on tap, but they serve it 4 ways.

The carbonation for each version is controlled with a different aerator, this is a rare technique even in Czechoslovakia.

The high carbonation version (no head) iis dry and bitter, the low carbonation version (virtually all head) is markedly sweeter than the other 3 versions.

I've had similar experiences by accident, the rookie barkeep who's unable to put a head on it or the weissebier tsunami.