Is it proper to flip the beer can and swirl it before drinking? I know that a few beers have this instruction on it (Alagash, for one). Generally I wouldn't do this. Most of the IPAs I drink wouldn't have been around long enough to have much sedimentation. But other styles, I just left the last bit in there, and skipped drinking the sedimentation.
Flipping a beer sounds pretty rough and can risk a geyser when opening the beer. Swirling gently will put any sediment back into suspension to drink whatever the sediment might be. Drinking the sediment is a personal preference depending on the material. The stuff can provide an off-flavor that is best left in the bottom of the bottle/can. Some beers are bottle/can conditioned and have some yeast in the sediment that can be healthy to consume as long as the taste isn't off-putting to you. So it's all a personal preference to try to drink the sediment, and your choice can vary depending on what you think is in that sediment. P.S. Welcome to BA. We're glad to have you here. Hang around as much as you'd like and enjoy the site.
I wouldn't recommend this with any beer, unless you enjoy cleaning up a gusher. That said, the proper way to drink a German Hefeweizen is to pour about 3/4 of the bottle into a glass, then swirl the bottle, and pour the yeasty setiment into the glass. Alternatively, you can gently roll the bottle back and forth, then pour but I find the first the better method. Welcome to BA forums btw! Cheers!
Perfectly acceptable. Some folks leave the sediment undisturbed, then drink it all at once. I personally love the umami notes in hazies and saisons. If I know there's sediment in there that's supposed to be in there, I'll usually agitate them GENTLY before pouring them into proper glassware. I don't mind a few floaties. Chunkies? Now that's another matter entirely. That's when the cheesecloth comes out. BTW I always use a glass. I don't care what the brewer says.
That's also known as rolling the bottle. That's more a thing to be done with yeast driven styles. aka, Hefeweizen. I wouldn't swirl, or roll an IPA if my life depended on it.
“Is it proper to flip the beer can and swirl it before drinking?” It is somewhat funny/ironic this question was asked. A few days ago, I got together with a bunch of friends and I brought some homebrewed beers for the celebration. One of the people there stated they had a friend who was a ‘beer guy’ and he professed that beers should be flipped prior to drinking them. Apparently, this ‘beer guy’ was a lover of Juicy/Hazy IPAs. My reply to the question was that he probably did this since with some time in the can the Juicy/Hazy IPA will have some of the haze forming stuff (i.e., protein/polyphenol complexes) settle out to become sediment and that by flipping the can he was getting that stuff back into suspension. This could ‘improve’ the mouthfeel of the beer. FWIW, when it comes to Juicy/Hazy IPAs I prefer to not flip and just pour the beer into a glass and even leave a little bit of the ‘sludge’ behind. Just my thing. And I do not flip other beer styles either, including Hefeweizens and Witbiers. Again, just not my thing. Everybody should pour the beers the way they like per their individual preferences. Cheers!
My guess is that there will be substantial discussion in this thread concerning beer styles such as Hefeweizen and Witbier. Below are some extracts from the Allagash website on the topic of haze: “What is the haze made of? In brewing terms, haze is called turbidity, a much less appetizing term. Haze in beer consists of “insoluble material.” That’s intentionally non-specific, because a beer can get its haze for a variety of reasons. So let’s look at a specific beer: Allagash White. The haze in Allagash White comes mostly from proteins and polyphenols in the grain. The proteins and phenols combine to form something called colloidal haze. Without diving completely down the rabbit hole, colloidal haze forms when two substances bond, resulting in molecules large enough (but not too large) to be suspended within the beer, causing turbidity. Proteins are really the key to a stable haze. The molecules need to be large enough to be visible (thus causing haze), but not so big that they drop out of solution, making the beer clear again.” And: “Where yeast comes in A second, but definitely less important contributor to haze is yeast. Two factors here. One concerns flocculation, a word that has nothing to do with the migration of birds. When a yeast is near the end of fermentation, it will want to bond with other yeast cells and either float to the top or bottom of the beer. The higher the “flocculative tendency,” the more yeast will want to clump and drop out of solution, making for a clearer beer. Allagash White uses a mid-to-low flocculating yeast, so more yeast stays in solution. Thus, more haze. The rub: yeast is made up of relatively large particles that want to drop to the bottom of the vessel. So you can’t just depend on yeast to keep your beer hazy.” https://www.allagash.com/discover/about-beer/what-makes-beer-hazy/ Cheers!
I just straight up store all of my NEIPAs upside down. And if you have an ill will smoothie can, you can and should shake the hell out of them before opening. They aren't carbed, so they won't explode.
Well, it's up to you - f*** this being "proper" - but if you do choose to flip 'n' swirl, you definitely should always do before pouring and before drinking.
I typically will roll / flip gently for Hefeweizens and Hazy IPAs. If the brewery says to do so I generally will as well.
Very interesting discussion. I would tend not to, though I don’t have any issue with the residue and will tend to drink it at the end - my wife thinks I’m crazy
That’s some country boy moves there. When your Coors Light mountains turn blue, you flip the can, crack the lid, double tap on the table, then enjoy the taste of the rockies
They later changed the slogan to FLIP IT - SIP IT - MOP IT New pose for the beer can character, too. See above.
I usually will gently roll the can back and forth if having a Hazy IPA. Also, as noted in a few posts earlier, gently rolling or inverting a bottle of Hefeweizen or Witbier is key to enjoying these styles of beer as the brewer intended. For some styles such as Lambic or Belgian Trappist ales will pour the first portion without disturbing the sediment, then pouring the rest with some of the sediment so I can get an idea which way I would prefer to drink them in the future (i.e. with or without the sediment).
No correct answer for everyone, only the correct one for you. Try beers both with and without the sediment, and figure out which way you like. As mentioned by others, results vary depending on style. Definitely not in any beer that has brett or has been cellared.
