Tasting beer as it warms.

All my beer is in the fridge because room temp around my city would mean storing beer in rooms around 92 degrees. And the rooms with A/C are not always on all day so the beer would be constantly shifting in temperature.

Therefore I do the same thing that GSS did. I drink it cold out of the fridge and let it warm over time taking sips.

 

I usually cellar my imperial/barrel aged stouts, never store the cold but when I drink them I put in the fridge one day before then leave them out about 20 minutes before drinking/serving. I think it works great, cold does not allow a stout's characteristics to come through fully.

 

It's a great point you bring up. I notice hop specific aromas and tastes being brighter and sharper when first poured. The longer they sit, the more they fade into the background, whereas malty characteristics seem to linger. Not sure about the science of that statement, but it seems to make sense from experience.

 

Its a good idea to try drinking the stout closer in temperature to about 55 or so. One thing you might try is let the beer sit out of the fridge for about 20 min before opening and pouring. Sip it slowly over about a 40 min period and you'll find that the flavors "open up" and get more complex, richer and there's more to the flavors of the beer.

Milk stout does not have milk in it. It has lactose which is the sugar that adds sweetness in milk. The yeast do not ferment lactose so that gives the stout a mild sweeness as part of the flavor.

Should stout with vanilla be kept colder? No. It doesn't have vanilla added, it is typically aged on vanilla beans giving it the vanilla flavor. (Although some vanilla flavor can also be imparted to the stout if the stout has been aged in used bourbon barrels. There's something called vanillin in charred oak that can be absorbed into liquid (e.g., bourbon, beer, etc.) that has the flavor of vanilla beans.

 

I prefer to drink the whole thing at a warmer temp. I get the experimental idea, but if I prefer a beer at cellar temp I want to start the beer at cellar temp and let it open up more from there. I don't like to waste a great beer by drinking any of it too cold.

 

i do all my beers in a funnel......is that wrong?

 

Haven't tried it yet but when I let an ipa warm up I can taste more of the alcohol than anything so I like beer cold. I guess it's different with stout since it has a roasted grain flavor like coffee which I like warm but also drink it cold when it's hot out.

 

I drink everything cold, to the extent that I usually don't care for drinking even stouts when they start to warm up. I'm sure I'm missing some flavors, but personal preference prevails.

 

The colder a beer, the more numb your taste buds become and that mutes the flavor. If you want to really taste what you've paid for, let it warm up a bit.

 

I have my beer fridge set at ~42 degF. That seems about right for me for the hoppier beers & occasional lager, and it doesn't take too long for stouts and porters (or the occasional British ale such as Fuller's that I grab at the liquor store) to reach their prime temp from there.

 

I do that with every beer I drink like to see how the temp changes the beer especially with a new beer.

 

I keep everything but Stouts in my fridge which is set on the cold side. I keep my Stouts in a wine fridge which keeps them around 52 which seems just right to me. I do take my time with a Stout so they do warm as I drink them.

 

There's definitely merit to keeping some beers warmer. I don't, but really should.

 

I think Orson thought a little too hard about that. I like iced coffee, champagne at almost any temperature... and please define overexcited woman/women. I like all three of these choices, mostly.

 

Massive factor.

 

It is impossible for the customer to cool down the beer. It is easy to warm it up. The expense of keeping various coolers at different temperatures pretty much precludes getting your stouts served at a warmer temperature. I do like to take a sip when it is too cold and taste the beer opening up though. It reinforces for me to get my stouts right out of the basement at about 60 most of the year.

 

If it is optimal to be closer to body temperature then why not serve them at 98 F? I think that would be gross.

 

Not being a bit stout or BBA fan in general, I drink them slow. So by default I drink stouts slow hehe. It is interesting to see them change/morph a bit overall. Even now, I'm having a Trignac XII (tripel in cognac barrels) from cold to warm and thankfully it still is really good (see my rating on it) though the spirit is cutting through a bit more and prominent as one might expect.

Overall I like your 'take your time' style to tasting. Gives a more honest representation of the beer.

 

I enjoy drinking slowly and letting it warm up a bit. My dad didn't like his beer too cold, back in the day I remember he would order 2 beers at a restaurant, one cold and one warm and he would mix them together. The bartender would always have a puzzled look on his face when he did that.