One key aspect of beer tasting that is often overlooked is the order in which you drink the beers. There are two main things to take into account: stong flavors will overrule light flavors, and alcohol numbs your tastebuds. Therefore, sort your beers by strength of flavor and start with the lightest (in our case, this means IPAs first and stouts last) so you will be able to get the nuances of all beers. Then sort by alcohol percentage within each category, so you avoid numbing of your tastebuds as much as possible.

Did you know that, in general, beers that are lighter in colour are also lighter in flavor than beers that are darker in flavor? Use this as a rule of thumb when you don’t know anything about the beers you’re about to drink.

To make your beer have the best taste possible, you need to make sure it’s at the right temperature. Warm beer is very unpleasant to drink, but make it too cold and it won’t taste like anything! What the best temperature is depends on the style of beer you drink, and sometimes even between brews from the same style. If you’re unsure what the best temperature is and you forgot the ranges for all styles, here is a good formula: alcohol percentage of the beer (ABV) – 1 = serving temperature in degrees Celsius. In general, you want to drink IPAs and other light beers at 6 to 8 degrees Celsius and stouts and other dark beers at 10 to 13 degrees Celsius. It is usually good to place light beers in the fridge roughly an hour before you drink them and to take them out right when you serve them, and to take dark beers out of the fridge about 15 to 20 minutes before you drink them so they have some time to warm up a bit.

Did you know we always print the best serving temperature on our labels?

Now that your beers are getting chilled, it is time to prepare the rest. Make sure that you have glassware for everyone and that it is clean and dry. Make sure to not only get glassware for the beers (for this we suggest using a tasting glass or a Teku glass), but also for some water (for this we suggest using a tumbler or a vaasje). Alcohol dehydrates your body, so if you don’t want to feel like a mess the next day we suggest you drink plenty of water. It also helps to rinse your mouth after each beer, so the flavors of the previous beer won’t influence the next brew.

People might also want to take notes of what they tasted, so make sure to provide some pen and paper. However, you can also take notes in an app like Untappd of course!

Did you know that you can tag your friends in a check-in on Untappd?

Everything is better with food on the side, even our already perfect craft beers. However, picking the wrong food might ruin a good beer. So, how do you pick the perfect food for your beer tasting? In general, you want to pair a beer with food that is either very similar (like tropical fruit with a tropical double IPA) or you know fits one of the core flavors very well (like caramel fudge with a creamy coffee stout). Additionally, you need to take the intensity of the flavor in mind: all tropical notes of a hazy IPA will get completely lost if you combine it with a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, and you won’t taste anything from a mild Edam cheese when you combine it with a strong pastry stout. An unexpected pairing: eating something fatty like smoked chicken wings with a heavily carbonated beer releases all the fats that cling to the insides of your mouth, leading to a flavor explosion!

Did you know that stouts combine very well with salted nuts, like peanuts?

We’re done with preparations, so we can finally grab our beers! Pour them in your cleaned and dried tasting glasses  at an angle of 45°, and take a look. Look at the color of the beer, the clarity, the foam (amount, color and density) and the amount of carbonation, as this will all tell you something about what you can expect. You can sometimes find the EBC (European Brewery Convention) on a can or bottle, which tells you exactly how dark a beer is.

Did you know that it’s easiest to check the color of your beer when you hold it against a light?

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for: time to taste the beer! One thing might be a bit surprising though, we start tasting with our… Nose! Yes, smell is a big part of taste, so swirl your glass, stick your nose all the way into it (try to avoid the beer) and inhale deeply. What do you smell? Start broad: does it smell sweet, tropical, boozy… Then, try to get more specific. Is the sweetness more caramelly, or more fruity? If it’s fruity, what kinds of fruit do you taste, stone fruits or perhaps watermelon? Having a fragrance wheel on the side will help you a lot with this.

Did you know that you don’t pick up the same amount of smells with each nostril, and that this changes throughout the day? Try it yourself by closing one of your nostrils with the inside of the glass and inhale, and then do the same with the other nostril.

Your patience is finally rewarded: time to put the glass to your lips! Take a small sip, suck in some air, and let the beer roll around in your mouth to fully coat your tongue and the inside of your mouth. This way, you will taste all flavor types well and will get a balanced taste of the beer. Again, try to identify which flavors you taste, and start broad again: is this beer sweet, sour, bitter, umami (salty is rarely a thing you’ll taste in beer)? Then get more specific: is the bitterness from hops, or is it rather the bitter of a walnut? And is the sweetness like chocolate, or does it taste like candy or fruit? Again having a helping hand, in this case a tasting wheel, will be very beneficial in identifying all flavors.

Did you know that taste is build up of a main taste and an aftertaste, the taste that keeps lingering in your mouth? Sometimes, this aftertaste is very different from the main taste. If you want to taste like a pro and differentiate easily between main taste and aftertaste, do the following: Put your nose in the glass and inhale deeply. Then, take a sip in your mouth, and roll it around in your mouth until it’s foamy and the same temperature of your body. Swallow, and only then exhale. Congrats, this is the aftertaste! Do this again and immediately take a sip of your beer to easily identify the main taste.