Aurora Starchild
If you’ve ever struggled with transferring your can or bottle of beer into a pint, or been irked at how someone else does it, there could be a reason. Yes, there is a correct way to pour beer. However, that correct way depends on a couple of factors.
Videos by Rare
Firstly, what kind of beer are you drinking? If you’re drinking a nitro, squash this entire article. Just tip your can upside-down into your glass. Cheater. This isn’t for you.
Secondly, if you’re not drinking a nitro beer, but rather a regular beer with standard levels of CO2, you should be pouring at a 45-degree angle up against the glass. But you only do this for about half of the can or bottle.
Next, tip the can or bottle upside-down and let the head rise.
If you’re not a fan of head, that’s because you don’t fully understand what’s happening. When a beer foams, it results in a flatter beer, which can be a good thing. When we don’t allow the carbonation to dissipate before entering our stomachs, we end up getting tummy aches. Hence why it’s good to pour beer into a glass before drinking it.
This is especially true when beer is ingested in large quantities. Research has shown that when we drink more than 300 ml of carbonated liquid, it can cause discomfort in our upper digestive tracts. Since a typical beer is 12 oz., or about 355 ml., that means that drinking one beer without letting the carbonation subside a bit can cause gastrointestinal distress. This is bad news for all the chuggers out there.
There are exceptions to how to pour beer, of course. A Hefeweizen will result in too much head if you tip it upside-down at the 50% full point. Highly carbonated beers should be poured at the 45-degree angle against a glass for the entire pour.
Lastly, you might be the kind of person who just has their own personal preference when pouring your beer. That’s okay, too.
