How to know if the beer is of high quality: 5 important nuances
Even expensive and proven beer can sometimes be upset, for example, if it has not been stored or bottled properly. There is nothing to say about unfamiliar varieties, especially low-priced ones - the risk of running into a bad drink increases many times over. To avoid this, it is important to know how to determine the quality of a beer before you taste it. There are five criteria that will help you to do it even at home. What are they?
Select and open
There are many kinds of beer, and each producer sets a different shelf life depending on the technology used. But there are universal figures for most light lagers (this is the kind of beer most often bought in regular stores). The strength of the drink usually does not exceed 5 revolutions and the density is 12%. The shelf life will tell you about the technology: half a year means pasteurization was used, a year - preservatives were definitely involved. If you don't want to deal with the latter, you'd better not buy lagers with a long shelf life.
After you open the bottle, pay attention to the smoke coming from the neck. Many people think it's a sign of quality, but it's not: if there's smoke coming out of the bottle, it means that the beer has been gassed artificially.
Pour
The first thing to pay attention to when pouring is the foam. The height of the foam cap may vary depending on the brew and the glass into which the beer is poured, but in any case, it must be stable - that is, it must hold for at least 3-4 minutes. If it has fallen off faster, it could indicate stale or oxidized beer.
If we are talking about lager varieties, it is also worth evaluating the color and clarity. Real lager should be light yellow or golden in color, and the more transparent the liquid, the higher the quality of the drink and softer its taste. To determine the purity of the glass you need to hold it up to a light source - the liquid in it should shine and sparkle slightly. Of course, this method is not suitable for styles, which are characterized by turbidity, but usual light beer is definitely worth checking for transparency.
Smell
Light beer usually has a pronounced hop aroma, while dark beer has a malt aroma. No extraneous aromas - soapy, too bright yeast, unpleasant vegetable or alcoholic - should be emitted by the beer. As a rule, odors that are not specific for a particular brew are indicative of brewing technology violations or insufficient disinfection of equipment.
Try
If everything looks good at first glance, you can move on to tasting. To assess the taste, you need to take a small sip and listen to the sensations. The drink should be easy to drink and should have no unspecific flavors. It is also important to assess the aftertaste, the bitterness of the hops should be mild. If it lingers indefinitely and the bitter taste remains in your mouth, it may indicate flaws in the hop hop hop technology.
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