Beer may be the world’s most popular beverage, but it’s also one of the most widely misunderstood. Neo-prohibitionists, wine snobs, old wives tales, and third-hand wisdom all have combined to leave the average imbiber baffled about what’s true and not when it comes to the average brew. Use our guide below to debunk the most common beer-related myths.
The Beer Belly . Sure, if you make a habit of leaving six-packs in your wake, you’ll pile on the pounds to show for it—but you won’t necessarily wind up with a beer gut. The rounded, telltale belly bulge owes its appearance more to genetics than to Guinness, according to a 2009 German study of nearly 20,000 beer drinkers. So order what you want—just don’t overdo it, or you’ll find out far too fast which way your genetics lean.
Imported beer is better than domestic beer. The old cliché that the grass is always greener applies just as strongly to tap handles. Take the leading domestic beers from any two countries, exchange them, and each country will value the resulting import more highly. This likely dates back to the nineteenth century, when export beers like India Pale Ale were brewed stronger to help them survive long journeys. In America, post-Prohibition domestic brews such as Budweiser were also once considered thin tasting compared to traditionally brewed European beers like Heineken. But you’d be hard pressed to find any expert arguing that Corona is now superior to the IPA from your local microbrewery.
Beer is the drink of the working class . Whether it’s a few brewskis at the game, or a couple of Buds at a dive bar, beer is democratic and unpretentious, more approachable than wine or fine spirits. But for most of its history, everyone drank it. There are detailed records of country houses each with their own breweries, and George Washington was a great fan of porter. For centuries, boiled, sterilized beer was a safe alternative to drinking water. Even today, demographic studies show you’re more likely to drink beer the more affluent you are. Despite this fact, many people are very sniffy about the idea of beer as, say, an accompaniment to fine dining. That’s just snobbery. Beer can be as structured and elegant as wine, and is at least as worthy as a match with food. An earthy, funky Belgian saison both makes and accompanies a hearty chicken stew – coq a la biere if you will – while a classic pale ale such as Sierra Nevada is the perfect match for English cheddar cheese. Don’t believe me? Ask New York’s Grammercy Tavern, or Aubergine, a Michelin-starred restaurant in London – just two of the top restaurants with intriguing and varied beer lists.
Beer should be served ice cold. Warm ale on the English village green and ice-cold lager served from frosted glasses are twin myths. Icy coldness masks flavor_if the beer tastes good, why hide it? Having said that, the idea that ale should be served at room temperature dates back to when rooms didn’t have central heating. The ideal temperature for ale is 11-13 degrees celcius, because this allows the complex flavors to fully develop. If you’ve been out in those temperatures, that’s not warm. Similarly, the only reason to serve lager ice-cold is to mask a flavor that would be unpleasant if it were served at the ideal temperature of 5 to 8 degrees celcius. It comes down to personal taste, but these guidelines are generally recommended by craft brewers as being the temperature range where the balance of flavor and refreshment is perfect.
Fresh is best. Don’t be fooled by promotional gimmicks like born-on dating. A perfect lager should mature at low temperatures for at least six weeks before bottling. Outside the brewery, there are many beer styles that don’t reach their full flavor potential until they’ve had chance to mature and develop. One of the big trends in craft brewing involves ageing ales in whisky or rum casks, where compounds from spirit and wood infuse the beer. British ales like Worthington White Shield and Belgian beers such as Orval, which have residual yeast in the bottle fuelling a slow, secondary fermentation, are not at their best until they’re at least three months old.
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