| Beer Drinking vs Beer Tasting
 There is a big difference in drinking beer and tasting beer. Do you know how to taste beer? Or a better question might be do you know how to evaluate the taste of beer? If you have read anything about beer then you have read beer reviews and they usually evaluate the beer using a set of criteria including appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel, and drinkability.
Many would ask why you would want to bother to evaluate your beer instead of just drinking it? Evaluating these five characteristics will give you all the information you need about any particular beer and being able to recognize this will help you choose new beers to try and be able to tell others about beers you like. It will help you earn the honor of being a "beer geek" and it can be interesting and fun!
Tasting is an individual art, but here are a few steps that will take your beer drinking to another level. Cheers!
Look
Take a moment before drinking and raise the beer in front of you and look at it. Don't hold the beer to direct light since this will dilute its true color. Describe its color, its head and its consistency.
Agitate
Gently swirl your beer in the glass. This will pull out aromas, subtle nuances and loosen and stimulate carbonation. Note the head retention.
Smell
Over 90% of what you experience when you "taste" is through your sense of smell. Breathe in through your nose with a couple quick sniffs, then with your mouth open, then through your mouth only. Agitate again if need be, and be sure you are in an area that has no overpowering aromas.
Taste
Now sip the beer. Let it wander over your entire palate. Pay attention to the different flavors on your tongue. Good beer is complex and will exhibit multiple flavors. Try to discern the various flavors and note what they are or what they are similiar to. Beer can be dry or lacking in sweetness, often leaving a bitter aftertaste from the hops, or have a lingering sweetness from the malt. Or it can be neither or both. The balance of sweetness and bitterness is an important characteristic to note when describing the taste of a beer.
Notice how the beer feels in your mouth. Is it full-bodied and thick or thin and watery? Beers brewed with oatmeal often have a slippery mouthfeel. Generally, lighter beers have a thinner mouthfeel while beers brewed with a lot of malt are more full-bodied.
The next time you drink a beer, don't just drink it, taste it. You may be surprised at what you have been missing by not paying attention to the finer details of your favorite brew. Taste a variety of beers for practice and your appreciation and love of beers will grow.
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