serving temperatures

Beer: Best Sipped Cool, Not Cold

If it has to be served "ice cold" it probably isn't a good beer.

Instead Daniel Kahn, brew master for Buckbean Brewing Company, a microbrewery in Reno, Nevada, says all beer should be served at 55-degrees Fahrenheit. "Because when it's too cold it numbs your taste buds, which in turn affects how you taste the flavors - or really, how you don't taste them," he explains.

So throw out what you know about a frosty mug of beer, to completely appreciate the vast array of brews being produced today let them warm a couple of degrees.

The Brewers Association classifies beers into two categories: ales - where the yeast ferments on top examples include IPA, pale ale, porter, stout - and lagers - where the yeast ferments on the bottom as in pilsners, Bocks or dark lagers.

Kahn knows a lot about both types. His two-year-old brewery began by producing one of each: a Bavarian Schwarz bier Lager called Black Noddy Lager and zesty ale called Original Orange Blossom Ale. These are beers that offer huge flavors; they're meant to be sipped, not chugged. Chilling them too much does more than numb your taste buds, "If you serve your beer too cold the gases don't release and you miss out on the aromas, which also affects taste." He says the next time you have a beer - or eat anything for that matter - plug your nose. You'll find your sense of smell is responsible for a lot of the flavor.

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