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Health & Fitness

Cans, Tongues, and Plastic - My Thoughts on Beer

Beer cicerone Michael has some opinions I think are wrong. How about you?

This summer my wife and I went to an educational beer tasting at a hip liquor store in Lillydale. We learned all about hops, malt, and yeast while catching a little buzz and meeting a fun young couple from St. Paul.

The “class” was taught by a certified beer cicerone (expert) named Michael. Michael would have made an excellent junior high school teacher – provided he could have a few on-the-job beers while presenting the daily lessons.  He had great stories and great enthusiasm for the subject of beer.  We all laughed and drank and took notes that would soon be lost beneath a stack of other stuff we once intended to save, but will never find again.

Now I may not be Mr. Cicerone, but I enjoy drinking beer and I generally believe my opinions to be correct.  AND, frankly, I have a beef with a couple of points made by beer-teacher Mike.  1) Michael says that beer from a can tastes the same as beer from a bottle.  However, I believe that there’s a metallic tinge to the flavor of canned beer. I’ve compared both Miller Lite and Heineken cans to bottles and the bottles taste better.

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2) I was taught, and I think the Germans believe, that beer should go directly from the bottle/can/glass to the back of the drinker’s mouth without resting on the tongue – and it should be swallowed from there (as opposed to wine, which should rest on the tongue before being swallowed). To me, beer tastes best when savored by the taste buds at your back throat near your saliva glands.  Our beer instructor, Michael, had never heard of such a thing and thought I was silly to think it true.

3) I think that beer should never be served in a plastic glass.  The plastic not only reacts with the beer flavor-wise, but it also more quickly dissipates the head. Michael says that beer should never be served in a chilled glass because it stunts the flavor.  I agree. But given the choice of plastic or chilled glass, I’ll take the chilled glass every time.  Michael chooses the plastic.

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And so, my beer-loving brothers and sisters, the topic is cans, tongues, and plastic.  Tell me I’m absolutely right or absolutely wrong. There’s no room for compromise on THIS topic (unless, of course, your table has caught the bartender’s attention and you need to quickly de-escalate a late happy-hour argument). 

Oatvay Ohnay!

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