Beer serving temperature

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SlanginDueces

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So I was at a pretty nice craft beer place in DC and they serve their beer by temperature according to style (loosely grouped). All ales were 48 and porters/stouts were at 55 for example. Maybe it is my unrefined palate but especially with the dark beers at 55 I find that I would rather drink them cold. I'm probably used to the two temps I have at home (34 in my keezer and low 40's in my kegerator) but the warm temps just don't taste that great to me.

You get a beer poured at 55 and after it sits for 10 minutes while drinking it's pretty warm.

I know some of the real beer snobs will throw their scorn upon me, but does anyone else feel the same?
 
My brew buddies like their beer cold like you. I let mine sit for a while to get to the correct drinking Temp. I lived in England and loved the REAL ALES!. They were served at "Cellar Temp":rockin:, around 50 degrees F) That style of beer taste best there for me. It is personal preference and some guys like burnettes. Who am I to complain?
 
It's one of those things where there's simply no right or wrong. You can argue with some beer snob until you're blue in the face, but it all comes down to what you like.

I don't make it out to a lot of craft beer bars living in the middle of a rice field in Japan, but with most of my own beers I really enjoy seeing how they change as the temperature changes. To me, different aspects of my beer are highlighted at different temperatures, and it's fun to 'watch' them change as my hand warms the bottom of the pint glass. Admittedly, sometimes I get to the bottom of the glass and think 'that was better cold' - but not always. It's also a great way to pick out off-flavors that cold temperatures can mask. If I take that last warm sip of beer and I don't taste anything that I didn't intend to be there, I can pat myself on the back. That doesn't happen often all the time, but still.

I'm not a beer snob (a beer geek, for sure), and I'm definitely not throwing my scorn upon you. This is just my long way of saying that the right, or 'perfect' temperature for any given beer is the temperature at which you best like to drink it. Don't let some craft beer bar tell you otherwise.

Brew on.
 
I set my keezer at 34, but by the time I drink it gets at least 5 degrees warmer, just a tip any beer that taste great warm is truly a great beer, some beers might taste great cold but not so much warm, off flavors easily creep in so I test each brew warm just to test its real flavor
 
I like hoppy beers really cold (close to freezing), and malty beers around 40-50*F. I think it's a personal preference, but it seems like certain temps bring out flavor elements, that would be more muted at other temps.
 
That was the first place I've ever been (in the U.S.) that didn't just have a refrigerator temperature on all beers. Are there a lot of places like this?
 
I prefer all of my beers cold (30s), whether that be a light pilsner or a stout. I know my preferences don't match all the styles, but I don't care. I like what I like.
 
The lighter the beer, the colder I like it. Water (Coor's Light, Bud Lite, etc.,) can be right at freezing. The less I taste those, the better.

APAs, IPAs, & ambers, I like about 40° F or so. Cold but not too cold, and by the time I am done with the pint, it's not much above 50, so not bad at all.

Other light-ish (like ambers and such) ales & brown ales, 50 is fine to start with. Porters, a little warmer.

Stouts are fine served at 60.

Really, except IPAs & water, I can drink any beer at room temp.

:)
 
I keep my "beer cave" at 40, but find most beers to be best at 50+. One of my biggest pet peeves is paying lots of money to buy a great beer, and getting it served at 35 degrees. I'll often order a 2nd beer to drink while I wait for some huge beer to warm up. I don't drink any macro beers, so cold has little appeal to me.

But, OTOH, whatever you enjoy, enjoy it that way! I hate a-holes who try to tell others how to live their life, to each their own.
 
53 for me - just a little below "Cellar Temperature" but close enough that my ESB's taste great (at least CAMRA wouldn't totally disown me)
 
My (now departed) Navy buddy used to like to have his Bud's as cold as possible. I told him that the cold numbed his taste buds so he wasn't really tasting the beer.
I like my beers a little on the warmer side.
 
This is one of those "hidden answer" questions. A 38* pint poured in a room temperature glass quickly gets way up there...

A 38* American Lager in a frozen frosty mug quickly gets way down there. I've had beer form ice (NOT water left in the glass) from everything from Bud to Amber Bock at some "frosty mug" bars.

A 55* pour into a warm-from-the-washer mug would be pretty warm imho.
 
It depends a lot on the style for me. In winter I'll gladly drink a bitter straight from the box on the shelf in the kitchen, probably about 55 F. But I like pale ales, IPAs and the like at around 45 F. I don't buy in to the idea that dark beers should be served warmer. I like my dry stouts colder at about 43 - 45 F(Guinness agree with me on that, though I'm not sure that means much).

In the end, it's a personal preference and I don't really care what other people think or do. Although bartenders often look at me weird when I ask what their serving temp is before I decide what I want. :p
 
This is one of those "hidden answer" questions. A 38* pint poured in a room temperature glass quickly gets way up there...

A 38* American Lager in a frozen frosty mug quickly gets way down there. I've had beer form ice (NOT water left in the glass) from everything from Bud to Amber Bock at some "frosty mug" bars.

A 55* pour into a warm-from-the-washer mug would be pretty warm imho.
Magnus, Just as an fyi, if you use alt 248 it will give you the degree symbol, ie. 55°
 
It's one of those things where there's simply no right or wrong. You can argue with some beer snob until you're blue in the face, but it all comes down to what you like.

I don't make it out to a lot of craft beer bars living in the middle of a rice field in Japan, but with most of my own beers I really enjoy seeing how they change as the temperature changes. To me, different aspects of my beer are highlighted at different temperatures, and it's fun to 'watch' them change as my hand warms the bottom of the pint glass. Admittedly, sometimes I get to the bottom of the glass and think 'that was better cold' - but not always. It's also a great way to pick out off-flavors that cold temperatures can mask. If I take that last warm sip of beer and I don't taste anything that I didn't intend to be there, I can pat myself on the back. That doesn't happen often all the time, but still.

I'm not a beer snob (a beer geek, for sure), and I'm definitely not throwing my scorn upon you. This is just my long way of saying that the right, or 'perfect' temperature for any given beer is the temperature at which you best like to drink it. Don't let some craft beer bar tell you otherwise.

Brew on.

I'm the exact same way. I like a beer cold to start with (regular fridge temp so like 35-37°?) and like to see how the flavors change as it warms up. I often find I like the flavors best somewhere in the middle, after it's not so cold that certain flavors are subdued but not so warm that it just tastes flat and sticky.
 
I like to have my beer served to me cold, 34F-ish.

I like to *drink* my beer at a slightly warmer temperature, 40-44F.

Theres a world of difference between what temp you are served at and what temperature you are drinking it at. You can serve the beer at 34-35F. If you pour yourself a stout and you like your stouts at 45-50F all you have to do is warm the glass up with your hands, its surprising how quickly a pint will warm up if you do the double-hand-sippy-cup grip on the glass. (95F temp hands on a 34F glass it soaks up a lot of thermal energy very quickly)

You can always warm a beer up with your hands (rub your hands together really quick to build up some extra heat from the friction and your hands become tiny ovens). You can't really cool a beer down thats in your glass (not quickly at least).
 
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