BEER: STORING & POURING

Beer, like any other perishable food, needs the right care to make sure its pure taste and texture are maintained.

• Beer's shelf life is about three months, and its quality is affected by both temperature and light.
• Store beer in a cool, dark place with a temperature of approximately 13°C.
• Draught beer must be refrigerated at all times to maintain freshness and finished within two to three weeks with a home draught set up.
• The ideal serving temperature is between 4° and 5°C.

• Beer is unique and tastes best when served in a special set of glasses reserved for beer alone. That's because milk, tea, coffee, and even the soap used to clean the glasses, leaves a residue that diminishes a beer's head.
  
  
• Here's a tip: to test the cleanliness of your beer glasses, dip them in clear water and turn them upside-down to drain. If the glass has traces of things like lipstick, soap, grease, or oil, the film of water will break up into streaks or drops. If the glass is clean, you'll see a perfect film of clear water cover the entire surface.
  
  
• Serve beer in a wet glass that's been washed in a mild soap-free detergent and rinsed several times in warm water. To prime your glass for a rich head, rinse it in pure, cold water just before you pour.

• The perfect glass of beer boasts a rich head of foam. It looks great, and by providing a natural cap for the beer's carbonation it yields a smoother, cleaner taste.
  
  
• When you pour the beer; put the neck of the bottle over the edge of the cool, wet glass, tilting the bottle to a high angle and pouring the beer into the glass until you've created a fine, dense- textured head.
  
  
• At that point, lower the bottom of the bottle to reduce the flow until foam nears the top of the glass. Leave just enough space for the foam to rise to the lip of the glass.