Beer Tasting

Beer tasting......

You're feeling festive, in the mood to entertain friends. But the thought of throwing yet another cocktail party bores you to tears. Searching for a new way to make merry? Throw a beer tasting party!

Invite Your Tasting Guests

Your goal should be 6 to 12 people (including you) at the tasting (I think 8 is the ideal size). Make sure to include the following on the invitation:

The type of tasting A request not to wear perfume or cologne (which would interfere with everyone's olfactory abilities) A request to RSVP by a certain date Once you've received your guests' RSVPs, purchase the necessary materials:

Pens — one for everyone, including you Paper for guests and hosts to record their impressions of the beers Copies of the beer menu — one for everyone, including you Beer Beer glasses, napkins Water (served cold) and crackers and bread for cleansing the palate Find Your Beer

For an introductory tasting, consider beginning with a light lager, then progressing to a fruit lambic, a dark South German-style wheat beer, rye beer, Trappist ale and finally stout.

If you're a beer aficionado or have already participated in an introductory beer tasting, you can narrow your focus. Try a pure ale, lager, lambic or even stout, fruit beer or seasonal brew tasting. Only try beers from Germany, Belgium, Britain or the United States, or limit your tasting to beers made by microbreweries. For fun, you can even include one of the world's most expensive beers: Samuel Adams' Utopias, which comes in a copper bottle, has 25 percent alcohol and costs $100 or more.

Because everyone will taste about 1/3 cup of each sample, you'll need two 12-ounce bottles of each beer for every eight people. Try your local liquor and gourmet stores, or Internet sites, such as BeerGeek.biz, BeerLiquors.com or InternetWines.com/beer.

Where Should I Hold a Beer Tasting?

Situate the event around a large, wide table, perhaps in your dining room or kitchen. You want everyone comfortably seated so that they can concentrate on the tasting. Soft music, such as classical or New Age, can contribute to the atmosphere, but make sure it's not too distracting.

Serving Beer

Generally ales are served at 50 to 55 degrees F, while lagers are served at 40 to 45 degrees F. For a tasting, serve your beer at slightly warmer temperatures than these. That way, the beers' flavors and aromas will be more easily detectable. I recommend removing the bottles from the refrigerator 30 minutes to an hour before serving.

Serve beer in narrow, tall water glasses (which allow the formation of a head or foam) or wine glasses (for strong beer such as barley wine).

Most beers should first be poured down the side of the glass and then directed into the center of the vessel (pouring straight down from the get-go will yield too large a head).Conduct the Beer Tasting

Once everyone's seated, take turns reading aloud some introductory information and trivia. Pass around the first sample and guide the group through tasting it in a structured fashion. Meanwhile, have everyone record their thoughts on their tasting sheet.

Once they've written their thoughts, discuss the sample as a group. Then have everyone cleanse their palates (with water and bread or crackers) to prepare for the next sample. The tasting portions from this point on should be self-guided, but you can certainly discuss the remaining items as you go. Feel free to take conversation breaks throughout.

After the samples have been tasted, discuss what you thought about them and partake in additional food and drink.