The Bar Towel

Hi everyone ... new member/first post.
I've recently become interested in new and different beers. In most part, I'll add, to the Toronto Star's article on Bartowel.com a few weeks ago.

So I am currently enjoying a Westmalle Tripel for the first time. What a fantastic beer!

I hope someone can chime in here regarding the brown (yeast, I presume?) bits that settled to the bottom of my glass upon pouring this beer.
They seem to stick to the bottom of the glass, so I'm not worried about drinking them. They are just slightly distracting I suppose.

Is straining any beer while pouring ever recommended?
If so, under what circumstance?

Thank you in advance,
Rich

Hey Rich, welcome to the board. I’m no expert in beer pouring, but typically when it comes to pouring bottle conditioned beer you want to keep the yeast in the bottle. The floating bits in the beer also distract me. Just like you mentioned how the yeast sticks to the bottom of your glass, it does the same in the bottle. So if you pour the beer into your glass slowly and stop when the yeast starts pouring you should be good. You may have to leave a little bit of beer behind in the bottle, so it’s your call if you want all the beer with all the yeast or less yeast and a little less beer! I’ve never noticed a real taste difference either way, but it sure cleans out the system in the morning if you drink the yeast!

... and regarding straining:

I've never tried, but would assume it's not a great idea. It would aerate the hell out of the beer, which would quite possibly affect the taste. Would probably affect head formation, too.

My preference is usually to pour half the bottle into a glass, drink that (yeast free), then pour and drink the other half, with the yeast.

-Josh

If you are overly concerned about the yeast staying in the bottle there is one other important thing to consider. If you buy the bottles, jostle them around on the way home then soon thereafter pour them...you'll end up with more yeast in the glass than you'd like. Try to let the bottle(s) sit upright and without agitation for at least several hours. This way any free floating yeast will settle out. Then simply pour slowly and entirely. If you stop half way the beer sloshing back into the bottle will likely stir up the yeast once more and it will be more present in the remaining beer when you pour it.

Some people, myself included, actually don't mind the yeast in the glass...to each their own.

Welcome to the site, Rich.

I don't have much to add to the yeast discussion - as the others have said, it's really a question of personal taste whether you leave as much of the yeast in the bottle as you can, or just pour it all into the beer. Just do what you like.

But I had to chime in to say that anyone who drinks and enjoys a Westmalle Tripel just a couple of weeks after becoming interested in good beer deserves a big thumbs up. May you discover and enjoy many more!

GregClow wrote:... But I had to chime in to say that anyone who drinks and enjoys a Westmalle Tripel just a couple of weeks after becoming interested in good beer deserves a big thumbs up. May you discover and enjoy many more!

Yes, that is a nice leap ahead. Welcome Rich.

I find that handling beer you just get used to whatever presentation you like. I personally like to: store cool and dark (not fridge), agitate as little as possible, fridge-cool it just a few degrees down only before opening, and single-pour smoothly avoiding most of the 'yeast' (which generally sticks to the bottom.) If I must, I will leave a few ml's in the bottle to keep a fairly clean pour. Doesn't have to be immaculate or anything, but this is what works for me to best enjoy what a beer has to offer.

[With belgians you sometimes get a high carbonation so it's great to have ready to go a Duvel glass, or something which has lots of room to quickly deal with a suddenly-foamy beer.]

Bavarian HefeWeizen is, for some an exception to avoiding a 'yeasty' pour, as the estery sediment is considered to belong in the beer, suspended. Bartenders like to roll that last few oz. around in the bottle, to collect the sediment particles, and then dump that right in. Prost!

As someone who has travelled to Belgium a number of times, I can attest to the fact that it's a matter of choice. Some establishments will slowly pour beer into the glass leaving behind a 1/2" of beer and yeast sediment. Others will pour leaving 1" in the bottle, then roll the bottle between their hands in order to disturb and pick up the remaining yeast and then pour this cloudy concoction into your glass. I'm of the second school of thought. Brewers yeast is one of the best sources of B-complex vintamins, contains 16 out of 20 amino acids which are said to help the body repair tissue and fight disease, some 14 different minerals including Chromium which has the ability to lower cholesterol (The FCA recommends 120 mcg of Chromium daily) and is a rich source of protein...good God, this is health food!
So, I'm unhealthy enough and will take all of this stuff I can get. Furthermore, other than the cloudiness, I've never noticed the yeast in the glass even when it's chunky...it may not look great but it does nothing to harm the flavour and you don't feel the chunks.

I'm with Peter on this one. Leave a bit in the bottle, and swirl it, then finish the pour. Especially with Schneider Weisse. Maybe it's psychological, but I really think it changes the flavour and mouthfeel. I'll have to do a blindfolded test some time.

It's the age old question... To swirl, or not to swirl. I'm all for the swirl.

Andicus wrote: It's the age old question... To swirl, or not to swirl. I'm all for the swirl.

"Now, he does 'the pinch'...personally, I think it's a little presumptious. I prefer 'the swirl.'"
"Is it a clockwise swirl?"
"I prefer clockwise, but it's not written in stone"

*There's ""the move"", for those who get that reference...

Good points.

I've noticed also that long-term settling of beer seems to settle out more of the solids that you would have happily drank in the first place were they still suspended in liquid. I had five-year-old Rochefort 8 that was almost too thin, yet the bottle sediment was dark, rich and aromatic when I rinsed it out!

So you can always experiment with your lees sediment tolerance I suppose.

As someone who has travelled to Belgium a number of times, I can attest to the fact that it's a matter of choice.

Europeans can seem almost downright relaxed. I picture some guy in the countryside just pouring his belgian beer and not giving a flying crap how much lees sediment gets in the glass. He'd shake his head and laugh if he saw this thread.

Belgian wrote:So you can always experiment with your lees sediment tolerance I suppose.

That's a point I forgot to make... I am not bothered by the lees, digestively. For some people (as Beer Geek mentioned), lees can cause some digestive irritation. It's surprising for me, because so many things do bother me digestively.

P.S. good one on "The Move." Hadn't thought of that until you mentioned it.

nice Seinfeld quote. People pay good money for brewers yeast as vitamins and your getting it for free as an added bonus, drink the yeast, you'll live longer and have more time to enjoy good beer.

Yes, Brewer's yeast is high in B vitamins & helps digestive flow.

I typically decant a clean glass, then do a swirl. You get two different tastes for the price of one!

I believe in decanting carefully all sedimented beers except wheat beers where the haze and associated yeast taste is truly part of the flavour profile.

By decanting carefully, I mean, start with the unopened bottle having been left for some time undisturbed. Generally a couple of days are needed for the beer to "drop bright" (fully) again.

Pour it gently in one motion and leave about one inch in the bottle. When you can see the sediment surging toward the rim pull back the bottle. You will have some wastage but not much and the effect on the palate is worth it.

As Jon said, everyone likes it their own way. This is my way because I have found a yeast film tends to cover over the malt and hop taste of the beer. You are paying for that expensive foreign malt and hop taste - why obscure it in too much yeast which can leave an unbalanced taste as a result (often a disagreeable "yeast bite")? Yeast should be a background element and not dominating. For the same reason (and not for aesthetics although for some that plays a part) cask-conditioned beer (beer unfiltered in the cask and left to complete its maturation there - the barrel equivalent to unfiltered bottled beer) is in England always handled to pour clear in the glass. Sometimes a light haze is acceptable but more than that and pub-goers will complain and rightly so. Originally in North America we had "real ale" often served here heavily clouded because bar owners did not know how to serve it properly. That is much less of a problem today because people know more about real ale than before in part because some have travelled to England and seen how it is served there.

The Orval bottle (Orval - the great Belgian Trappist ale) is designed to trap yeast in the neck, to prevent it from entering the glass. The people that make Orval know exactly what they are doing because they know that an over-yeasty glass will ruin the palate. Even poured clear the beer has plenty of yeast in it and yeast savour (as does real ale in England). You don't "need" all that extra yeast in the glass to lend its accent to the beer.

That said, I recognise many people like a yeasty glass of beer, and more power to them. But my suggestion is to try it the Orval way first and the English real ale way first and decide for yourself. Westmalle Tripel is one I would only consume well-decanted.

Gary