"Some decanted evening"

Bubbles can be fun.
Sometimes they will detract from the real thing.
You may not always want them in your beer, at least not so many.





There are several companies that package their beer with CO2. Sometimes they get carried away. Sometimes their regulator is set to XXX ppsi and you get more fizz than the beer justifies.

What, beer with less fizz?
I came upon this not with any intent. One day I was enjoying some time at my favorite tap house in the Folsom area. You know, the one that has been open for less than 6 mos. and has already received an award, yea, that one. Any way, they had Lagunitas Lucky 13 on tap. Lucky 13 began life as Lagunitas Anniversary ale. It is a deep, rich, vinuous, red ale. I enjoyed it so much that when I found it at my local grocery store in a 22oz. bottle, I picked it up . I wanted to serve it when the cool delta breezes were stroking the warm Sacramento evening.

When such an evening presented itself, I poured the red ale into a short-stemmed glass. However, as I savored the liquid, it seemed as if the carbonation was running interference with the rich flavors of this finely crafted beer. Hmmm…. What to do?

I pulled out my decanter, turned the remaining contents of the 22oz. bottle upside down into the decanter. The decanter was filled with foam. I set my timer for 15 minutes to give the beer time to gas out.
I returned to the beer, and re-poured my glass. Low and behold I had a completely different beer. All the malt richness, and complexity was standing alone as it should. It didn’t need the CO2 to hold it up. The vinuous character that was being suppressed by the show off bubbles was now able to shine through.
I spent the rest of the evening slowly savoring the beer in a way that would not have been possible otherwise.

There are several other companies that consistently over carbonate the beer. It does not always do the beer credit. If you come across a lovely beer and you think that the carbonation in the beer is overwhelming the .seductive flavors of the beer, then see if you can draw out those flavors by decanting the beer and allowing the superfluous gas to escape. It’s always a pleasant surprise to find a different beer than what you initially tasted.

This principle follows that same line of reasoning as the serving temperature of beer. It could have been that while the beer was gassing out it also had time to warm up and allow more flavors to be enjoyed without being accosted by the cold.

Invariably the beer sensory experience is just that, a sensory experience. The more appreciation you learn to give beer and what it may have to offer, the more opportunities you look for to increase your pleasure.

Take time to enjoy your beer. Allow it to unfold. Not all beers are designed to be chased with nachos.

I hope that with these articles you are learning to appreciate the many nuances that you beer selection has to offer. I would love to hear from you and any comments you have or articles you would like to see me write about.