What's the Best Way to Pour Beer?

Be the hit of your party and learn how to pour the perfect beer-- (with the additional party trick of knowing the chemistry behind why, of course!)

We'd like to give a special thank you to Draught Works Brewery for letting us film their beer pouring techniques.

Hosted by: Hank Green
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Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters -- we couldn't make SciShow without them! Shout out to Patrick Merrithew, Will and Sonja Marple, Thomas J., Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters, charles george, Kathy & Tim Philip, Tim Curwick, Bader AlGhamdi, Justin Lentz, Patrick D. Ashmore, Mark Terrio-Cameron, Benny, Fatima Iqbal, Accalia Elementia, Kyle Anderson, and Philippe von Bergen.
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[skipjack]

Most practical and useful question ever asked on SciShow!

[TrailRecon]

The nucleation site was some great information and now I'm thirsty! Great video!

[vavra]

This is so wrong, seeing the guy pouring the beer and then just getting rid of the foam by spilling it out....

We czechs like our foam, at least 2cm so it looks nice. And no, you dont get less beer, the glass is tall enough so that you get what you ordered with a nice foam head on top of it...

[Danmandingo]

*It's about TIME SciShow covered this.*

*The world needs to know the best way. o_O*

[cpthuggyface]

I used to serve beer at wrigley field and he's right on the mark.

[GigTube]

correction: Although yeast does product CO2 during fermentation, the CO2 from canned, bottled and kegged beer (as shown in this video) is forced-carbed at the brewery using CO2 tanks.

Only beer on cask is naturally carbonated by yeast. It's nowhere near as bubbly as kegs and cans.

[Desertskunk]

I was told something similar about pouring soda! Tilting it to prevent it from fizzing and overflowing! I didn't realize beer and other alcohols had a similar method!

[AnnaCorleone]

Let me tell you: you rinse the inside of the glass with cold water so you remove dish soap residue which causes the foam to collapse to quickly. Then you tilt the glass almost to a horizontal position. Just low enough that your liquid is not slosh out of the glass. NEVER let the bottle touch the glass or the already poured in liquid. When the glass is so "full" the liquid would leak over the rim you put the glass straight and add the remaining liquid to get a nice foam crown. If you wait for like 20 to 30 seconds and add another little bit of beer the foam "hardens" a little and you achieve that the foam stands over the rim without leaking down the glass. Perfectly poured beer. #greetingsfrombavaria

[canuck]

Rinsing the glass with water helps reduce foam as well. I believe it reduces nucleation sites by lubricating the glass and removing any dust or detergent left behind after washing.

[thomasr.jackson]

Most commercial beers are charged with CO2 under pressure, rather than by fermentation in the bottle. This avoids having yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

However, as the commercial brewers often collect their CO2 as a reclaimed waste product of fermentation, I suppose calling the CO2 a fermentation product is technically correct.

[CoffeePoints]

For all you going to be college freshmen in a couple of weeks, the trick is to hold the beer glass as close to the opening as possible (reduces gravity's effect on the drink, meaning it's hitting the glass at a slower speed which means less foam) and to tilt it 30-60 degreesish depending on how much foam you want. You don't want too much foam, but too little foam is also a bad thing.

[mlheur]

I was on a brewery tour and they explained there are two things that
break down beer: oxygen and light. Having head on the top of your beer
provides a barrier to atmospheric oxygen thus keeping your beer fresher
while you drink.

[raymanscape]

Ahh, i see you guys at SciShow are finally tackling the important stuff ;)

[SilentKaliSmoker]

same pouring idea for pouring soda from a bottle or can. works a little on fountain drinks.

[phantasm]

Can you do one on cerebral aneurysms? I had one rupture at 19 and would love to learn more!

[PlastiPL]

Yes SciShow, that's what we want to hear :P

[TetraSky]

this also applies to carbonated drinks like pepsi, coke, etc etc.. Though not as bad as beer, they do foam like crazy too if you just pour straight up instead of tilting.

[IceehawkPSN]

worked as bar tender for 5 years in college, 45 degrees is the absolute perfect angle.

[dxnjqjg]

would tilting the glass when pouring a drink like cola be a nice idea as well?

[mattlm]

For those in the comments section that say beer is horrible, please do not say that until you have tried different types of beer. Not all beer is created equal. I never was a beer drinker until I got into ale. Lager is generally too bland and boring for me, although lager can be drinkable. Ale usually has much more complex discernible flavours such as chocolate, citrus, toffee, spice, honey, liquorice etc. which go beyond the sweet bready malt, and bitter hops. I believe this is due to the warm fermentation process where the ale yeast produces aromatic esters. Some ales are oak aged which imparts another layer of interesting flavour. Make sure to check out Innis and Gunn for really great oak-aged ale.