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This week's question:

Should I drink beer out of a bottle or a glass?

Dear Goggles,

You can drink beer out of anything you like, but you may be missing out on a lot of flavor. When you drink beer out of a bottle or can, you are losing some important things: aroma and taste. Beer that is in a bottle can't really be smelled and appreciated. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a good example: it's a great-tasting beer, but when poured into a glass really opens up and you can smell the clean, citrusy aroma of the hops. Beautiful! Drinking from the bottle also funnels the beer into your mouth with very little oxygen, so you don't get the full range of flavors that your tongue can detect, but only if it has some air to work with. Try this experiment next time you're out: order a nice beer and a non-chilled glass. Pour half the beer into the glass. Straight down, making a big head. Let it settle a bit, then taste the beer in the bottle, pause, then taste the beer in the glass. You should get a wider range of flavors from the glass. Now about those glasses... There are beer glasses that are used for certain types of beer - pilsner, Belgians, pint glasses - but that doesn't mean you'll get a party penalty for using the wrong one. Just make sure you don't chill them. Sounds crazy right? Frosty mugs are for beer, aren't they? Here's a couple of reasons why the frost isn't friendly. When beer is kept really cold and doesn't warm up a little, it doesn't have a chance to release excess carbonation. So you end up drinking it. And it's got to get out somewhere, either in burps or... elsewhere. Second, cold numbs the tongue and you don't really get the full flavor. Heavier beers actually benefit from warming up. Next time you order a Left Hand Milk Stout or a Young's Double Chocolate Stout, have it poured into a non-frosty pint glass and take your time drinking it. Your tongue will thank you!

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What's the deal with IBU's?

Dear Not-So-Bitter,

IBUs are International Bittering Units, a way to measure the alpha acids from the hops in a beer. The higher the number, the more alpha acids are present in your beer. But your friend is only half correct. The alpha acids by themselves are increasingly bitter as the number goes up, but two other factors come into play that will affect the taste of your beer: the type of hops used, and the amount of malt used. Since hops range in flavor density, the amount of bitterness you taste may not be as much if your beer uses Noble hops from England, versus hops from the Northeastern US (which are known for their biting tastes!). If a lot of malt is used, the bitterness, while still technically there, may not be as detectable because of the sweetness in the malt itself. In general, IBUs can help determine the direction of a beer, since hoppier beers do have higher IBUs, but knowledge about the styles of beer also help you figure out what a beer might taste like. Of course, the best way to determine how a beer tastes is to try it! Your local taphouse usually offers samples to any inquisitive beer drinker. Cheers!

It tastes like "beer"...

Dear Confused,

You've heard the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink?" I'm not saying your girlfriend is a horse, but you get the idea. Don't try to force beer appreciation on her. Instead, try to find out what she likes and then ask her to try beers like her favorites. For instance, if she loves coffee and chocolate, introduce her to stouts and porters, like the Left Hand Milk Stout. If she likes citrusy drinks, buy her a Belgian wit (white) beer like Avery's White Rascal. Of course, a really cool way to introduce her to the different flavors of beer is to do a mini tasting of the lambics. Buy a few bottles of Lindemans lambics - Peche (peach), Pomme (apple), Kriek (cherry), and the ever-popular Framboise (raspberry). Pour these into champagne flutes and it's money in the bank she'll find a favorite or two.