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The Perfect Pour

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When pouring beer into a glass, there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. That may sound pretentious because it is, but it’s still true. After reading this article, you’ll know the difference and you can start correcting family and friends out of love, not condescension, because they deserve to know what’s up too.

You know that bloated feeling you get sometimes after drinking beer? Yes, of course you do! We all do because it happens to the best of us.

Let’s apply a simple “5 Whys” problem-solving technique to figure out the culprit.

Why do I feel bloated after drinking beer?

Because about 2.5 bottles of carbon dioxide are trapped in a 12-ounce beer bottle or can and now that CO2 is trapped in your stomach.

Why is the CO2 now trapped in my stomach?

Because the carbon dioxide didn’t release properly when the beer was poured.

Why didn’t the CO2 release properly when the beer was poured?

Because the person pouring the beer didn’t know how to pour beer properly.

Why didn’t the person pouring the beer pour it properly?

Because they haven’t read this article yet or learned how to pour a beer properly from you!

Well that was only 4 Whys, but we still got to the root cause of the problem.

Here’s a step-by-step, fool-proof technique to the perfect beer pour each and every time.

Hold an open beer bottle or can in the hand you pour with and hold the glass in the opposite hand.

Angle the glass to 45-degrees and leave an inch or two between the top edge of the glass and the spout of the beer bottle or can.

Aim for the near side and middle of the glass and pour the beer so the liquid flows but doesn’t glug.

Once the beer is about halfway poured, turn the glass straight up to 90-degrees and finish the pour in a hard, fluid motion. If you see a nice, foamy head, you know you’ve done it right.

P.S. If you’re worried about seeing too much head, rest assured, foam turns into a tasty liquid called beer.

For a visual aide, check out this video to see how a beer sommelier explains this process and the science behind the perfect pour.

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