by Suzanne Walsh

Created on: August 17, 2007   Last Updated: November 29, 2011

When it comes to serving beer, you have to think about your audience: the drinker. He is coming to a party, bar or restaurant and is intent on drinking a beer. He might be stressed out, celebrating or partaking in his nightly ritual, but he wants his beer and he deserves it with great service. A very important part of beer service is cold beer and a nice, frosty mug. Other than that, you need to avoid a few beer service errors and you are on your way to beer number 2.

First things first, NEVER, and I repeat NEVER, put ice in beer. Why? Well, we all know what happens to ice when it is not in freezing temperatures: it melts! Putting ice in beer is no different than pouring water into a beer. Not only does this destroy the taste, but it lowers the alcoholic content of the beverage and most beer drinkers would not be happy with this. He did not order an O'douls, did he?

Next, do not place your hands, or any other body parts for that matter, around the part of the glass where the beer drinker will be placing his lips. Self explanatory, I imagine, but simply put, no one wants a side order of germs with their Guinness!

Another very important thing to avoid is prolonging the delivery of the beer. Please bring the beer to your drinker as soon as humanly possible! After a hot day at the golf course, a long day at work, or during the kick off of the Patriots game, your drinker wants his beer and he wants it NOW!

Lastly, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, spill any of the beer. If you are pouring a draft, it is nice to have a little foam at the top, but not so much that it will overflow out of the frosty mug. Your drinker probably would not mind a little beer on his buffalo wings, however, he would mind sharing his brewski with the floor; that is just a pure waste of hops and malt!

So, remember, cold glass + cold beer + no spills = happy drinker!

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