Do You Like It ‘Cowboy Cold?’
The perfect temperature for beer is an interesting subject for me to explore. I just recently turned 21 and I'm starting to journey into bars and beer stores. Usually I am clueless and feel very uneducated. Last week at Electric Cowboy, I felt like a total goober while trying to order a beer. The bartender got an attitude with me when I asked what kind of beer they served, so I made an executive decision just to get a Bud Light. For the rest of the night I had a cold hand from holding the beer. Is that right? (more after the jump)
From the little research I have conducted, not all beer has to be on the brink of freezing to enjoy. Many beer connoisseurs state "warmer temperatures reveal the range of flavors in a beer" but the colder beer is more refreshing.
Beer writer Michael Jackson came up with a five-level scale for serving temperatures:
- well chilled (7 °C/45 °F) for "light" beers (pale lagers)
- chilled (8 °C/46 °F) for Berliner Weisse and other wheat beers
- lightly chilled (9 °C/48 °F) for all dark lagers, altbier and German wheat beers
- cellar temperature (13 °C/55 °F) for regular British ale, stout and most Belgian specialties
- room temperature (15.5 °C/59.9 °F) for strong dark ales (especially trappist beer) and barley wine