Ever had a beer that didn’t taste as good as you thought it would? It either got great reviews or your friends raved about it, so you couldn’t wait to try it. But when you did, you were unimpressed. First, and most important, it may just be that you don’t like the beer, even if your friends and favorite reviewers do. Or maybe you just got a bad batch, which happens.
It might also be, though, that the beer was served at a temperature that wasn’t appropriate for the stye. There are no hard and fast rules, but different styles of beer can best be appreciated within their certain temperature ranges.
If you’re in a real rush, you can just go with the very general rule of thumb: the lighter the appearance, the colder the serving temperature. The darker and stronger the beer, the warmer the serving temperature.
But that isn’t really enough to go on, so here are some generally agreed upon suggested serving temperatures for some different styles of beer. These lists are by no means exhaustive, but they should at least provide a good sense of what similar styles should be served at.
Very Cold (about 32–39°)
Macrobrews are not typically consumed for their taste. The macrobrew you have in your hand might be great for the occasion—baseball game, picnic or whatever—but if we’re being honest, you’re not drinking it for the taste. That’s why these beers are best consumed very cold (32-39°F). Cold not only impedes your taste buds’ ability to taste the beer, it inhibits your ability to smell it. These two senses are pretty key in beer tasting, so if it’s not a great beer, go with very cold.
Some examples of beer to consume at this temperature:
Macrobrew Pale Lager, Pilsner
Low Alcohol/Light Beer
Canadian Golden Ale
Malt Liquor
Again, if we’re being honest, if you have read this far, it is probably not because you are especially interested in the serving temperatures of those styles, so let’s move on.
Cold (about 40–45°)
When you start getting into beers that you are drinking primarily for the purpose of appreciating them, the ideal serving temperature edges up a bit. Beers in this range are best served cold enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to release more of the aroma and to let your taste receptors work a little better.
Some examples of beers in this range:
Most Wheat Beers (Hefeweizen, Weisse, Wit, White, etc.)
Pilsner
Kolsch
Cool (about 45–50°)
You have probably noticed by now that the temperature ranges have included the word about. This is to emphasize that these ranges have a fair amount of wiggle room. That is especially true of the Cool and Cellar categories. Depending on whom you ask, there is a lot of overlap here.
Some examples in the Cool range:
American Pale Ale
Amber Ale
IPA
Stout
Irish Ale
Porter
Belgian Ale
Strong Lager
California Common (“Steem” beer) Link to our Brewniversal Truth about Steam Beer
Dunkelweizen
Cellar (about 51–55°)
If you have ever hear anyone say some beers are best served at room temperature, they probably mean cellar temperature. Room temperature is in fact pretty warm, usually considered to be in the upper 60s. Again, it depends on whom you ask, but even the lowest temperature that might be commonly considered room temperature is warmer than you would want to drink most beers.
Here are some beers best served at cellar temperature:
Bitter
Brown Ale
Scottish Ale
Saison
Strong Lager
Stout (this is a broad range)
Lambic
Bock
Trappist
Time for Research
These lists of examples are no means exhaustive, but you will at least have an idea of what temperatures will bring out the best in a wide variety of styles. And as with a lot of the other educational tidbits on The Brewniverse, experience trumps words. So the next time you have a six-pack and the time, put some in the fridge and some in the cellar (or, if you have one, another fridge set to a different temperature), and compare. You might find that your tastes don’t quite align with some of these guidelines, and that’s great. Finding that out is the fun part.