The Complete Guide to Drinking Beer for College Students
I treated my college education as a four-year extended bar crawl, spending my nights downing longnecks of Schlitz and Genesee Cream Ale and my mornings clutching my head and a bottle of aspirin, the child-proof cap long since pried off. In many respects, college prepared me for my job as journalist specializing in beer. But thinking back to my youthful mistakes makes me cringe as immediately as does glimpsing a Natural Ice can.
For all you of-age students—repeat: of-age students—I decided to create a primer suitable for imbibing occasions ranging from a kegger to a classy bar. From properly pouring a brew to the best beer for morning drinking, here’s how to make sure that your college years aren’t totally wasted.
Erik S. Peterson1/11Foam Is Your Friend
Your bartender is not trying to cheat you. Although some beer drinkers consider the head wasted space, a foamy cap—caused by CO2 rising to the surface—captures many of a beer’s volatile compounds, offering a more appealing aroma. Even that can of Natural Light.
Erik S. Peterson2/11Dark Does Not Always Equal Heavy
Don’t let a beer’s hue color your perception. Sometimes the darkest beers will drink light, while pale-gold brews will weigh down your tongue like a brick-filled wheelbarrow. The same goes for calories, which are directly related to alcohol content. For example, a 12-ounce bottle Guinness (4.2% alcohol by volume) has around 125 calories. As for the same size serving of Bud Light (around 4.2% ABV), the beer has about 110 calories. Fun fact: Bud Light is America’s best-selling beer. ____
Erik S. Peterson3/11The Cold Truth
The reason that Coors Light commercials suggest you enjoy the beer Rocky Mountain cold is because chillier temperatures damp down a beer’s aroma and flavor while amplifying carbonation. That’s why a Bud Light or Miller Lite tastes great yanked from an ice chest but lose its flavor when it warms up—if you wait that long. Should you care to taste your beer, drink it a few degrees warmer: think fridge, not freezer.
Erik S. Peterson4/11A Glass Act
Do not freeze your glasses. Frozen glassware can create ice crystals in beer, which affect foaming, and frost can absorb flavors from your freezer.
Erik S. Peterson5/11Chill Out, Kegs
If your keg is spitting out enough foam to fill a car wash, it’s likely too warm. To correct that, make sure that you keep the keg well iced. Bonus knowledge: The standard measurement for brewery production is the barrel. A barrel is equal to 31 gallons of beer. The standard keg (you know, the kind seen you typically see at college parties) is a half barrel, holding 15.5 gallons of beer. That equates to more than 160 12-ounce cans of beer.
Erik S. Peterson6/11How to Pour a Beer
Yes, you’re probably doing it wrong. To properly pour your beer from a bottle, can, or keg, tilt your glass or, more likely, red plastic cup to a 45-degree angle. Fill your vessel until it’s about halfway full, then bring it upright and pour the remainder of the beer straight down, creating a nice foamy crown.
Erik S. Peterson7/11The Best Beer for A.M. Imbibing
To give my liver a brief daily respite, I try not to drink before 5 p.m. But that flimsy rule is often broken in the fall when football season compels me to crack open a beer not long after I crack open my eyes. In the morning, a can of Busch Light does not cut it. Instead, I look to Germany’s cloudy, wheat-driven hefeweizen, an aromatic beer bursting with B-complex vitamins. (German doctors often recommended weissbier to cure vitamin deficiencies. Beats the pants off a multivitamin, eh?) Traditionally, the hefeweizen is paired with a delicately spiced, pork-and-veal weisswurst for a breakfast that can’t be beat. I like the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, Ayinger Bräu Weisse, and Brooklyn Weisse.
Erik S. Peterson8/11The Light Stuff
When a beer is exposed to ultraviolet light, it creates a chemical compound found in skunks’ spray. Clear- and green-bottle beers such as Corona and Heineken are especially susceptible to this defect. To ensure that your beer does not taste like Pepe LePew, never buy bottled beer that has been sitting in the sunlight. Or buy canned beer instead. The cans block the sun’s rays.
Erik S. Peterson9/11Can Do
Cans are no longer the province of cheap lagers sold by the 30-pack. Increasingly, craft brewers have turned to these crushable vessels. In many ways, they’re a superior product. Beyond keeping light from striking beer (ensuring a fresher and more flavorful product), the water-based polymer lining prevents beer from coming into contact with the aluminum—bye-bye, tinny taste. Yes, there are trace amounts of that bogeyman bisphenol A (BPA) in a can’s epoxy-resin lining, but you’d need to drink more than 450 cans of beer to exceed the daily recommended dose, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection. And I doubt/hope you’re that thirsty.____
Erik S. Peterson10/11Quality, Not Quantity
When I was in college, I often shopped with my wallet. How else would you explain my steady consumption of Phat Boy, a (thankfully) discontinued malt liquor made with ginseng? Or the Busch Light that filled my fridge? But here’s the rub it took me years to discover: It does not cost that much more for a great bottle of craft beer. Remember to treat yourself. After all, studying for exams sure can be stressful.
Wikimedia commons11/11Water, Water Everywhere
To help diminish the next morning’s jackhammering hangover, remember to drink water. I like to knock back a glass of water for every beer that I drink. Here’s why: Like coffee, alcohol is a diuretic and causes frequent urination. If you don’t constantly hydrate, you’ll be in a world of hurt the ensuing a.m. You’ll wake with a trapped-in-the-desert thirst, with your head like a construction site. The headache is caused by your organs stealing fluid from your brain, causing it to shrink and tug on the membranes connecting grey matter to skill.
