# Do not drink beer ice cold **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [January 23, 2007, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069 "2007-01-23T07:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/1 "2007-01-23T07:38:54Z")
Beer is good when it is tap-water cold, or even a little less cold. I’ve come to discover this over the past couple of weeks. I’ll start a beer ice cold, hate it, then come back to it ten or twenty minutes later, and find it much more tasty. Look, this even works for the cheap “crappy” beers. That is all. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/2 "2007-01-23T07:49:49Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Look, this even works for the cheap “crappy” beers. [/QUOTE] Disagreed. The less I taste of Miller or Bud, the better. Some “lawnmower” beers I like a little warmer than ice cold, but not those. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/3 "2007-01-23T07:53:24Z")
“Lawnmower beers” need to be subfreezing to have anything like an acceptable flavor. When they’re warm, they taste horrible. Real beer, on the other hand, should be served at 50 degrees or so. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/4 "2007-01-23T11:21:26Z")
We English have known this for years, hence the “warm beer” thing. Of course, you need to have a beer that’s worth drinking at such an elevated temperature, which implies a certain circularity to the argument. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/5 "2007-01-23T11:23:28Z")
What the others said - standard American light lagers, especially, need to be very cold for me to choke them down. Other beer needs to be warmer to be appreciated fully. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/6 "2007-01-23T11:23:35Z")
I much prefer fizzy soft drinks ice cold. For our fellow elderly English readers, can I remind you that Watneys’ Red Barrel was undrinkable at any temperature. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/7 "2007-01-23T12:42:25Z")
As others have said, different beers, different temperatures. But it is possible to serve lagers too cold. In general, if it’s bitter and nothing else straight from the fridge, put it on the bench for ten minutes. If it’s sweet, put it in freezer for ten. If it’s insipid, throw it away. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/8 "2007-01-23T13:05:50Z")
I generally keep my Great Lakes Brewery porter or Newcastle Ale in the cupboard, then pour it into a pint glass from the freezer. Perfection! ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/9 "2007-01-23T14:09:26Z")
in short, the better the beer, the warmer you can drink it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/10 "2007-01-23T14:16:32Z")
I toured the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen. The guide said that cold kills the taste of beer. That’s why American beers are served ice-cold. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/11 "2007-01-23T14:17:47Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] We English have known this for years, hence the “warm beer” thing. [/QUOTE] I thought it was because Lucas made your refrigerators. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/12 "2007-01-23T14:53:49Z")
if you buy decent beer you might find your beer keeps at a good temp in the coolest corner of your basement. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/13 "2007-01-23T15:11:53Z")
I still believe, though with no particular conviction, that even “lawnmower beers” are better non-ice-cold. Sure, they might not taste like actual _beer_ but I just think of myself as drinking some kind of odd corn-barley concoction instead of “beer” and when I do so, I find that the taste of chilled Coors is more pleasant tha the taste of icy Coors. Of course, I’ve had exactly one Coors in my whole life, half icy, half merely chilled. So, um, even my _pwn_ milage may vary. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/14 "2007-01-23T15:19:16Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Disagreed. The less I taste of Miller or Bud, the better. Some “lawnmower” beers I like a little warmer than ice cold, but not those. [/QUOTE] the hell you doin’ drinking that moose piss for anyway? 😛 what blew me away in ireland was that most any pub i crawled into had BUDWEISER ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/15 "2007-01-23T15:22:46Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Disagreed. The less I taste of Miller or Bud, the better. Some “lawnmower” beers I like a little warmer than ice cold, but not those. [/QUOTE] the hell you doin’ drinking that moose piss for anyway? 😛 what blew me away when i was in ireland was that most any pub i crawled into had BUDWEISER. On tap. :eek: wtf??? it has to be the worst (read, tasteless) beer ever brewed and it’s everywhere in ireland, which is the home of the best beer on the planet??? somebody 'plain that one to me. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/16 "2007-01-23T15:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] I generally keep my Great Lakes Brewery porter or Newcastle Ale in the cupboard, then pour it into a pint glass from the freezer. Perfection! [/QUOTE] And I do the opposite. Keep the beer in the fridge (if I have the wherewithal, it will just be in the fridge for as long as it takes me to cook the dinner or mow the lawn), pour into a room temperature pint. And then usually cup my hands around the glass for a minute or two. When the pint’s chilled, there’s condensation on the inside of the glass that, as soon as beer is added, will dilute the beer. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/17 "2007-01-23T16:19:31Z")
Besides their fascination with Bud Longnecks (that Londoners seemed to share), the Irish kept trying to serve me super-cold Guinness. I refused, lucky for me they tended to have two taps and you could still get one at the proper temp (which was still well below “warm”) Some beers are better at cooler temps than others, many of the Belgian styles I prefer slightly warmer than that crap the Germans make 🙂 and Bud/Miller/Coors is best served with ice crystals, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/18 "2007-01-23T18:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] what blew me away when i was in ireland was that most any pub i crawled into had BUDWEISER. On tap. [/QUOTE] Confunds me, too. Come to the Irish bars here in the Sunset district, they’re all drinking Bud and Coors Light. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/19 "2007-01-23T18:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] the hell you doin’ drinking that moose piss for anyway? 😛 what blew me away in ireland was that most any pub i crawled into had BUDWEISER [/QUOTE] Got a better story for ya. I worked for a couple of months as a kitchen porter at a rather fancy restaurant/bed and breakfast on the west coast of Scotland. This was actually in the days before I was a full-fledged beer snob, but I knew that I didn’t really enjoy most of the American adjunct lagers. English and Scottish pubs were the beginnings of my beer education, and I must say I studied well. 🙂 Anyhow, one night after work was over, the sous chef got together with the staff, telling us he was going to run out and get a case of beer, and left the decision of what kind of beer up to me. I suggested McEwan’s or Bellhaven. He looked at me funny and said, “Don’t all you Yanks drink Budweiser?” I said, “Well, sometimes, but not really, I prefer McEwan’s.” “Well, we usually drink Budweiser around here.” I paused, figuring he was just taking the piss, only to realize he was being dead serious. “Um…Budweiser will be fine.” Sure enough, they went out to get a case of Bud, and the entire time I worked there, that’s the only beer stocked in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069/20 "2007-01-23T18:26:19Z")
[QUOTE=Sapo] in short, the better the beer, the warmer you can drink it. [/QUOTE] Wrong. Sorta. Beer should be consumed at a temperature close to what it was brewed at. That means lagers should be served cold, and ales served warmer. American Standard beers that brag about the low temperature they were brewed at should be served ice cold, if at all. But a good lager should still be served cooler than a good ale. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-drink-beer-ice-cold/389069.md?page=2)