The first time I ever tasted beer was on a hot summer day on the farm that belonged to my buddy’s dad. We were sitting in the shade of the barn when my pal pulled a can of beer out of his overalls pocket.
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It was a can of Schlitz. Just the one can of lukewarm, cheap Midwestern lager. We opened it and drank the warm, skunky beer straight from the can. It left me with nothing but a sour aftertaste and a series of burps that were even worse than the cheap, warm beer. At the time, the experience had me wondering what all the fuss was about.
Later, though, I developed a fondness for beer that holds to this day. Nowadays, I drink better beers – Alaskan Amber is my favorite – and I like it cold, preferably in a pint glass, with just the right amount of head. But now, I see that a TikTok personality who goes by “@timethetankofficial” (The Mirror describes him as a “beer buff”) claims that we’re going about the pouring of beer all wrong.
There’s nothing quite like an ice-cold pint with your pals in the garden when the weather is glorious and warm. It’s refreshing and absolutely delicious – and there’s no better excuse than on National Beer Day (August 2).
But if you’re the sort of person who tentatively pours into the glass at an angle, hoping for there to be minimal head on your pint, thinking you’re smashing it – turns out, you’re doing it all wrong.
TikTok beer buff @timthetankofficial says you’ve been “pouring beer the wrong way”, and instead, should follow his pouring advice if you want the perfect tipple. Tim explained the “majority” of people angle their glass when pouring beer so that it doesn’t foam up too much, pouring “down the side” and slowly letting it “fill up”.
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While I often let a professional handle that – for instance, every Saturday we have lunch at our favorite Susitna Valley eating establishment, during which I consume two pints of Alaskan Amber, drawn from the tap by a pro – the description above is just how I’m used to seeing beer poured, and how I pour it myself.
Now, Tim the Tank would have me believe that this is not the best way to go about pouring a tumbler of suds.
He said it might look like “a perfect beer”, but in actual fact, there’s a much better method that you can try, which means you’ll be “less bloated” when consuming the beverage. Tim said: “This is how I used to do it too, but it’s wrong, I’m telling you that it’s wrong.”
Instead, he showed the method you should be using. He proceeded to pour it straight in with the glass flat, so it foamed up. He said you need to let it “foam up a little” and then “let it settle”, and then pour the rest of the can’s contents into the glass.
I do not see how that would work without making an excessive amount of foam.
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Now, this beer buff claims that a beer poured this way, after drinking, makes one feel bloated. That’s not a complaint I often have, mostly because I don’t slam down beer in a hurry but take some time in the savoring of the brew. That seems like it would make more difference than how one pours the beer. Granted I’m not a professional bartender, but I think I have every bit as good a claim to the title of “beer buff” as this “Tim the Tank,” and I’m willing to bet I can add a few years of experience, having been enjoying a good glass of suds now and then for over half a century.
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I’ll keep pouring beer the way I always have. If any TikTok personality objects to my pouring technique, I’ll simply invoke the great American tradition of doing exactly as I please and hang the consequences.
This seems appropriate.