Ideal beer temperature: ice cold, cool, lukewarm or warm?

Cooling off with a refreshing lager on a summer day or enjoying a quadruple at room temperature on a winter evening. The pleasure is the same, but the taste experience is completely different. The temperature of the beer has a major influence on the taste of the beer.

A beer brewer perfectly knows the best beer temperature and he gives his advice on every beer bottle or can. If you follow the recommended temperature, your beer will have the best taste possible. Of course you don’t have to drink beer with a thermometer in the glass. On the basis of the following three rules you can easily reach the ideal serving temperature for your beer.

#1 | Better too cold than too warm

Beers of low fermentation, such as a lager, should be drunk cool. Place the beers at the top of the fridge, close to the cooling elements. If you want to drink one, your beer will have the ideal temperature between three and five degrees Celsius. We see more and more that lagers are even served ice cold. Note that the taste of the beer decreases when the temperature is at freezing point, but if you just drink a lager for refreshment, the taste does not play such a big role.

Low temperatures are also ideal for mixed fermentation beers, such as Flemish red-brown beers. Top fermented beers taste better if they are served slightly warmer. Place them lower in the fridge and wait a while before tasting. This way the beer that is too cold can warm up and reveal its flavour profile. When the aromas present awaken and tickle your nose, you know it’s time to taste!

#2 | More alcohol? Served less cool.

The higher the alcohol content, the warmer the beer should be served. This golden rule is easy to remember and has no exception. Of course you can store the strong beers in the fridge, but get them out of the coolness in time if you want to drink one. This way the beer has enough time to reach the desired serving temperature.

You can also do a simple math trick by serving the beer at a slightly higher temperature than the alcohol content. This guideline is perfectly applicable to the St-Louis beers from Kasteel Brouwerij Vanhonsebrouck whose alcohol content varies between 2,6 and 3,2%. If we do the simple math trick, these lambic beers are best served at 5 degrees Celsius. Note that this is a guideline and that there are exceptions to this rule.

#3 | Rebel and experiment

The taste is always debatable and since the temperature influences the taste, the temperature is also open to discussion. That is why we advice you to experiment with the different serving temperatures yourself. Dare to rebel and ignore the rules of art! Who knows, you might discover that a certain strong beer tastes better if it is served slightly cooler than recommended. Put two of the same beers next to each other and discover for yourself how temperature affects the taste of your beer.