The Slow Pour

[Lisa1349]

The loving captive husband was sitting at the bar at Victory in Downingtown yesterday and noticed the well known bar fly order a Prima Pils, slow pour. The bartender filled the glass with mostly head, let it settle and continued on this path until the glass was full. It was too noisy to inquire there the flavor effect it has on the beer.

My hypothesis is this reduces carbonation and mimics beer that comes from a beer engine as ooposed to the usual keg line. Can anyone offer insight? I know the man who ordered it is a serious afficionado so it's not just unnecessary drama similar to someone ordering an extra dry martini when all they really want is gin straight up.

[mtigges]

Head has two main effects on aroma and flavour. Foam helps allow the aroma of the beer to present itself. It also carries some of the bitterness compounds that are perceived. So, a slow pour may affect the beer by reducing both of those perceptions. (NB notice the use of effect and affect - sorry, pet peeve of mine.)

If the point is to make it seem like it came from an engine, at least in the carbonation aspects, it seems kind of silly to order a pils in that fashion.

Personally it sounds pretentious to me. Just because he's a serious afficionado does not mean he is not misguided.

[Malkavian]

That's a new one on me. I'd tend to think practically the main effect would be lessening carbonation, if there was anything noticeable at all.

[aschbren]

That's a new one on me.  I'd tend to think practically the main effect would be lessening carbonation, if there was anything noticeable at all.

←

That doesn't make any sense. If anything, pouring slowly would lead to more carbonation in your glass. There's a certain amount of dissolved CO2 in a bottle of beer. When you open that bottle, the CO2 tries to escape to the atmosphere as a direct result of Henry's law. The more the beer is agitated and the warmer it is, the faster the CO2 will escape.

[ghostrider]

"Slow pour" seems a bit of a misnomer here, in that they aren't letting the beer trickle out of the tap; rather, they're letting it fly out to yield mostly head, as noted, & doing this repeatedly with time for the head to settle in between, which is what makes the overall procedure slow.

I'd think that this would reduce carbonation in the glass, no?