Let's Talk About Beer: Taste it right

Believe it or not, to properly taste beer, you need to use four different senses -- look, smell, feel, and taste.  I suppose you could listen to your beer too.  I've never tried that though.  I'm not sure the beer would tell me much.

Anyhow, I thought I'd walk you through the proper steps for tasting beer.

Look
Take a few moments to examine the appearance of the beer. What is the color? Can you see through it or is it too dense?  Are there carbonation bubbles?  How much head (foam) is at the top? Does the head have a color to it?

Smell
Let your nose hover over the rim of the glass and take in the smell. Do you detect citrus? Spice? Coffee? The lighter beers will probably have more of a yeast aroma while the darker beers will have a malty aroma.

Feel
OK, so it's finally time to drink the beer.  Don't swallow it right away though. Let the beer linger on your tongue a bit. Is it heavy? Tingly? Smooth? Rough?

Taste
Finally, finally it's time to talk about the flavor. Does it match what you detected from the smell?  A word of advice -- good beer should never be served in a frosty or frozen mug.  That's too cold.  The flavor of the beer will be completely wrong. Ideal serving temperature is 40-45 degrees for lagers and 50 degrees for ales. Anything stronger should be served just slightly colder than room temperature.

Sip on this

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, which means lots of green beer.  Or ... you could skip that.
There are other ways to enjoy the Irish-themed holiday.

Irish-Style Extra Stout (8% ABV)
Schlafly / St. Louis, MO
I haven't had anything bad from Schlafly yet. Seriously.  Their Irish-style stout has hints of coffee, chocolate, and molasses.  It's a nice pick-up if you like Guinness.
Beer Advocate score = 88 (very good)
Untapped rating = 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Fixed Gear (6.5% ABV)
Lakefront Brewery / Milwaukee, WI
Nothing says Irish like a redhead, right?  Well, the head on this beer is white, but it's still a red ale (which is my favorite style).  This is probably my second favorite red in existence (just behind Smoked Red from West O). Fixed Gear has a malty flavor with a bit of a hoppy finish. 
Beer Advocate score = 84 (good)
Untapped rating = 3.5 stars (out of 5)