It’s said that good things take time. That is true when it comes to certain beers, especially ones that have been lovingly aged in tanks or barrels before they are packaged and ready to serve. At that point, though, it’s a fairly quick affair. Bottles or cans are popped and poured into a glass; tap handles are opened as the beer slides into a glass. Serve. Drink.
Now, a sprinkling of breweries and bars around the country is asking customers to wait a few extra minutes for their glass of beer so that servers can create a sturdy pillowy crown of foam that is not only endlessly Instagramable but will hold up for the duration of the drinking experience and change the very flavor of the beer.
The slow pour is nothing new to beer, but a recent rise in popularity, thanks to those craft breweries that have put it center stage, has engendered a renewed interest in this well-topped pour. In American craft beer today, when a slow pour is mentioned, those who have been there will call to mind Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver.