Beer Mouthfeel Descriptors

In a world of experienced beer lovers, the connoisseur must learn how to describe beer in shared terminology. Beer mouthfeel descriptors go a long way toward helping other beer drinkers understand what to expect, and give you the language to utilize when enjoying, and discussing, the latest brew.

It can seem off-putting at first to discuss mouthfeel, but once you get the hang of these terms, and understand why we use the vocabulary we do, it can be quite fun.

But what is mouthfeel? What beer processes lend themselves to mouthfeel? And, most importantly, how do we talk about it?

What Is Mouthfeel?

Beer mouthfeel is exactly what it sounds like – the way beer feels in your mouth. When we talk about mouthfeel, we are referring to three different textural areas: carbonation, fullness, and aftertaste.

Carbonation

Carbonation in terms of mouthfeel depends on how the beer is made, how fresh it is, and of course how pressurized it is. When discussing carbonation, we consider the size of the bubbles, how long the bubbles last, and how the foam is present when we drink.

Fullness

Fullness refers to the body of the beer. Do we get a mouth full of thick, rich beer, or are we drinking a thinner beverage with a waterier consistency?

Aftertaste

While carbonation is likely the first mouthfeel experience we get with beer, aftertaste is the last, and therefore the one that sticks with us the longest.

Aftertaste in terms of mouthfeel relates to the way the beer finishes on our palate, the “afterfeel.” Usually, we are left with impressions of bitterness or oiliness, among others.

How Is Beer Made and What Does that Have to Do with Mouthfeel?

To truly understand mouthfeel and your mouthfeel descriptors, it is critical to understand the brewing process, as each step in the process relates to the end result – the way the beer feels in your mouth.

First, the grain can be a full bodied or a lighter grain. Barley is a heavy grain. Oats are a bit lighter. Wheat is the lightest of all. Toasting the grains will also have an impact on how full and rich the texture of the beer will be as toasting the grains brings out more sugars. More sugars means more for the yeast to ferment and turn into beer.

So, just those first steps in brewing – selecting a grain or combination of grains and malting the grain – will dramatically affect how beer feels in your mouth.

Next, the amount of hops in your beer will alter the way it feels in your mouth, especially in terms of aftertaste.

More hops make the beer more bitter, and that bitterness will linger on your tongue long after you have swallowed a mouthful.

Finally, the fermentation process, after the mash in, the boil, and the addition of hops, will confer a lot of what we consider mouthfeel to your beer.

Which yeast you choose makes a world of difference toward your mouthfeel. After all, yeast will contribute to the production of enzymes, proteins, and other chemical responses like diacetyl, which is what makes your beer feel oily.

Furthermore, beers that are conditioned or aged will take on even more complexity in terms of mouthfeel. While carbonation is created during fermentation, whether a beer is run through a nitrogen process or has extra carbonation added will lend itself to your bubbly experience, and if a brew is kept in casks or barrels for months before being served, it will absolutely take on new attributes to be discovered while you drink it.

Beer Mouthfeel Descriptors

Thus, when drinking beer, you can pay close attention to the three different phases of the drink.

Your first impression will be what happens when the beer first hits your lips and tongue, which are usually heavily related to carbonation.

To describe carbonation, we use terms like spritzy, champagne-like, sharp, delicate, prickly, creamy, light, gassy, and round. With beers that are extra bubbly, we will lean toward terms like spritzy and champagne like. Beer that have been conditioned or run through carbonation lines right before bottling might be sharp and prickly. A lighter, less carbonated beer will be delicate or round. Beer that has been run through nitrogen lines will be heavier in foam and feel creamy and even light.

To describe the feeling of beer while you hold it in your mouth, we are much closer to the flavor and aroma of the beer. We use terms like smooth, silky, velvety, warming, full, heavy, dense, robust, medium, balance, medium-light, light, and even wispy. These terms relate to the feeling of the beer while it is in your mouth, and how you find the liquid.

Think of the difference between water and syrup. Beer will fall anywhere along that range.

Last, to describe the feeling that beer leaves on your tongue and in your mouth after you have swallowed, you will use terms like dry, sweet, alcoholic, warming, bitter, lingering, buttery, fruity, wet, quenching, and astringent. This language refers most closely to the complexity of the beer, what ingredients were used, and how the yeast interacted with those ingredients in terms of flavor and aroma.

And of course, the use of beer mouthfeel descriptors is not straightforward, and they often take some getting used to. You will need to practice with different beers that have a variety of ingredients and undergo different processes. You can learn about each beer academically, meaning studying what went into its production, while you play with its mouthfeel and use new terms to describe that experience.

In the end, just like everything else in life, it takes experimentation, practice, and a willingness to be open and play.

Fortunately, beer is one of the most fun things in life with which to do all three.

Cheers!

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Sources:

  1. https://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/zAMke7KfZy/#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20key%20attributes,carbon%20dioxide%20in%20a%20beer
  2. https://winning-homebrew.com/beer-flavor-descriptors.html
  3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1094/ASBCJ-49-0054

 


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