It’s officially summer, which means it’s hellishly hot outside. You could try to reduce your core temperature with a trip to the beach, you could pack your skivvies with ice, you could have someone hose you off, you could jump a plane to Reykjavík … or you could do what sensible people do: drink lots of cold beer.
We’re sensible. We drink lots of cold beer. We’re also scientific. We wanted to know where in Central Florida to find the coldest beer. So once again we assembled and dispatched the Orlando Weekly Beer Temperature Testing Team to visit bar after bar after bar in search of the coldest beer around. We do this in the name of science; we derive very little pleasure from this endeavor.
Team members were issued thermometers and asked to refrain from ordering any type of beer that would not benefit from being served icy cold: your stouts, your porters, your thick, chewy beers in general. We also tried to limit team members to tap beers only; however, in two cases (as noted below) they drank from bottles anyway. It’s hard to get good help these days.
(If you’re keeping score, the coldest beer recorded this year came from the White Wolf Café: a Newcastle Brown Ale served at 30.6 degrees.)
Yes, we understand that there are scores of bars we didn’t hit, this time or last. We’ll get to them all eventually. In the meantime we’ve got some cold beer to drink.
| Bar | Beer | Notes | Temp. (degrees F) |
|
Baldwin’s Pub |
Blue Moon | Chilled glass, free Wi-Fi | 36 |
| Bar-BQ-Bar |
Newcastle | N/A | 39.6 |
| Big Daddy’s Roadhouse 3001 Corrine Drive (407) 644-2844 |
Harpoon IPA | 33 beers on tap | 43.7 |
| Bösendorfer Lounge |
Stella Artois |
No drafts; $6 bottle poured into chilled glass |
39.6 |
| Bull and Bush 2408 E. Robinson St. (407) 896-7546 |
Yuengling | British pubs typically serve their bubbles a tad warmer | 46.1 |
| Cigarz at CityWalk |
Yuengling | Chilled mug | 38.3 |
|
Copper Rocket Pub |
Newcastle | 50.6 | |
|
Dexter’s of Winter Park |
Tucher | 42.4 | |
| Fiddler’s Green Irish Pub |
Pilsner Urquell | Served in a tall, chilled glass | 44.6 |
| Froggers Grill & Bar |
Bud Light | Beach bar atmosphere, chilled mug | 39.9 |
| The Globe |
Bass Ale | A homeless guy asked our tester if he was the health inspector. He answered that he has sensitive teeth. | 40.6 |
| Harvey’s Bistro |
Sam Adams | This is where the Weekly editorial staff comes for mandatory “wet meetings” | 39.6 |
| The Hideaway |
Yuengling | 41 | |
| Hoops Tavern |
Icehouse | 39.4 | |
| Houlihan’s |
Yuengling | 47.5 | |
| Johnny’s Fillin’ Station |
Budweiser | Place is packed on a Friday; beer too warm | 49.6 |
| Kerryman Pub |
Bud Light | Authentic pub feel; chilled glass | 37.2 |
| Knight Library Sports Bar and Grill |
Killian’s Irish Red | 34.9 | |
| The Liquid Cellar |
Yuengling | 42.8 | |
| Lizzy McCormack’s Irish Pub |
Pilsner Urquell | Fresh and cold, can’t be beat | 38.1 |
| The Matador |
Bass Ale | No lagers on tap | 41.9 |
| McRaney’s Tavern |
Yuengling | 38.1 | |
| McWells Restaurant & Bar |
Yuengling | Frosted mug | 36.9 |
| The Old Draft House |
Harp Lager | Free popcorn | 33.4 |
| Orlando Ale House |
|
Lots of beers on tap; good service | 35.6 |
| Parliament House |
Coors Light | Kegs are rolled outside for the Sunday T-Parties, thus the rise in temperature | 44.1 |
| The Peacock Room |
Harp Lager | 37 | |
| Redlight Redlight |
Lost Coast Apricot Wheat | 38.1 | |
| The Social |
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale | 48.2 | |
| Sportstown Billiards |
Yuengling | 37.6 | |
| Stardust Video & Coffee |
Widmer Brothers hefeweizen | Also on tap: Duchesse de Bourgogne red ale, Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout and St. Bernardus Abt 12 | 44.8 |
| Underground Bluz |
St. Bernardus | Very cool, as far as college bars near UCF; lots of microbrews | 35.2 |
| Wally’s Mills Avenue Liquors |
Tiger Lager | Bottled beer; no draft available | 43 |
| White Wolf Café |
Newcastle | Below freezing? | 30.6 |
| Wildside BBQ and Grille |
Orange Blossom Pilsner |
All drafts come from the same cooler, so the temps run the same | 37.8 |
COLDER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER
COLDER ISN’T ALWAYS BETTER
Beer is supposed to be cold, right? That was the assumption of the Beer Temperature Testing Team, which painstakingly chronicled the temperatures of area drafts.
But what if everything you know about beer temperature is wrong? What if the idea that cold beer equals good beer is a hoax perpetuated by brewers of flavorless American beers to convince you to pour their product down your gullet without noticing how bad it tastes?
That’s exactly what’s going on, according to our buddy Tom Moench. And Moench should know. Not only is he the president and brewer of Orange Blossom Pilsner, but he’ll also be a judge at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in October. He’s something of an expert.
“A flavorful beer, you’re really doing it a disservice by serving it cold,” Moench tells us. In fact, the Brits have it right. The English don’t drink “warm” beer, per se, but they do tend to serve it at 50 degrees to 55 degrees, Moench says, which is the ideal temperature for the palate to perceive flavors.
“Try a Budweiser at 50 to 55 degrees,” Moench says. “That is a horrid liquid.” Frigidity masks the cheapness of the product.
Moench advises bars to keep their kegs at 38 degrees. Any warmer and beers overcarbonate (i.e., too much head). Any colder, and they can go flat. When ordering a “7-Eleven beer,” as he calls the cheap stuff, pour it in a frosted mug. For a quality beer — say, a St. Bernardus — pour it in a warm glass, then let it sit for a few moments and warm up.
“The more assertive the beer, the more you don’t want to `hide` the flavor,” he says. Amen.
feedback@orlandoweekly.comThis article appears in Jun 27 – Jul 3, 2007.