Is It Wrong to Drink Beer Straight from a Can? An Expert Weighs In

Heady Topper, one the world’s most respected beers, says it right there on its silvery sides: “Drink From the Can!” Should you?

Lest we get to cute about it, our foredrinkers got by just fine knocking ’em back directly from the can. But the facts remain: drinkers have gained an attentiveness to the colors, smells, tastes and mouthfeels of beer to rival a sommelier’s with a Bordeaux. And beermakers are entirely serious in their call for drinkers to enjoy their creations from the proper receptacles.

So what do you actually lose by skipping the glassware? I sat down with Zack Mack, a Certified Cicerone and the owner of Alphabet City Beer Co. in New York City., to find out.

Can you drink beer from the can?

“I personally think that you’re not getting the full experience when you don’t pour it out,” Mack says. “You’re not releasing a lot of the carbonation. You won’t get all the aromas out of the skinny neck of a bottle or a can.”

As for Heady Topper? “I don’t understand why they have it set up that way. I think they want you to drink it as fast as you can. But I love that beer. So they can tell me whatever they want,” Mack says.

Mack’s position otherwise boils down to the “head” — the little bit of foam that rises to the top of a glass immediately after a pour.

Made up of proteins and other matter (including yeast and hop residue) that are carried to the top of the beer by carbonation, the head holds much of the beer’s aromas and flavors. Its retention (how long it sticks around) and lacing (the residue it leaves along the inside of the glass) also serve as indicators of a beer’s quality and style.

“A lot of people think it’s a bartender’s way of ripping you off but that inch of head is actually a huge part of the process,” Mack says.

Along with controlling the presence of yeast, getting the right head makes up the main end goal of what Mack calls “The Perfect Pour,” taught to him in the Cicerone program and practiced widely in the beer community.

In three steps, The Perfect Pour boils down using clean glassware, proper temperatures, angles and a little bit of timing. It works for most beer styles and with any kind of glassware, though there are a few exceptions for unique styles like wheat, bottle-conditioned and nitrogen-bottled beers.

Mack’s advice is to not overthink it. “As long as you’re using clean glasses and utilizing the angles that are appropriate, there’s no majorly wrong way to do it,” he says.

Does glassware matter?

Not everyone agrees with him.

Beer Advocate dedicates an entire section of its website to matching glassware to beer style, arguing — with a touch of flourish — that “as soon as the beer hits the glass, its color, aroma and taste is altered, your eye candy receptors tune in, and your anticipation is tweaked. Hidden nuances become more pronounced, colors shimmer, and the enjoyment of the beer simply becomes a better, more complete, experience.”

Perhaps more convincingly, they point out that different shapes and sizes of glass affect a beer’s head development and retention, a part of the beer that Mack agrees is vital to taste and enjoyment.

“I think that, for everyday drinking, that’s a little overkill,” Mack says. “I have nothing against people who want to do that but I think as long as you have a clean glass and are pouring it into something that hasn’t been frozen in your freezer, you’re not ruffling any feathers with controversy.”

So who’s right? It seems that for now, the best way is to break out a six-pack with your buddies and debate among yourselves.

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