There is no scientific proof that pouring a beer one way or another will actually impact the taste of your beer, but pouring a beer the correct way will impact how you perceive that taste. Beer can be served in whatever vessel you want to drink it from: a pint glass, a coup, a Solo cup, even an old fish bowl, or that flower vase you never seem to remember to put actual flowers in — I see you, haze bros.
No matter what you drink your beer out of, the taste of the beer itself won’t really be impacted, but your experience will be better as long as you at least pour it in a way that allows the beer to form a fluffy head that is about a quarter-inch thick. That’s because a beer’s head holds (and releases) all of the aromas, and aromas are what help our brain perceive flavors. Pour a beer with little to no head, and you may miss out on some of the flavors within, causing you to perceive the beer as tasting different or worse than you think it should. Pour a beer with too thick a head, and then you’ll just be stuck drinking foam, which is also no good.
In the end, a beer poured incorrectly won’t actually impact the taste, so don’t freak out if you feel you didn’t pour the beer into your glass the correct way. Just try again with that second beer.
