What is the right angle to pour a beer?

Start with the glass tilted at about 45 degrees and pour onto the inside wall, then bring the glass upright about halfway through and pour into the centre. The tilt controls foam at the start; straightening up builds the head at the end.

How much foam should a beer have?

About one finger, roughly an inch, for most beers. Wheat beers and many Belgian styles are traditionally served with more. No foam at all usually means the glass was dirty or the pour was too gentle, and it traps carbonation in the beer instead of releasing aroma.

Why does my beer foam over when I pour it?

The usual causes are a beer that is too warm, a bottle that was shaken, pouring straight down into an upright glass, or a frosted glass. Chill the beer, let a disturbed bottle rest, and start the pour at an angle.

Should you drink beer from the bottle or a glass?

A glass, whenever you care about flavour. The bottle neck hides almost all of the aroma, and aroma carries most of what you taste. A glass also releases some carbonation, which makes the beer less filling.

Should you pour the yeast sediment into the glass?

For most bottle-conditioned beers, no: leave the last bit in the bottle. The exception is hefeweizen and other wheat beers, where the tradition is to swirl the last inch and pour the yeast in for a cloudier, fuller glass.

October 4, 2026 · 4 min read

How to Pour a Beer: Glass Angle, Foam and the Mistakes to Skip

Clean glass, 45-degree tilt, straighten halfway, finish with a finger of foam. The four-step pour that makes beer taste better, and what to do by style.

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A good pour takes ten seconds and changes the beer more than most people expect. The method: a clean glass, tilted at 45 degrees, beer poured onto the side, glass straightened halfway, and a finish in the centre to build about a finger of foam. That is it. The rest is adjusting for style and avoiding the handful of habits that quietly flatten the glass.

Why the pour matters at all

Most of what you taste in a beer, you actually smell. A bottle neck is a narrow tube that keeps the aroma locked inside, and a beer with no head never releases much of it either. Pouring into a glass and building some foam opens the beer up.

The pour also controls carbonation. Pour too gently and the gas stays dissolved, so the beer drinks fizzy and filling. Pour too hard and you get a glass of foam and a beer that goes flat in minutes. The goal sits in between.

Step 1: start with a clean glass

"Beer clean" is a real thing. Grease, soap residue and dust kill foam and leave bubbles clinging to the sides of the glass, which is the classic sign of a glass that was not properly rinsed.

Wash glasses with a little dish soap, then rinse thoroughly with hot water.
Air-dry upside down rather than towel-drying, which leaves lint.
Just before pouring, give the glass a quick rinse with cold water. A wet glass helps the beer slide down without tearing.

Skip the frosted glass from the freezer. Ice crystals make the beer foam uncontrollably, and the meltwater dilutes it.

Step 2: tilt the glass to 45 degrees

Hold the glass at roughly 45 degrees and aim the beer at the inside wall, about halfway down. The beer runs down the side instead of crashing into the bottom, which keeps foam in check while the glass fills.

Keep the bottle or can close to the rim. Pouring from height releases far more gas.

Step 3: straighten halfway through

When the glass is about half full, bring it upright and pour into the centre. This is where the head forms. Pour a little more firmly if the foam is not appearing, more gently if it is climbing too fast.

Step 4: finish with a finger of foam

Stop when you have about an inch of foam on top. That collar of foam holds the aroma right under your nose and protects the beer underneath from going flat too quickly.

If the head overshoots, pause for a few seconds and let it settle before topping up. Most pours that "foam over" are really pours that did not wait.

Adjusting the pour by style

The four steps cover most beers. A few styles want a different touch:

Style	Pour	Head
Pale lager, pilsner	Standard 45-degree pour, straighten halfway	About one finger
IPA, pale ale	Standard pour, slightly firmer finish to lift the hop aroma	About one finger
Hefeweizen, wheat beer	Slow tilted pour, then swirl the last inch and pour the yeast in	Generous, two fingers or more
Stout, porter	Standard pour; nitro cans are often poured hard and straight down, so follow the can	Creamy, about one finger
Bottle-conditioned ales	Standard pour, but leave the sediment in the bottle	About one finger

For a lineup of several styles side by side, see our guide to building a beer tasting flight at home, which also covers serving temperatures.

The mistakes that ruin a pour

Pouring straight down into an upright glass from the first drop. Instant foam, half a glass of waiting.
Pouring so gently there is no head. The beer stays gassy and the aroma stays in the glass.
Serving it too cold. Very cold beer foams less predictably and tastes muted. A few minutes out of the fridge helps more stouts and ales than people expect.
Using a greasy or soapy glass. No amount of technique rescues it.
Pouring a shaken bottle. Let it rest before opening, or you will be pouring foam.

Before the pour: the opening

The pour starts the moment the cap comes off. Open each bottle right before you pour it rather than lining up open bottles, which lose carbonation while they wait. And if you want the opening itself to be part of the show, the Beer Mortar sends the cap straight up with one palm strike. Aim it away from people, pets and anything breakable, and keep it away from kids.

If you have no opener to hand at all, we have seven methods for opening a beer without a bottle opener.

The short version

Clean glass, cold rinse, 45-degree tilt, straighten halfway, stop at a finger of foam. Adjust for wheat beers and sediment, skip the frosted glass, and the beer will taste the way the brewer intended. Please drink responsibly.