Beer should be poured with foam. In a common malpractice many barkeepers and waiters slide it down a tipped glass without creating a single bubble. That way all the beer’s carbon dioxide is swallowed and then, coming into contact with stomach acids, produces an unpleasant bloated feeling. Take a look at this American video that demonstrates the folly of this approach for the drinker’s palate and stomach and also demonstrates the correct approach.
In the technical notes on the three Bohemian methods for correct tapping, the third, which is called the cut, is suitable also for the pouring of a bottle, and we recommend it for Birra di Modena. In a large glass (ours of 0.5 liters is ideal) the beer is poured vigorously from an upright bottle (either of 0.5 or 0.33 liters). The glass will fill up cut in three parts, one-third of liquid beer, one-third of foam, and one-third of air. The foam will subside and turn almost all to liquid. In a Birra di Modena poured this way the flavor will be enhanced, and no carbon-dioxide will go into the stomach.
In a future article we will recount, from the personal experience of one of the shareholders of Birra di Modena, a scuffle that took place in a bar off Rue Catinat (Tụ-Do), Saigon in long-ago 1968 between a Vietnamese bartender and an Australian soldier over the very matter of the pouring of beer.
