Step 3:
Look at the beer
You have three things to look at when you pour a beer: the color, the clarity and the head. Of course, if you've already had a few too many, you may see some other things in your glass--but we'll let those pass for the moment.
Color: To beer lovers, the colors of beer are almost as lovely as those of the rainbows in the sky. Beer can be a pale straw color, golden, amber, copper, red, brown, or black. Some fruit-flavored beers even have interesting pink or orange hues. It's best to stay away from that weird green stuff they serve on St. Patrick's day, though.
Clarity: As brewing developed, one measure of a well-made beer became the clarity. A clear beer was considered the sign of a brewmaster who cared about his product. As differences in brewing styles became apparent, however, clarity became something best used as an indicator of technique, rather than quality of the brew. Unfiltered beers often retain great character, many wheat beers are cloudy as a rule, and some bottled beers contain live yeast, which allows them to continue developing more complex tastes.
Head: The head is the foam you see at the top of the glass. A good head forms quickly on its own--not because it was splashed into the bottom of the glass. A head that results from natural carbonation looks bumpy and uneven, not artificially smooth and white. As you drink the beer, the remains of the head should leave little trails on the side of the glass.
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