A beer’s foam is the drink’s first impression. Its bubbly layers hold flavors and aromas that are essential to the experience — and yet, many people don’t consider the foam as even a part of the drink.
For Jonathan Moxey, head brewer at Rockwell Beer Co., ignoring your beer’s foam is a mistake. Contained in those bubbles, he explained, is a web of flavor.
“As these bubbles are coming up to the surface, it's dragging these aromatics up with it and they're getting caught in that foam. So if you don't have that foam, that beer is losing — you’re losing that beer’s aromatics.”
Moxey added: “If you pour a beer without a good head of foam, versus one with a proper head of foam, it's going to taste and smell like two totally different things.”
Moxey shared his insights into beer foam on St. Louis on the Air, and he dived into the reasons he believes more breweries and beer drinkers are embracing the bubbly side of the beverage.
As for the reputation of foam as a kind of “waste” product of beer, Moxey theorized that it has to do with consumers’ expectations at the tap.
“It’s a particularly American hang-up, where people think that they're not getting the value,” he suggested. “But if you look at the menu, we're serving a 14-ounce beer in a 16-ounce glass. ... It’s an outdated notion that if you're not getting it poured straight to the brim, then you’re not getting what you paid for.”
Along with Moxey, Sauce Magazine Executive Editor Meera Nagarajan joined the conversation to discuss the magazine’s latest hit list of new restaurants and bars.
Featured in this conversation:
- Amaizing Arepa Bar (500 N. 14th St., St. Louis, MO 63103)
- Stews Food & Liquor (1862 S. 10th St., St. Louis, MO 63104)
- Share Sweet (9628 Olive Blvd., Olivette, MO 63132)
To hear more from Jonathan Moexy and Meera Nagarajan, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
