6 Myths About Beer

I've started to wonder what it must be like to work at the Business Insider. They have articles about things that I wouldn't really have expected from them. But hey, if I can learn about beer, I'll keep going there. So here you go, some beer myths.

• Myth #1:  If you let beer get hot then cold again, it'll get skunked.  This one's mostly an issue with terminology.  Beers can taste a little bit stale if you do that.  But "skunking" is specifically what happens when beer is exposed to light for too long.
• Myth #2:  Dark beers are stronger.  They can be, but not always.  The color doesn't actually have much to do with alcohol content.  The grains they use to make dark beer are just roasted longer.
• Myth #3:  Beer is best if it's ice cold.  The perfect temperature is actually somewhere between 40 and 44 degrees for most beers.  Any colder than that, and you can't really taste it.  Some heavier beers are better at around 55 degrees.
• Myth #4:  Lagers and pilsners are the same thing.  Not quite.  A pilsner is actually a type of lager.  It's a light beer, but lagers can also be dark, malty, and really strong.
• Myth #5:  Craft IPAs taste better if you let them age a little.  That's only true for certain beers with a really high alcohol content.  Everything else tends to taste better fresh.
• Myth #6:  Beer always tastes better in a bottle than it does in a can.  Obviously it's subjective.  But beer actually stays fresher in cans, because they protect it from light and oxygen better than bottles do.