LAGER is best served chilled, say scientists — confirming what millions of drinkers have known for years.
Booze boffins say 5C is the ideal temperature, as the chemistry changes if it gets warmer — crucially affecting taste.
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Lab tests found alcohol molecules cluster differently when temperatures rise, and certain beers lose their refreshing tang and become watery if they are not kept chilled.
Scientists established that the optimum temperature of drinks of around four or five per cent strength — such as many lagers — is 5C.
Similar results were found in drinks of around 11 per cent, such as white wine.
However stronger beverages, such as red wine and spirits, should be warmer, they say — which will come as little surprise to many.
Prof Lei Jiang, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “Professional testers observe a stronger ‘ethanol-like’ taste in beer after it has been chilled and these experiments show there is a distinct enhancement at 5C in five per cent and 11 per cent solutions.”
Rob Fink, of Big Drop Brewing Co, said as low as 1C is fine, adding: “Lager is fermented and matured at low temperatures so it’s inherently best suited to being served chilled.
“Other styles of beer such as IPAs and bitters are better suited to warmer temperatures so as not to dampen their more complex flavour and aroma profiles.”
The Sun revealed this week that more than 10,000 Brits died from drinking too much alcohol in 2022, official data shows.
The record figure was up 4.2 per cent in a year and nearly a third from pre-pandemic numbers in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Experts said people who were already boozing too much before Covid were most likely to increase their levels during lockdowns.