Photographing Beer, A Few Quick Pics...

As I'm sure you know by now, I photograph just about every beer I drink.  Lately almost all those pictures come straight from my iPhone4, but every now and then at an event or tasting I'll have my better cameras handy.  For the iPhone, I find that lighting is the key.  Really this is the key for most photography... but especially for the phone because the flash is pretty weak.  The 3G I had before though... well it had no flash and was a lot smaller picture size, so at least it has that going for it.  

I had a few pictures of some beers that I drank in Houston to demonstrate... first up is the Lagunitas Imperial Stout... this beer should appear extremely dark with an off-white head... here's the picture with no flash.

Without the flash it's a little blurry, but you can see the actual colors of the beer.  Here's is a Bridgeport Scotch Ale with the flash, the beer should be a reddish-brown color.

For some reason with the flash on, the iPhone4 gets a little better focus with cleaner lines, but it fades the color.  It's hard to even see the red hints in the beer with the flash on.  Now two pictures of the Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Fresh Hop Ale... one with the flash, and one without.

As you can tell, the flash really enhanced the contrast, to the point where the lighter beer was totally lost.  The non-flash picture come a lot closer to capturing the true color of the beer... so let this be a tip to all of you.  Flash = bad!  That being said, if I'm in a dark bar or dimly lit restaurant, I'd still rather use the flash and get a picture than forget all about that tasty brew.

IPA Time At The Black Labrador Pub In Houston

A few trips ago to Houston I met up with some friends at The Black Labrador Pub for some beer and dinner... I knew they didn't have the best beer selection around but they DID have a couple of good IPAs available, including one I had never tried before.  To kick it off, I went for that new one, the Bridgeport IPA from the Bridgeport Brewery (@bridgeportbrew) out of Portland, Oregon.  I had previously tried the Hop Czar IPA from these guys and enjoyed it, so why not try a new one?

 

Served on-tap... in a standard pint glass.  It was a clear amber color, with a finger or two of foamy white head. Pretty good retention and lacing!

It had a nice citrus hop smell, not too rough... and a very palatable hop-dominated flavor. A very solid IPA and a good start to the evening!

After that I went for a Hardcore IPA from Brewdog out of Scotland.  This was a much hoppier and more bitter IPA, that I would recommend to any hop heads out there.  It only came in bottles (despite the picture... that's the bottle label on a pint glass!) but was worth the price.  The two IPAs were a great compliment to good friends and some fish & chips.

India Pale Ale (IPA)