You can identify four basic tastes in beer – sweet, sour, bitter and in rare cases salt. Especially in beer the balance between sweetness, bitterness and sourness are assessed. Are they in harmony? Do they go well together? Is the beer a bit sweet or bitter or is sweetness and bitterness medium or intense?
Can you taste the sweetness and the bitterness immediately or is it in the aftertaste? Is the aftertaste long or short?
The bitterness of a beer does not only depend on the amount of bitter hops used in the brewing process. It is also influenced by the sweetness of the beer and a sweet beer can often have more bitterness in order to be in balance.
If you lift up your tongue and let the beer slide down the sides of the tongue you will feel the liveliness of the beer as it tingles when the carbonic acid is released. You also experience the fullness and whether it feels cold or warm. The alcohol determines the fullness and the warmth.
Beer can also feel like it dries up your mouth, astringent or leave a metallic feeling. Finally, the beer can feel coating as if it leaves a film in your mouth.