Comments on: Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?

Question: Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?

tomharpel — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:37:48 -0800

Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?

By: geoff.

geoff. — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 19:36:28 -0800

Well I was trying to figure out what, if any chemical process changes when zinc reacts with the saliva in your mouth. Uh I couldn't really find any, so I have no idea why the head of beer tastes like heavy metals. I bet it has something to do with the placement of taste buds that sense CO2 (what would be I would guess mostly present in the head) and those that sense heavy metals. I could be wrong but the taste of beer and pennies both appears to come from the outer edges of my tongue.

By: abcde

abcde — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:04:32 -0800

I don't think it's due to any reaction in the mouth, because it smells like that too.

By: abcde

abcde — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:16:35 -0800

Note that both of them are also the same metallic smell that one (I) gets just after a sneeze. I coulda sworn I read why that was somewhere, but I can't remember.

By: esch

esch — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 20:32:18 -0800

Off topic: Why are you people eating so many pennies?

By: Keyser Soze

Keyser Soze — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:06:44 -0800

You have never put a penny in your mouth esch? That penny taste should be known by everyone alive with tastebuds.

On topic: The same kind of taste when you smoke too many cigarettes.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:18:43 -0800

Why does the head on beer taste like pennies?

Jeez...when I scanned the page, it looked like "Why does the head on beer taste like penises?"

Yikes.

By: Space Coyote

Space Coyote — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:22:27 -0800

When I drink guinness and the foam touches my upper lip I always freak out because when I lick it it tastes like blood.

By: esch

esch — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:23:16 -0800

I imagine I have at one point or another, but I don't really remember the taste...

Is this a phenomenon that happens with all beer or just some certain styles/brands?

By: abcde

abcde — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 22:44:19 -0800

All of them. For me beer/isopropyl/just-after-a-sneeze/pennies/some other coins smell/taste similar( mix and match as you like).

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 03:51:08 -0800

I don't think it's due to any reaction in the mouth, because it smells like that too.

Smelling and tasting both require chemical reactions. I have no idea how similar they are. But lots of things taste and smell alike, so perhaps they are similar?

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:14:11 -0800

Playing quarters?

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:16:22 -0800

I hope you'll permit me a complete lack of an answer in order to say: fantastic question!

By: jennyb

jennyb — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 07:03:57 -0800

Jeez...when I scanned the page, it looked like "Why does the head on beer taste like penises?"

Me, too! Me, too! And then I was like, what kind of beer are these people drinking???

I get the blood/metallic taste from the head of a Guinness, too.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 09:36:52 -0800

How many of you penny-tasters have metal fillings? How many do not?

I don't have fillings, and I don't taste pennies (or penises!) when I sip my beer.

By: rhyax

rhyax — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:24:29 -0800

i can't answer your question, but blood tastes like iron because of the iron in the hemoglobin, which lends more credence to your head tastes like metal... and taste and smell are kinda similar, taste is more a combination of the stimulation of just a few sensors though, while smell is a combination of many many more.

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 11:51:27 -0800

I don't taste pennies in beer-head (or blood in Guiness-head, for that matter). Two tooth fillings way in the back of my mouth. Maybe it's a genetic trait?

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 13:27:11 -0800

Ok. Genetically, I can smell asparagus urine and can roll my tongue. I recall there being a bitter taste-test thing, too; I believe I can taste the bitter. I don't taste pennies, though.

By: turbodog

turbodog — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 14:12:53 -0800

My unscientific guess would be that the head has a lot of hop taste but little or no malt taste. To my senses, an ultra-hoppy/lower malt beer like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has a distinctly metallic taste.

By: modofo

modofo — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 16:23:38 -0800

All beer or beer out of a tap?

By: tomharpel

tomharpel — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 22:11:54 -0800

Most beers. And no fillings.

By: maniactown

maniactown — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 23:11:30 -0800

Generally, no "penny" taste for me. No fillings.

For homebrewers, a "metallic" taste usually indicates beer that is over-aged or perhaps an off-taste from bad or too much hops.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 23:36:38 -0800

Is it just American beer? I drink what could be charitably described as a fair bit of the stuff (Korean vintage), and I can't say I've noticed a penny taste. Also, I have fillings.