Some say we drink with our mouth, but one could make the argument that we also drink with our eyes.

Part of what makes a beer appealing to our palates, besides the beer itself is, how it is presented. Stella Artois, which traces its roots back to 1366 from the Den Hoorn brewery in Leuven, Belgium, plays host to the an annual World Draught Master (WDM) competition. The competition, which started back in 1997, invites its contestants to attempt to pour the "perfect pint" of Stella Artois. To impress a panel of distinguished judges, composed of other beer snobs like myself, each WDM hopefully must do their best to perfectly perform Stella's 9-Step pouring ritual.

The WDM is a true world competition as opposed to the World Series; there are competitors from over 25 countries, spanning 5 continents. Participants compete in layers of regional competitions in an effort to reach the world finals, which this year will be hosted in London, on October 28th. I wonder if I might be able to nail down one of those finalist spots if I moved to Antarctica. To my knowledge, none of those alcoholic penguins know about Stella, and prefer Guinness and Budweiser.

Continued after the jump…

 
A peak inside the Liberty Hotel hosting the US WDM Finals

Here in the States a champion, Chris Myers, was just crowned last month in Boston, MA at the Liberty Hotel.

The hotel was dolled up to resemble a 1960s French Rivera setting that is leveraged in the current Stella Artois marketing campaign. From attire to the cars parked outside, I’d have to say they did a fairly good job. Chris is an experienced bartender and one of our beer blogger friends over at ChrisTheBartender.com. Chris won a satellite WDM competition near his home in Madison, WI, before making his way to the New York regional qualifier, where eventually earned a spot in the US finals in Boston.

 
Chris Myers taking 1st place in Boston

By notching the win in Boston, Chris will be on his way to compete in London. If he is lucky enough to become the World Draught Master he will win a year long position as the global ambassador for the art of pouring Stella Artois and traverse the globe spreading the gospel of the 9-step pouring ritual.

In preparation for these duties Chris took some time out of his schedule to talk with me about how you can bring the 9-step pouring ritual home with the WDM six-pack. Click here to see me and our friend Cassi show you how it's done.