1. Start with a nice cold glass. Other than the beer itself, a clean, cold glass is the basic building block for a perfect pint. Erik says, “Make sure your glass is washed and free of stains. Put it in the freezer for a couple hours to ensure the temperature of the beer is maintained when it touches the glass.”

2. Angle your pour. There’s more to pouring than just throwing open the tap. In the Heineken Star Serve method, the glass is angled at 45 degrees. Open the tap quickly and fully in order to get a smooth pour that does not splash out of the glass and that is not too foamy.

3. Skim the foam. A head of foam prevents too much oxygen from entering your beer, slows down the carbonation exiting your pint and improves the mouthfeel of the beer. But too much foam can taste bitter and take up precious room meant for your beer. Erik uses a wet skimmer to skim off excess foam near the end of the pour.

4. Do a pre-serve check. Do a final check to ensure your pint looks good and balanced. Heineken has a great trick for that: know the red star on the pint glass? According to the Heineken Star Serve method, the bottom edge of the foam should line up with the horizontal line on the star for the perfect ratio of beer to foam.

5. Serve with style. After all that hard work, go the extra step. Make sure the exterior of the glass is beer free and the glass comes on a coaster. When it comes to Heineken Extra Cold, Erik also has a very important rule: always serve the glass with the star facing the customer, smile and say, “Enjoy your Heineken!”

Does that sound like too much work? Fear not! Head to 1-Altitude, Alley Bar, or OverEasy, where trained Star Serve bartenders are waiting to do it for you when you order up a Heineken Extra Cold. Just look for the Star Serve Bar plaque.