When getting to the actual tasting part, don’t be too shy. Beer is meant to be consumed in large swallows, so take a good mouthful, but don’t swallow it instantly. You should focus on different parts of the taste; initial, mouth feel and finish, which can be really different from each other. Initial is the first impression, the feel of the carbonation and sweetness of the beer, and the first bite of hops. Mouthful, or the mid-taste, is often described by the presence of features related to malts and hops. Is the beer sweet or dry, do the malts dominate the taste? Or is it bitter, and can you taste the nuances brought by hops? Also, you can describe the flavors that you can recognize – some fruit maybe, or overall juiciness, citrus fruits or maybe coffee, chocolate? These vary a lot between different beers and styles of course, but there are some typical flavors for each beer style. You could also analyze the viscosity of the beer, is it thick or thin, and the balance between malts and hops. Finish is the aftertaste you’ll have left after swallowing the beer; long lasting or quickly vanishing, bitter or malty, some specific flavor present…?