Digg:
A nicely crafted beer is a thing of beauty, but if you’re pouring it into just any old grimy pint glass, you’re not letting that brew reach its true potential. The right glass is key to getting every last boozy drop of pleasure.
A lot of people don’t realize that the shape of the glass you drink your beer out of can affect the way it tastes. In general, beer glasses are designed to enhance the kinds of beers inside. Always drives me nuts when I go to a bar and ask for a specialized beer and it comes in the “wrong” glass.
Very true. But what bugged me even more when visiting the US was the tendency of many places to serve beer far too cold, and then put it into an iced glass to perfect the experience…
Nice. I should remember more of these details.
I’m much more of a wine/classic cocktails guy, but a former boss and high-end beer aficionado made me take him here, http://latrappecafe.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/img_0106.jpg, when he visited SF once. A truly impressive range of glasses for a place that serves, essentially, only beer. When you see a bartender have to reach 3 feet down the counter to grab one of 12 different types of glass you know the guy is pretty serious about what he’s about to pour.
I actually like to use a tulip glass for Belgian beer. I think the shape directs the aroma better.
I was actually served Allagash White (which is a Belgian-style wheat beer) in a frosted mug. And the beer itself was cold enough to pass for a slushee. Awful.
I was impressed to see, in one pub on recent travels, they hired a guy to lovingly wash each glass by hand, then double rinse each before returning them to the shelf for re-use.
As I understand it, the dimpled glass – “Seidel” was created to show off the clarity of beer letting light shine through it at all angles. This was at a time when beer was notorious for being full of impurities, often added by the Landlord to dilute the beer for profit.
Pete Brown discusses that at some length in Hops & Glory: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hops-Glory-search-British-Empire/dp/0330511866
I thought the expression “beer glasses” meant the tendency of members of the opposite sex to look more attractive in direct ratio to quantity of alcohol consumed by the viewer… no wait, that’s beer goggles… never mind.