Want To Love Your Beer Even More? It’s All About The Glass
SHARE
Unsplash
Just like the shape of your wine glass matters, the beer glass you choose can either enhance or underplay your whole drinking experience. Depending on the bar you go to, they might serve everything in a standard pint glass or they’ll come up with the perfect shaped glass for the job. Some beer is extra potent and needs to be served in a small glass, while light pilsners can go in the tallest glass on the shelf. You don’t need every beer glass on hand, but if you’re going to have one, pick one that’ll support your go-to pint.
Beer Mug
You’ll see mugs for the most part at beer gardens or any kind of Oktoberfest situation. A mug is meant to keep your hands warm and your beer cold. The most common mug style is a seidel, which has thick glass, a wide mouth and dimple impressions on the sides. With beer mugs, you’re better off sticking with lagers, amber ales, Irish red ales and brown ales. Since these glasses can hold so much liquid, you’ll probably want a relatively light beer so you can down large amounts at a time.
Pilsner Glass
Unsplash
The tall and skinny pilsner glass is slightly wider at the mouth than at the bottom. It’s specifically designed for light beers and it’ll help to showcase the bubbles and clarity. A pilsner glass will hold slightly less beer than your average pint glass. The wider opening helps to keep a thick layer of foam on top while bringing out the beer’s full flavor profile and aroma. Pair the pilsner glass with pilsners, American lagers, blond ales and Japanese rice lagers. This glass is ideal for pale lagers with a lot of carbonation.
Pint Glass
Your standard American pint glass, the 16-ounce beer glass with straight sides, is the most common. It’s usually the cheapest glass to buy and while it’s a household staple, the shape might cause the beer to lose its aroma. Because of the thickness of the glass, the beer warms up much quicker than it would otherwise. If you have no choice but to use a regular pint glass, stick to IPAs, brown ales, amber ales, stouts, porters and lagers.
Tulip Glass
Unsplash
For those who like their beer strong, the tulip glass is the way to go. The glass is bulb-like with a flared rim. The tulip glass might be the most versatile of all of them all. It supports a healthy amount of foam on top, while the narrow waist of the glass holds in the aroma. The shape of the glass makes it easy to hold and easy to swirl, while the stem prevents your hands from warming up the beer too quickly. You can serve anything from IPAs to stouts to Belgian ales in a tulip glass and you can be confident it’ll enhance all of the flavors.
Goblet
The Medieval Times-style glass, known as a goblet or a chalice, is wide-mouthed and designed mainly to help the beer keep its head (the foamy part on top). Goblets are usually more delicate with a longer stem, where chalices have a thicker glass. Even though the foamy part is often seen as a roadblock, it’s where a ton of the beer’s aromas are released. Anyone who wants to appreciate the hops and the flavors of the foam should invest in a goblet for heavy, malty beers like Belgian ales and Belgian IPAs.
Pro tip: If you’re going to pick one beer glass, we recommend the tulip glass. It’ll cover all of your bases, no matter what kind of beer phase you might be in.
RELATED
Not A Big Fan Of Beer? Here’s How To Learn To Like It
You Need To Try This Hot Sauce-Spiked Beer
Next on
