It used to be that having a beer was as simple as popping open the bottle or can and sucking back its contents. And for many beer drinkers -- and, truth be told, likely for all of us from time to time -- that is still the way to drink beer.
But the times they are a-changing, for the better. Beer drinkers all around the globe are becoming more inclined to think about what they drink and how they drink it. Today's beer aficionados want not only the right beer, they also want the right beer glass.
As much as this new affection for beer glasses has spawned a more sophisticated and perhaps even more elegant image for beer drinking and beer drinkers, it has also prompted some confusion. Questions abound: What is the right glass for a particular beer style? Does it really matter if I drink a pilsner from a pint mug or a best bitter from a pilsner glass? Can I still keep my beer mugs in the fridge or freezer? How do you wash a beer glass?
In an effort to address these and other queries, we are happy to present the World of Beer' World of Beer Glasses, or Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Beer Glassware But Were Afraid to Ask.
Choice: Whatever glasses you choose for beer, use them only for beer. Other beverages may leave residues on the glass that will affect the presentation and possibly the taste of your next beer.
Care: Treat your beer glasses well. Never use soap on them or put them in your dishwasher as soap residue can destroy the head on your next beer and/or affect its taste. Instead, clean your beer glasses by hand with a soft cloth and plenty of very hot water. If you must use soap, say to remove lipstick from the rim, rub the glass with table salt afterwards and rinse very well. (This will remove any soap residue left on the glass.) Use a drip tray to let your glasses air dry and then rub them with a soft, lint-free cloth before you put them away.
Style: Some will argue that specific beers are best suited to particular types of beer glasses, and there is some logic to this. The chalice-shaped glass favoured by the Trappist breweries is appropriate for a beer with a religious background, for example, and nothing could better suit a Scotch ale than a glass shaped like a thistle. Unless you plan on starting a huge collection of beer glasses, though, you had better get used to making some concessions to style. (At World of Beer Central, we have a collection of about one hundred glasses and still don't cover all the types that we would like to.)
Default: The best vessel for any beer is the tulip-shaped glass. The bulbous bottom allows the beer to naturally roll into a good, tightly formed head, while the pinched sides effectively channel the aroma to the nose. If you can only have one beer glass, make it a tulip.
Storage: Do not keep your beer glasses in the refrigerator or freezer! Ice-cold beer is flavourless beer, and a chilled glass only compounds this problem.
Colour: For the same reason that wine snobs eschew coloured wine glasses, so too should beer aficionados avoid opaque beer glasses. The brewer puts a lot of effort into coming up with precisely the right colour for his or her beer and it would be rude to ignore all that work. Clear glass is definitely the way to go.
Tradition: Never be afraid to bend the above guidelines for the sake of tradition or efficiency. Sometimes a traditional hand-cast beer stein just feels right in the hand, and when only room-temperature lager is available on a hot summer's day, a stoneware mug pulled directly from the freezer can be your best friend.
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