Beer Glassware: So Many Options to Choose From

These days you'd be hard pressed to go into any metropolitan area without finding a restaurant that also produces its own beer. These types of restaurant and brewery combinations provide an exceptional environment that caters to the food lover and beer connoisseur. Along with exclusive styles of beer that these breweries produce, they almost always have exceptional beer glassware that the beer is served in. Some may suggest that that it is just an illusion to promote their product, but real beer lovers know better.

Beer, much like wine, needs the proper glass to truly appreciate all aspects of the beer that they are drinking. It is not necessarily because they love to get intoxicated but they want to be able to fully appreciate the flavor and aroma of the specialty beer.

The proper beer glass can enhance the aromatic essence or produce a foamy head, which are two things that can expand the overall drinking experience. Let us review a few different glass styles and the beers that they are meant to harmonize with.

Pilsner: A light pale lager that is the most common domestic beers associated with America today. Originally from The Czech Republic, pilsner glasses are characteristically tall and slender to feature the color and carbonation of the beer.

Wheat: A wheat beer glass is usually a tapered glass, where it is skinnier at the bottom and opens up wider at the top. This shape develops the fluffy foam that is associated with a good wheat beer.

Pint: This type of glass is probably the most common in English Pubs and now in American restaurants. The difference is that American pints hold 16 ounces whereas the English pints hold 20 ounces. There are differences to the pint glass type as well. Two common forms are the conical and the dimpled mug, which frequently has a handle. Pint glasses were first made to serve darker beers such as stouts or porters.

Goblet: While the goblet may recall visions of a regal feast, it is still commonly used to serve heavy beers like bock or Belgian style beers and ales. The goblet also has the benefit that it can be held by the stem so that the content doesn’t get warm from the holders hand.

As you can see, there are many beer glass styles to choose from. The difference in styles contributes to the overall beer drinking experience. Cheers.