Glass Glasses: Not Which, But Why?

Why swimming pools, children, easy clean up ect. Do you really want to wash glassware for40/50 people.

 

Because the right glassware for the style make a difference.

I drink IPA from either a Spiegelau Classic IPA glass or Hop Tulip Imperial Pint glass, both with etching on the bottom to create a constant stream of tiny bubbles maintaining a head covering the brew.

I was skeptical, but got the Spiegelau as a gift and did a comparison between it and a traditional shaker pint glass, and there is a difference in the taste, primarily in the finish with a smoother finish. Could also be why Sierra Nevada serves Torpedo in a Spiegelau IPA glass at their brewery.

 

Glass does not react with anything, well almost nothing. Therefore you will get the taste of whatever you are drinking, when drinking out of glass, as opposed to the taste of plastic, styrofoam, or whatever mixing into what you are drinking.

 

Over the years I have developed a pretty diverse collection of glass wear. I use it daily and haven't broken one ever. That is until later today when I will inevitably break one now because I just said I never have

 

Since you cite the Perfect Pint, which is a glass that breaks all too easily. I know from personal experience this is true. Half the joy of drinking a good beer out of one of them is watching the cascade. If you're exceptionally picky and/or spent time around a brewery long enough to know how much effort can go into cleaning beer up before packaging. Lagunitas Waldo's Special which apparently broke a pump during filtration last year comes to mind. Seeing that clarity is its own reward.

Plastic and Stainless Steel are great for camping because broken glass moop is the hardest to pick up. Beyond that. It's glass all the way.

 

Glass for drinking, cans for packaging.

 

I think there's an argument that a container of made out of dead dinosaurs [and much more] is pretty cool too. It's like drinking from the cup of death.

 

I like glass as I can really see my beer which is hard to do in transparent plastic and impossible in metal, I like the feeling of the glass in my hand. As for style Tulips and snifters are good for most beers with strong aromatics as they tend to focus the aromas towards a specific spot for you to get a better smell, The reason other glasses are good with the styles they are produced for is because the shapes are supposed to help with the color lighting and look of a beer.

50% of our taste comes frome these other perceptions. which is the main reason a glass is better.

Another reason for using a glass as apposed to drinking from the transport vessel is that beer is produced with 2.5 times the carbon dioxide your meant to intake. when you pour it, it releases some of that gas which will make you feel less bloated when drinking and improve taste. Cheers!

 

Only time I drink out of a plastic cup is when I'm playing beer pong...and generally that's only because I've found it's much harder to get a ping pong ball to stay in a glass cup.

 

I thought this was all hog wash, until I started using a tulip shaped coffee mug my wife thought was cute. It surprised the hell out of me when my coffee started to taste better. It just appears to concentrate the aroma right under my nose when drinking (only explanation I could come up with since the coffee didn't change).

Well, that and I keep going to Beer events that hand out tulip glasses. >shrugs<

 

Yeah, it's the concentration effect on the aromas. Lots of us under-estimate the importance of how much of a contribution aromas make to flavors. I read somewhere that the pros who study these things for a living estimate that roughly 75% of the flavors we experience come from the aromas.

That also seems to be a reason for pouring your beer to produce a good and reasonable size head. Releases lots more of what's there to be smelled and then the shape of the glass helps concentrates it at the nose when you take a sip.

 

The fact that they have decent craft beer at sports arenas and stadiums now, I could give a shit that it's in see-thru plastic. Still tastes great.

 

And that's the end of that noise. Beautiful, H-D-R!

 

For the same reason I don't just stick a straw in the bottle or can and suck it out, because I enjoy drinking it from a glass. Unless you are prone to drop your beverage, I don't see any reason to drink ANYTHING from plastic. Glass is much more environmentally friendly and it doesn't have that plastic taste or feel to it. Why not metal? It doesn't feel right on the lips. A bullhorn or wood? When is the last time you saw drinking vessels made from those materials??? Besides those are not dishwasher safe. Neither is many plastics. Would you go to a bar that served your beer in a red Solo cup?

 

That is a beautiful glass!

 

I wonder if that glass was photo-shopped!?!

I kid, I kid!

Cheers!

@chipawayboy

 

The only time I don't use a glass is where being broken is a probability, or a broken glass would be a real hazard.

For that I have a pair of silicon shaker pint glasses my daughter picked up at Alaska Brewing last summer. You can run over them with a truck and they spring back in shape.

 

I have just about every kind of glass that there is. My favorite is Tripel Karmeleit. I love drinking SNPA from the can.

 

I own several beautiful old German stoneware mugs which are very cool. Decided they shouldn't sit on the shelf, so I used 'em for awhile. But I quickly returned to glassware as the visual/lacing/etc does make a difference to me. Oddly, I drink fine coffee daily out of a nice ceramic mug. Never bothered me.

 

Of course glass is best, but when I'm just hanging out slamming German lagers, ceramic mugs can be pretty awesome.