Machine Made vs. Hand Blown Craft Beer Glassware

Zalto has some gorgeous stuff — I got a kick out of this one. The description talks about the glass “demanding as much attention from the coniseaur as he/she gives in selecting the wine that goes into it”. Kinda the poster boy for pretentious glasswear.

 

I agree there is no best...only preferred. For me the perfect glass for a given session comes down to how it feels and looks when I’m using it. Appropriateness for style doesn’t really matter to me. Both machine and hand made can do the trick - for machine my diamond balloon is my favorite. Its super flimsy and I’ve gone through a couple...so this one sits unused most of the time. Love the shape and massive capacity.



For durability and all around sexiness — it’s tough to beat the SP snifter and tulips. There is nothing flimsy about these glasses - and short of dropping one on a granite countertop - they are indestructible. I’ve used all my SP glasswear at many dozens of beer bashes at my house over the past 15 years and have never broken one.

 

Our three year old is not a thing.

 

Late to the party....but I'll +1 on Simon Pearce. "appears thicker and heavier" is no joke. SP glassware has serious "gravitas". When a lot of people think about hand-blown, they think thin walls, and that the thinness/delicateness is the point. SP turns that notion on it's head. Their tulip is my daily go to.

But to the original question, blown glassware isnt any "better" than machine made. It doesnt make anything taste better. But....it might make the experience better. Like anything subjective, perception is everything. A red solo cup is every bit as successful at holding liquid, but I don't want to drink from one unless I have to.

To the issue of "imperfections", subtle differences from one piece to another aren't flaws. SP are pretty consistent from piece to piece but if someone is looking for uniform consistency, they probably won't find hand blown glass interesting or worth appreciating.

 

When I buy "special" glasses it always ends up being a souvenir from a brewery or some interesting beer and glass set. It makes it a bit more special when I can serve a person a drink that is paired with the brewery it came from. I am more likely to buy a commemorative glass than a fancy glass for fancy sake. If breweries buy more hand-blown glasses then I might be more inclined to purchase them as a souvenir. In the end, most of the paint ends up fading over the years from continual use and washing, but it gives me an assortment of unique glassware to choose from.

The "normal" glasses that I buy are pretty cheap. I have some heavy-duty large glass mugs that I bought from the $1 store. If they break they are easy to replace, unlike the aforementioned memento glasses.

 

This would drive me a little mad OCD wise, especially if I were to buy a 2 set of a particular hand blown glass so I could split a bottle between them. The bulb and slightly longer neck on yours vs the first one makes it seem like yours would be better at concentrating the aroma at the opening.

 

I don't know from hand-blown glassware. I get most of my stuff from thrift stores and consignment shops. The most I've ever paid for a "glass" was 15 bones. It is actually a Svend Jensen drinking horn, hand-made by Krosno in Poland. It is a big chunk of glass, not particularly comfortable to drink out of. But it looks cool, and it's not a vase. My favorite glasses are from Spiegelau and Riedel. The ones I have are undoubtedly machine made, but you can tell that you're drinking out of a finely-crafted object. The price range on these was 25 cents to $1.00 (except for the Spiegelau IPA glass, for which I paid full retail). I use them quite often. "Thin" does not necessarily mean "fragile," you know.

I have what I'm pretty sure is a candle holder that looks enough like the Pretentious Sauvin glass that no one would dare question my pretentiousness for drinking out of it.

 

As long as my glass doesn't leak, I'm happy with machine made glasses. I see no need to buy exorbitantly priced hand blown glass but each to their own. Almost every one of my favorite glasses in the past has gotten broken one way or another so I've learned not to buy pricey glassware.

 

this monster is from thin man brewing in Buffalo. it is probably a bit excessive but I would be lying if I said I didn't want one

 

I bought the entire set from http://www.pretentiousglass.com/ of hand blown glasses. They are awesome and included instructions on what beer went best with each glass. Love that they are handmade, maybe used once and now they are on a shelf looking pretty. Would gladly recommend them and would buy as a gift for a beer buddy, but for me I enjoy using a random brewery tulip glass (bonus points if it matches the beer) honestly can not tell that my beer is enhanced either way, I only care about my hands not warming up the glassware.

 

Id love go have great glassware, and I do have some special glasses, some hard to get, loved. . But I'm also a horrible breaker of glass. If I could see and touch them I might buy them, they look nice on line, but not enough for me to buy. I'd have to hold one to know I'd love it enough to drop $75 on one that didn't say Waterford on it.

 

I agree, the first rule of conduct for a glass is it doesn't leak.

 

Waterford even sounds beautiful when it breaks. The only glassware I will actually drop major cash on.

 

Not to mention my wife. Don't tell her I said this on a public(ish) forum, but she's done a number on my glassware collection. A few really nice ones gone, a couple mini-snifters, plus a couple from breweries that don't exist anymore down the hatch.

 

I have a four year old and I'm only slightly less clumsy than she is.. those Simon Pearce glasses sure are nice... but I'd have one broken within a week

 

I use four 12 ounce .99 cent tulip glasses that I purchased from Dollar General that I enjoy very much. I also use a hand blown sapphire blue shot glass that was made in Pittsburgh in the 1840's that I enjoy using. I believe that the difference is psychological. I can enjoy a great stout in my tulip glass and the same stout in a 16 ounce IPA glass. Same beer with 2 different drinking experiences.