Does Your Beer Glass Really Matter? We Consulted a Beer Expert to Find Out

Reading these types of articles, I’ve realized something about myself. I do not possess a palate nuanced enough to differentiate which glass styles go best with each beer style. I own several glasses discussed in this article and I use them interchangeably. What’s more is I own several “shaker” glasses and have used them often for many different beer types and had much enjoyment in doing so.

I do prefer certain glasses in my collection due to their shape and the feel of them in my hand. My affinity for particular types of glassware doesn’t go much farther than that.

 

I love beer glasses. Anyone who's not a beer geek and lives with you does not.

But they keep increasing in volume in my cabinets somehow...

 

I standardize the glass to mainly one, then the beer itself speaks

 

I’m always curious when someone posts this, so please allow me to inquire some more without it feeling like I am being pushy or insensitive.

I can certainly get behind the idea that if you had 10 draft pours of the same beer in 10 different glass styles, but all with the same thickness of lip, that you would have a hard time distinguishing a benefit from each one. But, the reality is that every glass really is different. I’ve noticed that I generally prefer thinner lips, but that’s not always true. I have noticed that some beers I prefer in this style of tulip vs that (for the exact same beer). I’ve noticed I tend to prefer certain styles from certain glass styles more than others (eg a hazy is fine in a tulip or a shaker, but I really enjoy a willi belcher more).

I’m rambling a bit. I guess my point is that if I was really pressed, I’m not sure I could say/describe what if anything I am tasting different between the glasses, but Clearly I am receiving more enjoyment from certain glasses for certain styles that I go back again and again. Surely it isn’t just psychological. So, while I cannot pinpoint it, I know that it is real. I guess I am trying to say that I have a hard time believing that other people don’t have virtually the exact same experience - where they may not be able to verbalize it, but the effect clearly exists.

 

I can entertain this aspect of the experience. I guess I was more referring to a taste/smell experience. I can definitely acknowledge that “feel” both in the hand and on the lips is something I’ve found myself aware of on different occasions.

 

Personally I just like collecting glassware, and the visual aspect (for me at least) is a part of the beer tasting experience.

There's just something about a beer or style in its proper glass. For example, a Duvel in a Duvel Tulip is still one of the more beautiful experiences in beer for me, even 18 years later.

And with that one it's functional too. It's a pain in the ass trying to fit that head into a shaker pint.

Oh, and I dig a nucleation point. It really does maintain the head longer on a beer. Many of my regular strength stouts and porters will go in a Sam Smith Imperial Tulip pint with the giant nucleation logo at the bottom.

 

There’s just that certain ‘something’ added to the ‘experience’ while sipping a BCBS from a BCBS snifter.
Makes me feel good, and, I believe, that is the point.

 

I live by the rule of three…

willi for lager, sometimes hops
tulip shape for the occasional imp stout or IIPA
Nonic for ale not noted above in tulip

All I ever use or need for the most part…disclaimer: I do have a seasonal mug for octo and one czech dimple mug but don’t use them as much.

 

Well, it *is* Randy Mosher.

 

I'm @dcotom and I approve of this message.

 

Maybe "just" is the problem word here. The whole experience of consumption adds up and we generally translate it all into an organoleptic phenomenon. There's obviously some physics involved in the management of gasses coming out of solution and the aromatics they carry. But I'm not positive that outweighs the impact of the enhanced focus and intention indicated by even having preferred glassware. Then you add in all the satisfactions related to the characteristics that make a glass preferred (the shape, the weight, the lip thickness, the memories we associate with the glass, the connection to culture, etc) and I'm not sure it's "just" psychological, but at least some of it is very psychological

 

For me I think this is 100% accurate…almost contributes to the we taste with our eyes first too.

 

It didn't take away from my experience when one joint poured me a full pint.

Of course, I could probably complain that it didn't leave room for another beer that night. But I didn't.

And yeah, it was a shaker pint, so *nyyaah* Randy.

 

This, and the linked article https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-rise-and-fall-of-america-s-awful-beer-glass sure reads to me like a re-writing of history suggesting that the shaker pint was a common "big beer" beer glass - "The glass remained ubiquitous through the 1980s, when the number of breweries in the U.S. hit bottom" - just wasn't the reality I ever experienced in the pre-craft era.

For a well-researched alternate history, with actual facts from, among others, the glass manufacturer Libbey, see:
How the humble cocktail mixer became America’s favorite personal beer delivery system

And, as for "Big Beer":
"The first microbrewer to both use and brand the shaker pint was Redhook Brewery in Seattle."

And here's an Anheuser-Busch illustration from the mid-1980s of typical types and sizes of beer glass (from a guide to calculate glasses per keg):


Big (and pre-craft small) brewers typically considered 6-8 oz. a standard "serving" of beer and the glasses used by bars and the logoed ones handed out by brewers reflected that.


Like others above, I've got beer boxes and cabinets full of beer glasses - for me, most are pre-craft. I once came across a large Willibecher-ish style Stroh-logoed half-liter glass, sometime in the late '70s. I'd never seen a US beer glass that large and assumed it must have been used for serving milkshakes made with Stroh's Ice Cream.

 

I just knew I wasn't the only one that liked to use a bucket!

 

You're not supposed to drink from the bucket/growler (that's what growlers originally were) -- you're supposed to dole out glass-fulls from it!

 

Yesterday’s “king sized 16 oz can” …today’s standard in craft it seems.

 

Known beers go into whatever is available and clean. I try to put new beers or unknown beer styles into the best fitting glass.

I love glassware and the one I'm always impressed by is @BeerVikingSailor

 

Well, that often depended on how late the party goes and when the last keg was tapped... Waste not, want not. (Plus that picnic tap's just pumping air into the keg).

 

All of my growlers were ever filled at the bar by the bartender. I knew a couple guys who brought theirs to keg parties... their dental work may have recovered by now.

 

Yea, that's customary in civilized lands. But the man you're talking to is from Wisconsin. Things are done a little differently up there

 

All that aside I still find really cool old beer glasses at a couple Good Will stores very close by. Good beer glasses and coffee mugs appear regularly. I collect them like Martha collects shoes.

 

World literature is full of references to the "bucket run" down to the bar sloshing beer all the way back to the party.

 

I love Shaker pints for pilsners, West Coast IPA, most German beer styles etc. tulips are fine. I like stemless Wine glasses the best all around vessel. Great for wine, bourbon, and fancy craft beers. Plus it’s the best glass to stick in my carry cooler with some cans/bottles of beer when I’m heading to someone else’s house to drink/do bottle shares. They are least likely to break and take up minimal space. I’ll pull out my Teku when I’m feeling snooty.

 

Hey, hey -- you're talking about my brethren here. And where do you think I learned to drink?

 

Well, no -- Wednesday night Growler night always lasted till closing. Was the bar that quit on us.

 

Real take: Glassware is all personal preference and you are going to get the most enjoyment drinking your whatever style out of the glass that is most comfortable to you.

Sarcastic take: My palate is so refined that the shape and color of the vessel the beer is stored in has more of an impact in my enjoyment. Putting an import lager in a brown bottle? Oh no- it has to be green to optimize the eyes impact on your taste buds. A stout in a standard width bottl? Hell no. It has to be wide and bold like a BcBS bottle for the stout to be able develop its large ego.

 

Yeah, both glass and bottle impact taste! And CAN CAN do it too!

 

@woodychandler would be proud of you!

Cheers!

 

Fwiw, the earliest I recall experiencing beer served in a shaker pint was 1981 and the bar was serving Heineken Dark. It seemed like a pretty big deal at the time, though I've moved on since then.

 

My sense of smell,and also somewhat taste, is far less refined than many others here on BA apparently have, but for me a big part of the drinking experience is the appearance. My beer reviews reflect that. I may not notice the taste difference in different glass shapes but I have certainly noticed big differences in head formation and retention and light transmission in different glass shapes (more light comes through a smaller diameter glass). My glass collection has maxed out my wife's tolerance for that and I do try to use the recommended(?) shape for the beer style I am having.

 

I feel that normal pint glasses (or minor variations on the concept) are absolutely fine for most beers. If you travel to most traditional beer destinations, you'll notice that's what most people are using, too. Yes, they might be using a stange, a willi becher, an English pint glass, or even just a thick walled tall glass like Cantillon does, but it's the same concept. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. A tulip or snifter might offer a little bit of enhancement to a beer with punchy esters or phenolics, but I don't think it's some cardinal sin to serve those in a normal glass, either. The nose on those is potent as-is, so unless you're in a place with a bunch of wacky other smells I don't know if it matters much.

 

And ABV's have gone up as well!

A wine glass is least likely to break?

 

Like many on BA my glass collection has gotten out of control, but I have narrowed it down to around 6-8 glasses that I keep in my regular rotation, though I will occasionally bring out other glasses for special beers or when I host tastings. I find that proper glassware does add something to the overall experience

 

Being snooty about glassware is a real thing, and its practitioners really believe what they think. I just don't care too much,. I found a fabulous old and small commemorative pilsner glass from Bad Windsheim in Bavaria. It's a perfect utility beer glass. Another Good Will beauty. I would love to know the full story of this vessel's final docking in my cabinet.....

 

Have you conducted a side-by-side-by...by pouring the same beer in a variety of glasses? For example half of the beer in a shaker glass and the other half in a tulip glass? The tulip glass with its bowl like shape will concentrate the aromatics of the beer (e.g., hop aroma for a beer type like IPA) which will enhance the flavor perception.

Maybe something worthy of a try in the future if you have not ever tried this.

Cheers!