# Head Master Glasses



## fergi (14/11/08)

i bought a couple of headmaster glasses yesterday and on filling one with my keg brew i imeadiately realised that they certainly promote a great head, now my normal beer glasses did have a really nice head anyway but they were slightly small and i didnt have many, what i saw in the headmaster glasses was that they really let the co2 come out of suspension very quickly. almost like they were way over carbed, however they had a good hand feel to them and held a nice amount of beer, so i havent really tested them over a period of time but they do seem like a really nice glass,anyone else use them and what are your thoughts
cheers

fergi


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## Peaka (14/11/08)

I like them also, especially when they end up as souvenirs from different pubs lol. But yes they do make a great head when pouring the beer.


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## Tony (14/11/08)

I bought about 16 of them years ago and love them....... onlly 2 left now...... all broken and only 2 by me.

My wife smashed 4 at once one night by dropping a plastic baby boittle on a stack i had just cleaned up.

planning on getting more. They are great.

cheers


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## schooey (14/11/08)

Headmasters are my house glass for drinking my quaffers, I've got two trays of them. Father in law's with pubs are great


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## Cocko (15/11/08)

I have gone a similar shaped glass but 425ml and am loving the result/s!

I bottle ATM, Kegs I am a comin, in 330ml bottles so I can pour a whole bottle with a good head perfectly into these glasses...

I keep them clean and out of a dishwasher,, SO what does a headmaster glass have, forgetting size, over good glass maintenance on ANY other glass have? BTW I am not trying to be smart I am asking, what makes a head master soo different??

Humbly

Cocko


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## schooey (15/11/08)

The surface on the bottom of the inside of the glass. Its treated to somehow trap CO2 on pouring and release it slowly as the beer is drunk.

Blurb here


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## Cocko (15/11/08)

Awesome, cheers schooey.

Looks like I am buying more than a bag of grain tomorrow!!

Cocko!


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## Thunderlips (15/11/08)

I can understand why pubs use them for the megaswill but I would have thought most all grain
brewers here would have been against them since you don't really need a gimmicky glass for your 
beer to hold a head.

As for me, I'm a kit brewer so I've got a few on standby, just in case


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## Cocko (15/11/08)

My beer holds head in any, If it is a clean glass!, but its like offering Gilli a new bat that may knock out a few more runs....

I think he would try it! Even though he knows he will make runs, if he walks out with this piece of willow that puts him in a better seat... Yeah?

PS: Why do I post when I am so drunk... :icon_drunk:


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## Sammus (15/11/08)

The floor of the glass is acid etched to provide nucleation points for the co2 to come out of solution quicker - and thus promoting head. I've heard a lot of homebrewers speak nasty words about them, I'm a fan though. Especially after my mate got me a carton of 48 for a gift last xmas  FWIW the fancy etched bottom doesnt bother me, I could take it or leave it. If I bought them, I would've saved a few bucks and got the plain ones.


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## Cocko (15/11/08)

Sammus said:


> The floor of the glass is acid




Awesome, I will fetch my Bill Hicks Cd's and it on!


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## Thunderlips (15/11/08)

I wonder if you could take your favourite glass and etch the bottom with the likes of a dremel tool?

I've got quite a few glasses and always found it odd how the same beer in one glass will look lifeless and flat 
and struggles to hold a head while in another glass it'll fizz away like coke and lace all the way to the bottom.
This can even happen with glasses from the same batch.

Maybe it's got something to do with little defects in the glass, giving the co2 more points to sprout from...

Anyway, my favourite glasses are probably the Brasserie, and they do a great when to it comes to holding a head 
and lacing to the bottom.


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## Beer&Kebab (15/11/08)

Thunderlips said:


> I wonder if you could take your favourite glass and etch the bottom with the likes of a dremel tool?
> 
> I've got quite a few glasses and always found it odd how the same beer in one glass will look lifeless and flat
> and struggles to hold a head while in another glass it'll fizz away like coke and lace all the way to the bottom.
> ...



I too love the nucleated beer glasses.. I have many of the Headmaster, Energy and Headstart branded glasses. Though these are not big enough to hold a whole beer that has been bottled in a Grolsch bottle.. So I grabbed a Strongbow cider glass that is pint size and just sand papered the bottom of the glass and it works a treat.. A Dremel should work fine.. Just a little more civilised approach :icon_cheers:


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## staggalee (15/11/08)

When these glasses hit the pubs and clubs, there was a bit of vogue for blokes to etch the bottom of their own beer glasses by various means, until they realized it was easier and a better result to add some extra wheat malt or similar to their recipes.
I`ve got a couple of the originals that the local RSL gave me, but I don`t bother with them, good beer shouldn`t need a gimmicky glass to stand up. :icon_cheers: 

stagga.


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## Pollux (15/11/08)

I use them as a matter of habit, I spent 4 years running pubs before I had a career switch and as such I am used to these glasses....

I remember when we first got them into one pub, a whole heap of regulars wanted us to keep a tray of the old glasses behind the bar as they didn't like the "new poofter glasses"..... lol....They reckoned that the energies flattened the beer quicker....That said, their technique for refreshing a glass that had lost it's head if they had ducked outside for a phone call was the smack the top of the glass with the base of another one...

One thing I need to get out of the habit of is freezing my glasses......Old habits die hard I guess.


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## Jazzafish (15/11/08)

Thunderlips said:


> I wonder if you could take your favourite glass and etch the bottom with the likes of a dremel tool?
> 
> I've got quite a few glasses and always found it odd how the same beer in one glass will look lifeless and flat
> and struggles to hold a head while in another glass it'll fizz away like coke and lace all the way to the bottom.
> ...



Duff did that with a dremel tool. Worked


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## quantocks (15/11/08)

I've managed to acquire a whole cupboard full of these for free 

with various pub logos on them, or if you have a standard glass you can just get a key and scratch the bottom for basically the same effect. If you're desperate for the bubbles to flow like crazy through the beer.


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## Bribie G (15/11/08)

Are they commercially available to the public? In what quantities? I work part time up the street from a hospitality supplies comany in Fortitude Valley but I'm nearly always scheduled at weekends so they are shut, may take a special trip in there.
Or can you only souvenir them?


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## quantocks (15/11/08)

Bribie, since you're in QLD here's where you can purchase the brand new glasses from.



> Complete Hospitality Supplies Complete Hospitality Supplies
> 56 Cambridge Street, Coorparoo 4151
> Phone: 07 38477944 Fax: 07 33240564 Website:
> A & W Hollier Wholesale Distributors Pty Ltd A & W Hollier Wholesale Distributors Pty Ltd
> ...



or a full list of australia wide suppliers > http://www.crownglassware.com.au/content/r...tate=Queensland


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## mynameisrodney (15/11/08)

I hit the bottom of a couple of my beer glasses with a quick spurt from a bead blaster. Works well.


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## Beer&Kebab (15/11/08)

BribieG said:


> Are they commercially available to the public? In what quantities? I work part time up the street from a hospitality supplies comany in Fortitude Valley but I'm nearly always scheduled at weekends so they are shut, may take a special trip in there.
> Or can you only souvenir them?




I have found a lot just in the streets in close vicinity to pubs & clubs on a Sat/Sun morning while going for a constitutional.. I actually went into a pub and asked to buy some.. They sold me 6 for $10..


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## Pollux (15/11/08)

McCarthy's on Parramatta Rd in Stanmore/Annandale sells them for $1.65 for schooners.....


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## darrell.wallace (15/11/08)

Pollux said:


> ....They reckoned that the energies flattened the beer quicker.....



It is interesting that you say this. I have been a part of side by side comparisons with headmaster glasses and "regular" glasses and if 2 beers are poured and left for about 10 minutes with 1 in the headmaster and 1 in the regular glass, the headmaster glass will keep the beer with a nice looking head and much more presentable than the regular glass. The regular glass will not look as nice but will be a great deal more carbonated to drink than the headmaster and taste much nicer.

This being said if you are drinking the beer at any reasonable rate then it does not matter, and it is much more desirable for pubs/clubs to have a beer that presents well with a nice head.

So i believe that the beer does go flat quicker in the headmaster glasses, but only if it is left and not drank and what is the point of that.


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## Pollux (15/11/08)

Always thought that was the case....

I suggested they simply turn to middies if they can't drink schooners quick enough...

They weren't amused....


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## staggalee (15/11/08)

HEY
Fix the beer, not the glass. :lol: 

stagga.


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## Bribie G (15/11/08)

quantocks said:


> Bribie, since you're in QLD here's where you can purchase the brand new glasses from.
> 
> 
> 
> or a full list of australia wide suppliers > http://www.crownglassware.com.au/content/r...tate=Queensland



Cheers, I'll hit the Coorparoo one on my way to Ross's to pick up my new AG goodies like my Marga Mill, airstone, hop socks etc etc in three weeks time. :beerbang: :beerbang:


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## Ross (15/11/08)

BribieG said:


> Cheers, I'll hit the Coorparoo one on my way to Ross's to pick up my new AG goodies like my Marga Mill, airstone, hop socks etc etc in three weeks time. :beerbang: :beerbang:




BribieG...We sell them all here....One stop shop for all your needs these days  

Cheers Ross


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## Tony (15/11/08)

I was waiting for that one Ross.



Thunderlips said:


> Maybe it's got something to do with little defects in the glass, giving the co2 more points to sprout from...



Hit the nail on the head!




staggalee said:


> When these glasses hit the pubs and clubs, there was a bit of vogue for blokes to etch the bottom of their own beer glasses by various means, until they realized it was easier and a better result to add some extra wheat malt or similar to their recipes.



Holy Sheep Shit........ he said something about brewing!  

They will send your beer flat faster but i find i can get a beter presentation on a beer with lower carbonation..... and i like them, they work for me. I dont leave my beer sitting for long anyway.

They are obviously a love or hate thing so i think the solution is a simple one. Use what you like 

cheers


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## Duff (15/11/08)

Jazzafish said:


> Duff did that with a dremel tool. Worked



Yeah.


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## leeboy (15/11/08)

In my opinon all the beers I had tasted ******* awesome out of headmaster. If anyone wants to differ i'll fight that point. Rogue and headmaster= best day of my life, not really but definately one of the best.
Leeroy out


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## cliffo (15/11/08)

leeboy said:


> In my opinon all the beers I had tasted ******* awesome out of headmaster. If anyone wants to differ i'll fight that point. Rogue and headmaster= best day of my life, not really but definately one of the best.
> Leeroy out



Is that a one-man effort tackling that collection?

Just as well you took photos..you might not have remembered it otherwise :lol: 

cliffo


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## Duff (15/11/08)

cliffo said:


> Is that a one-man effort tackling that collection?
> 
> Just as well you took photos..you might not have remembered it otherwise :lol:
> 
> cliffo



Cliffo,

I was thinking the same thing  

Especially when he noted:



leeboy said:


> In my opinon all the beers I had tasted ******* awesome out of headmaster. If anyone wants to differ i'll fight that point.



Sounds like he did :lol:


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## leeboy (15/11/08)

4 man show that one. ******* awesome. Still taste that old crustacean. Gotta love the headmaster. Few extras but these were the hightlights


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## Greg Lawrence (15/11/08)

Im sure that its been said before, but if the beer is good, it shouldnt matter what glass it is served in.
And more to the point, does head really matter?


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## staggalee (15/11/08)

leeboy said:


> In my opinon all the beers I had tasted ******* awesome out of headmaster. If anyone wants to differ i'll fight that point. Rogue and headmaster= best day of my life, not really but definately one of the best.
> Leeroy out
> 
> View attachment 22566
> ...



So do you think if you had of used any other glass, the beers wouldn`t have been so ******* awesome?

stagga.


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## barfridge (15/11/08)

Gregor said:


> And more to the point, does head really matter?


frankly, yes it does.

Not only is it the first thing people notince when looking at a beer, it is also important for capturing aroma in all those little bubbles


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## Pollux (15/11/08)

Gregor said:


> Im sure that its been said before, but if the beer is good, it shouldnt matter what glass it is served in.
> And more to the point, does head really matter?




My wife just said, it doesn't matter how long your head lasts, be grateful you get any.......  I sense she wasn't talking about beer....


To me, head on a beer is about presentation more than anything, I tend to either drink a beer quick enough that the head doesn't stand a chance of vanishing (first of the day sort of story) or it's a case of I leave it on the TV unit while I run off to change a nappy or read a book to my daughter and then suddenly spot it 20mins later when I walk past and remember it was there...


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## Greg Lawrence (15/11/08)

barfridge said:


> frankly, yes it does.
> 
> Not only is it the first thing people notince when looking at a beer, it is also important for capturing aroma in all those little bubbles



I dont give a shit about how it looks, as long as it tastes good.


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## staggalee (15/11/08)

Gregor said:


> I dont give a shit about how it looks, as long as it tastes good.



errr, if I may be so bold?....I don`t think that was the reply the purists and academics were looking for :lol: 
{that`s not to say I don`t agree}

stagga.


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## leeboy (15/11/08)

I personally just came across this thread and thought it be a great place to show off what we drank today, coincidently out of headmaster glasses.
That said though. They pull a great beer all the time and do give great floral characteristics for beer of these styles. For anyone that know anything about these beers they will know firstly that volatile hop aromas are released through the release of carbonation in beer (hence this glass is specifically designed to enhance bubble formation) hence why you might place your hand over the glass and agitate to create more bubbles and hence release more volatile hops into the atmosphere.

Secondly yes these probably would of tasted just as good out of any other glass but heres a plug for 
www.slowbeer.com.au

No affiliation just a very satisfied purchaser. And thanks to newcastle kitchen and cutlery for great beer glasses.
Leeboy (still tasting old crustacean)

OUT


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## clean brewer (25/11/08)

I went to my Hospitality supply store yesterday to get a couple things and bought a couple 425ml Headstart glasses, couldnt believe it when she told me the price, $1.60(per glass)..  I simply just could not believe how cheap they were, the standard 425ml glasses were only $0.90 aswell..

Then you get places like Target, Big W etc trying to flog Beer Glasses off for $30 for 6 of the f--kers..

Anyhow, I know where to buy any glass now..

Cheers


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## Stouter (27/2/17)

I got 6 of the 425mL Headmasters from fleabay this week after reading about them here. Bloody beautiful I have to say.
They've got a good feel to them and the nucleated base worked wonders on my poor version of Pale Ale.
Very happy with the post packaging too, props to the seller. They packed them in bubble wrap, then 3 each inside these thick air cushioned cylinders, lovely.

Wondering now how long it'll take me to work my way through the six with careless breakages.
This could be the start of a very tidy glass collection.


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## yurgy (27/2/17)

i got half a box of 48 from my local for about 40 bucks


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## Kingy (27/2/17)

I get my glasses from here http://www.hostdirect.com.au/showProduct/Glassware/Certified+Beer+Glasses/3333/Arcoroc+Toughened+and+Nucleated+Washington+425ml+-+48+per+box%0D%0A


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## tugger (28/2/17)

They are cheap because people steal them from the pub.


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## Rocker1986 (28/2/17)

I've got a few nucleated glasses, one is a Headmaster, the others aren't branded. They do work well though. I've also got a glass like the one pictured on the first page next to the beer jug with the red beer in it which is my main glass. It doesn't have an etched bottom but still seems to hold a pretty good head. I might make a few small scratches in it, might not. I had one previously that got broken that I'd etched myself and it worked really well.


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