"head Master" Beer Glasses

[Wozza]

Is there anyone else out there that is as pissed off as I am re the proliferation of these tricked up schooner glasses used in pubs these days?

They go by the name of Head Meister or similar. There are a few makes about. They appear to have had the bottom of the glass scoured to promote what they assume to be a healthy head on the beer (bubbles will form on any imperfection on the glass surface).

I've had some that make the beer look like some kind of Mad Scientist experiment as the head foams up and out of the glass and across the table! I've tried to explain to barmen, pub owners, fellow drinkers - anyone that will listen, that all these damn things are doing is making the beer go flat.

I was drinking Maccafrey's in the Rag and Famish in North Sydney not so long ago and the barmaid had the nozzle on the tap turned up so tight that it was taking her literally 15 minutes to pour a pint (we had a schooner of VB while we were waiting...). She was squeezing the life out of the beer. And it went into one of these damn glasses, so what we ended up with was a beer that was as flat as a witch's tit. OK, it's not exactly meant to be fizzy, but give me a break!

In some pubs, I've given up drinking beer from the tap. Tell me it's not just me that finds a problem with these...

 

[fingers]

sorry Wozza, but I love em,
I'm heavy into kegging and they have certainly improved things for me.It used to take me 12hrs to gas a 50litre keg and then there was a fair bit of mucking about to keep the serving pressures right.Now I only gas for 8 hours and use a constant higher pressure to serve, and it's great, the beer has head and bubbles and holds it all the way to the bottom and serves so easy
cheers..... Fingers

 

[jayse]

hmm you've got me going here fingers.as far as i can tell these glasses are used by pubs for draught and v.d etc.where the beer lines are not done correctly and are poorly maintained.some pubs don't even have a cellar person.if they did'nt use these glasses they would be serving headless beer.it use to be in these instances that they used salt in the bottom of the glass to do the same job.
with our attention to detail and our beer being of much better quality why would you use such means to create something artifically.

when just about everyone on this board is adjusting the methods of making beer etc.to get the best result.your off dodgeying your beer up to create something that you can't create with real means.
please put me in my place but are you for real.i can pour my ales at only enough pressure to allow the beer to flow and still end up with a foam layer that lasts to the very end.

what are you serving in your kegs fingers?water?

sorry if iv'e been rude but what better way to get down to the nitty gritty.than a good whole hearted debate.

 

[fingers]

about 80% water I think it works out at jayse,good water too, not that crappy stuff you poor bloody sa blokes have to bath in (thats why west end tastes like****) I don't agree with your interpretation of why these glasses are on the market, I was told that the reason is .. the less gas in the beer ..the less bloated you get... hence....the more beer you can drink...hence....the more money goes in the till.
but to be fair to this debate,because of the age of my regulator (nearly as old as me) it is diffucult to get it to operate on very low pressures.and,I got the glasses for nothing.and.if it works.why not
on the down side (1 and 1 only)you only get 1 glass of beer per glass before the glass has to washed :
cheers...the finger (pointed vertically)

 

[big d]

the less gas in the beer the less bloated the more you can drink? i think hes pulling your leg fingers.
with my kegging which ive been doing for quite some years now i once found if the beer is over gassed it becomes a mess of foam. such a waste of beer
trial and error will get you the perfect pour that suits the most important consumer YOU say no more
as for these etched glasses i havent seen them but sound like a different variation of the beer brick eg how to turn flat beer gassy
personally if you only get one glass per drink before it needs a wash i would chuck them.mine go until i decide to finish or drop which ever comes first and holds the lace all the way down.
cheers

 

[jayse]

fingers
thanx for keeping the debate going.i think we need to get the guts on this issue.
its hard to know where everyone is at.i too make my beer over 80% water.
and if i got a few of those glasses for free i would properly use them.
if i have a few people around i'll break at least two glasses in a drunken brew sess.so anything that holds beer is good.
i too don't use a clean glasses.
at the moment iam using these 425ml pilsner shaped glasse from bigw $10 for four.

i still think its more to do with the beer serving systems not being up to scatch.
i or anyone that i know haven't drunk less because weve got to much gas in us.but i certainly would'nt buy a another pint after being served a completely headless one.

 

[PostModern]

I think we had a similar debate here a while ago. They perform in a similar way to the ceramic steins of the old country. However, if used to mask poorly set up kegs, it's criminal, imho.