What Makes A "good" Beer Glass?

[wbosher]

I think certain glasses for certain beers, but there is something about sitting at a bar and drinking out of a pint glass while reading the newspaper.

I agree. I think a beer should be all about enjoying it, and the situation you find yourself in...as above, in a pub with mates etc...

What glass I'm drinking out of? Couldn't care less, as long as the beer is good.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Most of my everyday cupboard is made up of 1/2 pint and full pint nonics

My fancy glass cupboard only gets a look in when I've got a beer which is better suited to a particular style, which is mostly the case with caseswap or store bought beers

Cheers

 

[Phoney]

I usually find the dirtiest glasses are owned by people with dishwashers.

I have to disagree here, I bought a house with a smeg dishwasher about a year ago (it's the first time i've ever lived in a house with one), and my beer & wine glasses have never been cleaner. It does an amazing job and gets them spotlessly clean like I've never been able to acheive with any detergent doing a manual wash. Even tea & coffee stained mugs come up white as snow.

The effect on head retention is noticable if you look out for it. The second beer I pour always has a much longer lasting head than the first. But, do I care? Not at all. Particularly not when it means i no longer have to stand there like a dishpig with my hands in the sink after dinner every night.

Mind you; I buy my wine glasses from Ikea and my beer glasses from op shops. They get replaced every few years from being dropped & smashed, so whether I am causing long term damage to my glasses in the dishwasher or not I wouldnt know - or care. :icon_cheers:

 

[jyo]

The dishwasher seems to stuff the head on my beers every time, so I don't do it anymore. Even after a vinegar rinse. The headmaster glasses seem to stand up better to a dishwasher though.

I don't know what others think, but if I pour a beer into a glass that has been washed in detergent that doesn't produce or hold any head, the beer tastes different and not in a good way. It's 9 in the morning so I can't do a side by side tasting for a better description.

In short, not getting any head, for me, is quite disappointing.

 

[eamonnfoley]

Just make sure the glass is scrubbed every time with a brush and detergent, and then rinsed thoroughly just before pouring. They do it right in Belgium & Germany. The amount of dirty beer glasses I get here in Perth pubs though - my goodness. A dirty glass destroys a beer's head and flavour.

 

[GalBrew]

To truly capture the aroma of a beer, try a decent wine glass like a Riedel shaped for Shiraz or Cabernet. Then drink a beer side by side with a standard pint or schooner glass. There is no comparison, may not look very 'manly' but you'll get way more out of your beer.

 

[Pennywise]

I always use my dishwasher for my standar beer glasses, never had an issue. Most of my specialty glasses have logos on them so I hand wash those, the dishwasher is pretty good at removing those logos

 

[mje1980]

I did a side by side test, two sets of two glasses. One washed with bicarb and vinegar, scrubbed then rinsed in hot water, and the other set in the dishwasher. I was skeptical, as i didn't use the dishwasher then. The results were exactly the same, excellent!, so for me, the ease of using the dishwasher wins out, and i get lacing all the way down. I also find they are spotlessly clean

How can a dishwasher **** the glass?

 

[Malted]

In short, not getting any head, for me, is quite disappointing.

Amen Brother!

 

[HBHB]

Some glasses are magic, some .......... are not so magic.

 

[tricache]

I did a side by side test, two sets of two glasses. One washed with bicarb and vinegar, scrubbed then rinsed in hot water, and the other set in the dishwasher. I was skeptical, as i didn't use the dishwasher then. The results were exactly the same, excellent!, so for me, the ease of using the dishwasher wins out, and i get lacing all the way down. I also find they are spotlessly clean

How can a dishwasher **** the glass?

I've only seen them destroy lables or printing on glasses so I avoid using out dishwasher if my glasses are a bit "fancy"

Back on topic...

I have two major glasses I use...

For tasting and a bit of beer "snobbery"
I use the following:

Excuse the XXXX label but it works a gem and obviously has no problem with head retention.

When I am having a decent session I use my good old Weihenstephan glass:

Which is truly awesome...'nuff said

 

[yum beer]

When I am having a decent session I use my good old Weihenstephan glass:
View attachment 57736
Which is truly awesome...'nuff said

I had similar glasses from Vanuatu-Tusker glasses with the internal swirl and a rounded bottom, not flat like every other glass I have seen, they were
fantastic at keeping a head because the beer got a good swirl and slosh around with each mouthfull, alas both have finished in pieces on concrete floor to much cursing and swearing. Father in law will not part with the other half of the set despite never using them.
....will pay for such Tusker glasses....

 

[petesbrew]

SWMBO is always having a go at me... end of the night I've got anywhere between 2-5 different used beer glasses on the bench.
I keep telling her that it's like drinking wine from a champagne glass, or scotch from a wine glass... it's just not right, and each beer has it's ideal glass, but she never listens.

 

[Malted]

I keep telling her ...she never listens.

I told the deaf guy that I thought the blind guy would have seen it.

Test the water; tell her about brewing purchases when she is not listening...

I give mine ALL of the details and associated information regarding brewing purchases, when she find out about said purchases. The secret is to keep calm, look them in the eye and bore them with technical details. We have never had an argument about my brewery purchases. YMMV

So to bring this back onto the actual topic, this was the method I employed when I came home last night with two HofBrau weizen glasses (a sixer of Octoberfest + a glass = Malted buys two sixers!). The other thing is that she often says, 'when you build your bar, we won't have all of these glasses in here' (kitchen cupboards). So if I keep filling the kitchen with must have glassware, eventually I'll get the nod to start building the bar.

 

[tricache]

I told the deaf guy that I thought the blind guy would have seen it.

Test the water; tell her about brewing purchases when she is not listening...

I give mine ALL of the details and associated information regarding brewing purchases, when she find out about said purchases. The secret is to keep calm, look them in the eye and bore them with technical details. We have never had an argument about my brewery purchases. YMMV

So to bring this back onto the actual topic, this was the method I employed when I came home last night with two HofBrau weizen glasses (a sixer of Octoberfest + a glass = Malted buys two sixers!). The other thing is that she often says, 'when you build your bar, we won't have all of these glasses in here' (kitchen cupboards). So if I keep filling the kitchen with must have glassware, eventually I'll get the nod to start building the bar.

Same theory worked here...once I got a bar in the Man Cave our glass cupboards in the kitchen has never looked so empty :lol:

 

[Byran]

I told the deaf guy that I thought the blind guy would have seen it.

Test the water; tell her about brewing purchases when she is not listening...

I give mine ALL of the details and associated information regarding brewing purchases, when she find out about said purchases. The secret is to keep calm, look them in the eye and bore them with technical details. We have never had an argument about my brewery purchases. YMMV

So to bring this back onto the actual topic, this was the method I employed when I came home last night with two HofBrau weizen glasses (a sixer of Octoberfest + a glass = Malted buys two sixers!). The other thing is that she often says, 'when you build your bar, we won't have all of these glasses in here' (kitchen cupboards). So if I keep filling the kitchen with must have glassware, eventually I'll get the nod to start building the bar.

Teach me master.................

 

[Byran]

I agree. I think a beer should be all about enjoying it, and the situation you find yourself in...as above, in a pub with mates etc...

What glass I'm drinking out of? Couldn't care less, as long as the beer is good.

I agree and disagree.

If you are enjoying a nice aussie style beer at the pub then a schooner glass, jam jar or old boot would suffice, but with a hoppy ale or fancy style you need to have a wide open glass to get all the potential out of the hops , malt and yeast. Other wise you might as well be drinking a nice aussie style beer.......

 

[Byran]

I agree and disagree.

If you are enjoying a nice aussie style beer at the pub then a schooner glass, jam jar or old boot would suffice, but with a hoppy ale or fancy style you need to have a wide open glass to get all the potential out of the hops , malt and yeast. Other wise you might as well be drinking a nice aussie style beer.......

And also, if all I cared about was getting good head while drinking beer, then I would drink at a brothel or have a girlfriend who was a very, very good girl

 

[super_simian]

Buying good glass ware is not a waste of money unless you stick them in the dishwasher. It ***** the glass.

Ok. How? Go on genius, explain how a dishwasher (which all pubs and bars use btw,) ***** a glass. I'm waiting, this should be good...

 

[scoundrel]

personally hot water and a clean polishing cloth is all my glass need, i've mostly got headmasters and the rest is promo type stuff from the bottlo or op shopped junk for case swaps.