The days of any-old-pint-glass are far behind us. For craft beer fans, using “proper glassware” means creating a tasting experience that amplifies presentation, aroma, ABV, temperature, and even ergonomics.
Once you spend your precious time selecting the ideal craft beer for your palate, follow these simple glassware tips to make it truly shine!
Make it Beautiful with Branded Glassware: Our first recommendation of a beer style to highlight the aesthetics of the pour — to show off the color of the liquid and highlight the art on the glass — is the hazy, New England-style IPA.
An opaque, Sunny D-hued pour will make the artwork on the glass look well pronounced, especially when the artwork is stenciled — like below, in this matching King’s County Beer Collective beer and glass.
NE-style Hazies are also a great choice for showing off creatively shaped glassware which brings a lot of depth to the beer, as demonstrated by the brew below from Elder Pine Brewing, and from some of our favorite glassware makers, Juan Travolta Glass and PretentiousBeerGlass, that you’ve seen featured on Tavour.
Kick Up Those Aromas a Notch: Warm up your nostrils, because we’re diving into the best glassware to augment a beer’s aromas. With a focus on scent, you’ll want to choose a very fragrant beer style and a glass that will intensify the nose even more.
For beer style, go with a funky Farmhouse Ale — Jester King Brewery and The Ale Apothecary are two exemplary examples of Farmhouse Ale specialists known for bringing the whole barnyard of smells to a brew. Pair your favorite Farmhouse with a teku glass (like The Rare Barrel pictured below). The glassmakers specifically designed the shape to direct maximum aroma potency from the beer to your nose.
Tame Your Booze: In Pour it up: a beer glass breakdown, Stillwell’s Chris Reynolds explains why a snifter is the ideal glass for high ABV brews, like Holy Mountain’s Hand of Glory Barleywine and Cycle Brewing’s Rare DOS Imperial Stout. He points out, “it’s smaller, the bowl shape captures the aroma, and it’s stemmed so you can control its temperature with your hands.”
We can’t think of a better vessel from which to enjoy Epic Brewing’s 12% ABV Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout.
Get Ready to Chug: While a snifter is fitting for a slow sipper, you’ll want something you can grip easily and pour fast when it comes to a low ABV, crushable brew. Conveniently, one of the most chuggable ales — the Kölsch — comes with its own glass called a stange. Not only is this skinny, science lab vial-looking thing built for a quick grab and slam, it also comes served on a holey tray, perfect for delivering a table’s-worth of Kölsches — making it an excellent choice to toast with and shoot like a shot of liquor.
For a true-to-style example of a Kölsch, try Heater Allen’s bright and clean Das Bier and ask for a round for the table so you can witness the cool carrying tray, shown below.
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