The craft beer movement has really taken off in the last twenty years. Craft beer enthusiasts have quickly learned about the effect of the perfect glass on well made craft beer. In Germany, the Reinheitsgebot, a purity law dating from 1516, limits brewers to four ingredients: barley, hops, yeast, and water. The 'purity' of German beers make them a reasonably intelligent place to begin a journey of beer and glass appreciation. This is because it can be argued that the spread of tastes, flavors and smells in German beer are relatively controlled by the limited number of ingredients.
Once the enthusiast has mastered their palate for beer, it makes sense to move on to Belgian beers and some of the interesting craft beers from the Western U.S. Belgian beers are an ideal place for wine drinkers to begin their exploration of craft beers from around the world as Belgian brewers tend to use fruit, spices, and other unorthodox ingredients in the brewing process.
While any effervescent alcoholic beverage will benefit from being poured into a glass that is properly shaped to gather the bouquet, beer requires a well designed glass for the same reasons that wine must be poured in the proper glass. Seventy-five to ninety percent of smell is in the nose, not the mouth. The effort and brilliance of the finest brewers around the world is wasted when beer is poured into a glass that has perfectly vertical sides and absolutely no curvature. Try the proper glass with your favorite beer and you'll quickly taste the difference.
Once the enthusiast has mastered their palate for beer, it makes sense to move on to Belgian beers and some of the interesting craft beers from the Western U.S. Belgian beers are an ideal place for wine drinkers to begin their exploration of craft beers from around the world as Belgian brewers tend to use fruit, spices, and other unorthodox ingredients in the brewing process.
While any effervescent alcoholic beverage will benefit from being poured into a glass that is properly shaped to gather the bouquet, beer requires a well designed glass for the same reasons that wine must be poured in the proper glass. Seventy-five to ninety percent of smell is in the nose, not the mouth. The effort and brilliance of the finest brewers around the world is wasted when beer is poured into a glass that has perfectly vertical sides and absolutely no curvature. Try the proper glass with your favorite beer and you'll quickly taste the difference.
