The vessel you use to convey your brew from tap to mouth makes a difference

By Adam Dewji

Depending on how many beers you’ve ordered at any given pub, you might notice that some pubs serve different brews in different glassware. I’m not talking about size. I understand that if you order a sleeve, it’s going to be smaller than a pint. The different glassware used for specific beer serves different purposes.

Yeah, it’s true; it’s not all just marketing. Different types of brews will react differently to different types of glassware. That spells out a lot of variables for someone stuck in math nine, so let me break it down for you. When you pour a brew into a glass, you want to pour it so it doesn’t just hit the bottom and foam up (unless you’re pouring a Guinness out of a can). You generally want to let the beer slide down the inside of the glass and let it foam up naturally, tilting the glass on its side to achieve minimum head.

There are 10 general glass types that a beer can be served in, each serving its own purpose. When a beer is poured into a glass, the amount of head (or foam) that is created releases certain aromas and has minor chemical reactions that allow for better taste, smell, and texture of a beer. These micro-changes can affect the way that a beer tastes overall.

The 10 types are: flute glass, goblet, mug (or stein), pilsner glass, pint glass, snifter, stange, tulip, weizen glass (weizens are wheat beers), and an oversized wine glass. I don’t have space to describe them all, but their purpose is easily googled.

You might be overwhelmed, wondering what you normally drink out of at a pub. If you order an econo-beer, you’re probably being served in a pilsner glass or a pint glass. Some restaurants are starting to carry weizen glassware (like a slim Coke-glass) for macro-brew wheat beers, like a Rickard’s or Keith’s White.

I have always loved the goblet, because it always makes people wonder why I’m drinking out of it. They’re the ones that look like the bro-version of a wine glass, and are meant mainly for Belgian strong ales and IPAs (India Pale Ales). They’re built to generally have around an inch of head, post-pour. They are also built wider at the mouth for deep sips to hit you with lots of flavor at once. Not only that, but they look pretty damn awesome too. You could totally salute the rock gods in style while listening to Dragonforce with one of these suckers.

In Belgium, some breweries actually engineer glassware just for their specific brews. Most craft beer pubs will do the right thing and serve your beer in an appropriate glass.

Next time you’re out for a brew, see what they serve it in and maybe you’ll finally know why some beers are served in differently shaped glasses than the rest.