The Magnificent Seven by Bob Montemurro As you might expect I get a lot of mail from readers about, what else, beer. But not just beer itself. Many ask about things like what beers are best for aging, best beers for gift giving, and how to properly serve beer. One of the more focused questions in that area is just what types of glasses should a craft beer drinker have in his cupboard. While a single clean one is really all you need, for the truly serious beer drinker I recommend seven. Shaker Pint Glass The most common beer glass in the USA. It holds 16 ounces. Most bars and pubs are teeming with these conical glasses and you'll likely get whatever draft beer you order in it. These glasses are well-suited to a wide variety of beers, including stouts, lagers, and ales with low to average alcohol by volume (sessionable ales, as well). Bars like them because they're easy to stack and hard to break or chip. Pilsner Glass A taller and thinner glass than the pint, it holds about 12ounces. It's tapered and trumpets out at the mouth, standing on a flat but broad base. They are intended specifically for (you guessed it) a pilsner but also work well with other lighter beers, like lagers and witbier. The design supports the effervescence of a light beer while allowing it to maintain a fluffy head. Snifter It works for brandy and is effective for beer too. A short stem supports a bowl that tapers at the mouth — the design captures intense aromas, such as those you'd detect from stronger ales. Snifter sizes range but most are between 6 and 8 ounces. I love to put barleywines and strong Belgian Strong Ales in a snifter. Here's a tip- swirl the beer in the bottom of the glass to release the delicious aromas. Tulip This stemmed glass is shaped like a tulip with a flared top rising from a bulbous body. Tulips come in any number of sizes between 12 and 20 ounces. They're perfect for serving French- and Belgian-style ales, like Abbey Tripel, Saison, or Biere de Garde, beers that tend to have a frothy head. The curvy design lets the beer breathe and release its aromas while cultivating a frothy head. Weizen Glass Looks a taklike a pilsner glass. It's tall and thin but while a pilsner glass tapers evenly at the top, the weizen rounds out toward the middle. Containing about 17 ounces of beer, it is designed specifically for wheat beers, which typically have thick heads that need room to fluff out. By the way, to keep the head avoid any fruit garnishes (like orange or lemon wedges) since they collapse it. The glass curves also bring out the unique aromas of a wheat beer. Goblet This glass works for many styles of beer. The large, bowl-shaped glass with a long stem is perfect for Belgian ales, German bocks, or other big beers. It's a close relative to the chalice which is a heavier, more sturdy stemmed glass, sometimes with etching at the bottom of the bowl. Stange You've probably seen this but never knew its name. The glass is tall and completely cylindrical with a clean design patterned for a Kölsch style beer. It usually serves between 7 and 12 ounces of beer and can stand as high as 6 inches. It's also a good option for most delicate brews, like Altbier and Gose, since it helps amplify the malt and hop notes. So there you have the key seven. Of course there are other fun glasses that would enhance your collection like a stein, boot, or yard but the basic group is just about all you really need to enhance the beer and enjoy all it's flavorful and aromatic nuisances. One last thing. Please be sure your glasses are clean; and that includes not having any soap residue on them. One way to test you glass is to rinse it with water. If the water runs down the inside in sheets you are fine, if it spots or gathers on the side you glass needs to be rewashed. Actually I never use soap or a oil based detergent on my glasses. They are very hard to fully remove from the glass. And never, never use your beer glass to drink milk. Removing the traces of that from your glass takes forever. Just dedicate those seven to one beverage and one beverage only - beer! Thanks for reading. See you next month! See you next month! ------------ Cheers! Bob |
| BeerNexus proudly presents Bob Montemurro "the ombudsman of beer" Bob and Friends Speak of Beer...... |
 |
| |
 |
 |  |
| Want to be a "friend of Bob" and write a guest column? Just e-mail your article to Bob HERE. |
| Want to be a "friend of Bob" and write a guest column? Just e-mail your article to Bob HERE. |