Beer Sampling Tip: The Glass

When sampling beer what you drink it out of is vitally important.  Beers are far more complex than most people think and complex balance of flavours, aromas and visual components all become as intended by the brew master when poured correctly and into the right glass.  For information on pouring, see yesterday's Beer Sampling Tip: The Pour.

I know, you are probably skeptical that a certain glass can make such a difference, some of you may not think there's any difference from drinking it out of a bottle.  Next time you are in a nice pub, notice all the different glasses they used for the variety of beer offerings.  It isn't all a marketing ploy by the breweries to get their names out there more, or to make more money on the sale of glasses, it enhances the experience of drinking the beer.  Try having a beer in it's proper glassware, in a random glass and out of the bottle or can.  It will taste, smell and look different each way.  To take this a step further, in some cases breweries have been known to craft a glass specifically for their beer rather than using the standard glassware for it's type and in some cases even designed the glass before they've started on the beer.  I think the latter is a bit of putting the cart before the horse, but that may just be me.

I'll go into the specific glassware in future Beer Sampling Tips.


Cheers!