Beer Glasses 101: Choosing the Right Beer Glass
To fully appreciate wine, wine glasses of different shapes and sizes are made to accentuate the unique characteristics of various wines. It’s the same for beer! Here are four common types you should know about:
Pilsner Glass:
- Ideal for lighter beers with a lot of carbonationExample: pilsners, American lagers, blonde ales and witbiers
Pint Glass:
- An all-purpose beer glasses great for a wide range of beers and is easy to clean and store
- Examples: American ales, lagers, IPAs and pilsners
Mug:
- Comes in various shapes and sizes and has relatively thick glass; the handle prevents heat transference from your hand to the beer
- Examples: anything from German beers and American lagers to Scottish ales and Irish dry stouts
Stemmed Glass:
- Available in different shapes like Tulip and Thistle with a flared lip designed to promote aroma and flavour of stronger, aromatic brews
- Examples: Belgian ales, fruit lambics, saisons, imperial stouts, barrel-aged beers
Beer Colour and What It Means
Is it true that the darker the beer, the bitterer it is and the more alcohol it contains?* In fact, how does beer get its colour?
The answer is – malt!
The same way that coffee beans are roasted to make coffee, barley and wheat go through a malting process and are then roasted in a kiln to the desired colour for different types of beer: light malts produce beer of a paler hue, while darker malts make darker beer.
Extra ingredients added, such as fresh raspberries, can also change the beer’s colour. Some other factors include whether the beer has been filtered, the type and amount of hops used and oxidation.
*Myth busted:
The answer is – malt!
The same way that coffee beans are roasted to make coffee, barley and wheat go through a malting process and are then roasted in a kiln to the desired colour for different types of beer: light malts produce beer of a paler hue, while darker malts make darker beer.
Extra ingredients added, such as fresh raspberries, can also change the beer’s colour. Some other factors include whether the beer has been filtered, the type and amount of hops used and oxidation.
*Myth busted:
- Stouts are typically 7-8% ABV, but a golden-coloured Belgian Tripel can be over 10% ABV!
- Beer’s bitterness mainly comes from hops. The type and amount of hops used, as well as the length of brewing are also factors that can affect bitterness. The International Bitterness Unit (IBU) is the measuring unit on a beer’s level of bitterness. The higher the value, the bitterer the beer.