Anyone really use special glasses?

Does anyone out there really use the "recommended" serving vessel for the different beer styles? You know - pilsner glasses, goblets, mugs, hefeweizen glasses, tulip glasses, etc, etc, etc.

Frankly, I prefer the plain old pint glass to any of them. It just seems to fit my hand perfectly . . . kinda like it just belongs there . . . a natural extension of my arm. I can tolerate the occasional frosty mug with a lager, but I'd still rather drink it from a frosty pint glass. I especially hate being served a beer in big friggin' pilsner glass. Just feels all wrong.

AHU

I think a lot of people do. I'm limited in my options and my favored vessel is a non-frosty pint glass (of which I have many). I also have some small (8-10oz?) pilsner glasses which I like alot just because of the way they taper down at the bottom which allows me to see how the color of the beer changes with density...I use them for most any beer and for sampling my wort at various stages of the process.

I'd like to have some hefe glasses, as well.

oh yea! i have a tulip glass for all pale ales, stouts, porters, ambers, browns.
i have the large hefe glasses for, well, hefe's or 'fests.
a .5 L krug for gett'n down!

i also have regular 16 oz pint glasses in case of emergencies.

but no frosty mugs/glasses. that ruins it for me.......

DeRoux's Broux said:

but no frosty mugs/glasses. that ruins it for me.......

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To clarify, only frosted for Coor/Miller/Bud. Regular old pint glass suits my micros just fine.

I think that homebrew tastes best in a nice hand etched "HomeBrew" pint glass that some guy in these forums does. Those things are awesome, you should buy some

Sorry, this seemed like a perfect thread for a little self promotion

AllHoppedUp said:

To clarify, only frosted for Coor/Miller/Bud. Regular old pint glass suits my micros just fine.

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not judging, just not my preference

several of my brew buds dig a frosty glass for thier brews, homebrewed or store bought.

until Xmas this year, I only had a single 0.5L (plus room to spare) glass mug from Germany that I drank everything out of.

However, I got a set of 4 pint glasses (with micro brew labels on them) from some friends who, ironically, don't even drink.

Oh... and I've got a Sammy Smiths tulip glass that lives at my parent's house in Ohio. I use it when I'm back there visiting. When I'm not around, my father desecrates that glass by drinking Coors Light out of it.

I don't need no stinking special glass. You can pour it in my hands and I'll lap it up that way if necessary.

edit: I forgot that I also have a 1L stein from the Lowenbrau biergarten in Munich, but I actually don't use that one for drinking. It's an "eyes only" vessel.

-walker

I have a huge range of specialty glasses, all 4 oz'ers from brewing fests. 90% of my homebrew goes in a pint pinch mug or a taller plastic mug I like to use while drinking in the spa. The little glasses hold a hydrometer sample quite nicely and they are great for club meetings.

If you are into special glasses & you ever get to S.F., go to the Toronado. The bartenders there are nuts about using the right one.

Looks like I'm in the minority on special glass usage . . .

My pint glass collection is sizeable and even if I did want to use them, I'm not sure the wife would appreciate even more cupboard space being used up by the special glassware. I like the variety of my pint glasses for parties - they serve the same purpose as a wine glass charms: no mistaking which glass is yours.

I prefer to use the pint glasses. I do, however, have a good collection of hefeweizen and pilsner glasses. I really do not care for frosted mugs as well. I remember reading somewhere to never use a frosted glass with a good brew. The cold hides a lot of the flavors.

I prefeer a good solid no BS pint glass, something with some wieght behind it, BUT until I get out of these crappy 12 oz bottles I'm using a crap 10 oz glass I got . . . think it may actually be a juice glass but reminds me of the glasses they use for the $.55 cent beers you get around here at the corner taps . . . wish my neighborhood had a coner tap

AllHoppedUp said:

Looks like I'm in the minority on special glass usage . . .

My pint glass collection is sizeable and even if I did want to use them, I'm not sure the wife would appreciate even more cupboard space being used up by the special glassware. I like the variety of my pint glasses for parties - they serve the same purpose as a wine glass charms: no mistaking which glass is yours.

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I don't use specialty glasses either, even though I have at least one for almost every style. I totally agree that a plain old pint glass (NOT PRE-FROZEN) is the way to go with just about any beer.

Funny you mention that about the parties--that's exactly how I do it. Except my "Kiss me I'm sh!tfaced" glass mysteriously gets taken before I can grab it...

Pumbaa said:

. . . think it may actually be a juice glass but reminds me of the glasses they use for the $.55 cent beers you get around here at the corner taps . . . wish my neighborhood had a coner tap

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I LOVE those little glasses. They remind me of the little crappy bars along the lake (in Wisconsin) that my folks always hung out at when I was a kid. I have a few of those little ones with the Leinie's logo on them. I love them for sampling.
They just don't make bars like those little corner taps anymore, do they?

just give me a pint glass i hate when i go to the pub and my beer comes in all this weird glasses

I don't know what it is about pint glasses. They have become very popular in bars and restaurants for serving beer and I am glad. For some reason, for me at least, they seem to be the perfect size and weight for drinking beer. It is easy to pour a 12oz. bottle of homebrew into one. It fills the glass near enough to full, yet there is room for the head without running over. They are strong, too, and don't easily break in the dishwasher.

I normally use the standard no frills pint glass, and will sometimes chill them. I also have some 23oz Pilsners that I use when drinking from some of the larger bottles that I use. Other than that, nothing special (that is, of course, unless I start hitting the G&Ts, Manhattans, and Martinis)

I've become a big fan of some glasses I got in gift sets (Duvel and Chouffe). I use the Duvel for most beers and the Chouffe for my winter ale. I know I am the scorn of the militants...

gaelone said:

I've become a big fan of some glasses I got in gift sets (Duvel and Chouffe). I use the Duvel for most beers and the Chouffe for my winter ale. I know I am the scorn of the militants...

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no way dude! i have a chimay glass i use too. i've been looking for a Maredsous glass too...

to me it's part of the beer hobby. ever time i go to a brewery, i get a hat, a glass, and a t. i need a hobby closet

The Chimay glass rocks.

Had a Kwak served recently in its appropriate stand. Was very nice (and the noise scared the budweiser out of me).

DeRoux's Broux said:

ever time i go to a brewery, i get a hat, a glass, and a t. i need a hobby closet

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Yeah, me too. I'm at the point now where I only have a couple tee's that AREN'T beer shirts (and they are all orange OSU Beaver shirts). Not only do I buy them, but my father-in-law travels a lot and he's started buying me beer tee's when he travels. I have a special affinity for tie-die beer tees . . .

They just don't make bars like those little corner taps anymore, do they?

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I dunno if they "make" them anymore but there are a bunch left. Sounds like you got some Milwaukee knowledge so ya know exatcly what I mean about them corner taps, they rock. For the rest of ya imagine a house on the corner and someone turns the living room into a bar and WHALLA you got a corner tap. Probably the closest you can get to a pub in the states.

You can still find a lot of them further in the city BUT ya need to be careful where ya go and which one ya go into. Milwaukee is VERY segragated so unless you are black I wouldnt head to ANY up on the north side of town (north of Wisconsin Ave) and avoid the south central (south of the valley to about Cleveland and fromthe lake to about 27th St) part unless you are latino. The National Liquore Bar has been torn down to be replaced with a new Walgreens ... ****ing Walgrenes .... but if ya head towards Bayview and parts of the Village of West Milwaukee there are still corner taps to be found.

Merry's is kinda a corner tap that grew, it's a bit bigger then I would like but there are maybe 3 way out here on the west side near me that are always good for a visit . . . Happy Tap on like 60th and Beloit, Knights ? over on 76th and Beloit, and 1 more that I dont even know if it has a name.

If ya ever stumble into a place with maybe 4 people in it, and so banked down with smoke your eyes feel like they are on fire (even if you are a smoker), a bartender thats about 900 years old, the place smells like stale beer, and even though there are 5 open stools ya are told 3 of them are someone elses (they probably arent there but ya never know when they will show up and want their spot) you probably found a corner tap.. Be prepared for some GREAT stories of how it befor the foundry shut down or old stories about Brigg's, Miller, Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst. BE WARNED, all they will probably have is Old Style since the pension falouts Blatz and Pabst are taboo here anymore . . .might be able to get a High Life, but that will be in a bottle, and asking for a Bud will probably get ya knifed

Sounds sorta like the house I lived in in college. Replace the 900 year old man with a bum who just let himself in the front door to pick up beer cans (NO YOU CAN'T S**T IN MY TOILET!!). Replace the Old Style (??) with OMB Ice. Replace the cig smoke with pot smoke. And replace the "reserved" stools with a "reserved" couch in front of the Playstation. And you'd only get knifed if ya put a beer on the pool table or changed out my Eazy E CD.

I like going to visit my brother up near Wausau, WI. I like the fact you can be going down nearly any county road, and within 10-20 minutes you'll see a small building on the side of the road with a beer sign in the window. It's the "local" bar/tavern/package store. And when you go through in the winter, you'll have the road and parking lot for cars on one side, and a bunch of snowmobiles on the other with a dozen or so trails leading in all directions. And during the winter, there are usually twice as many snowmobiles as car at these places.

And usually, if you get a glass for your brew, it's a very sturdy pint glass. Nothing fancy or fragile, just the way I like 'em.

I use plain old pint glasses and the the occasional glass mug, unfrosted. I do have a glass stein that I use for 22 oz. bottles. Nothing like seeing a big, tall glass full of beer!

brewsmith said:

Nothing like seeing a big, tall glass full of beer!

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it gives me the warm fuzzies! or is that from the hops?

brewsmith said:

Nothing like seeing a big, tall glass full of beer!

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Speaking of which, it's full right now and being emptied as I type. Ok not really, I don't have three hands.

My favorite glasses are the ones with the hole in the top.

Cheyco said:

My favorite glasses are the ones with the hole in the top.

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Those usually work pretty well for me, too!

BeeGee said:

Those usually work pretty well for me, too!

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Hmmm.. I don't know for sure, but I think the beer in my glasses might be draining faster from that hole in the top than it would if the hole were in the bottom.

-walker

I have Pilsner glasses for wheats, pils and hefes, as well as a few slender mugs for them as well...pints and tulips for IPA's, stouts and browns. Its nice to drink a beer in a glass that really highlights it.

I want one of those glass that is so cool

Incidentally, popped into World Market last night and wound up buying a Franziskaner and a hefe glass...it fit perfectly!

Formerly working a bar, I acquired quite a few specialty glasses. I've got some Guiness and Kilkenny pints, lots of mugs, some Alexander Keith's Pilsner glasses. Lots others, but those are my favorites, having the specific glass just sort of adds to the experience.

ORRELSE said:

I don't use specialty glasses either, even though I have at least one for almost every style. I totally agree that a plain old pint glass (NOT PRE-FROZEN) is the way to go with just about any beer.

Funny you mention that about the parties--that's exactly how I do it. Except my "Kiss me I'm sh!tfaced" glass mysteriously gets taken before I can grab it... t don't make bars like those little corner taps anymore, do they?

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I have a pint glass that says: DRINK, PEE, REPEAT.

I have a pretty large beer glass collection (over 200 ) of all styles of beer that I use according to what I am drinking.

I also have 50+ ceramic beer mugs (from Germany) that I really don't care if they get broken or not. These are what I give others to use. No pressure if they get broken. The people who do break them really feel bad about it too. I just get them another one. I must have had 4-6 break last year.

homebrewer_99 said:

I also have 50+ ceramic beer mugs (from Germany) that I really don't care if they get broken or not. These are what I give others to use. No pressure if they get broken. The people who do break them really feel bad about it too. I just get them another one. I must have had 4-6 break last year.

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Man! You running a pub in your rec room??

No. I really don't have a rec room per se.

They're just what I collected from living in Germany for 9 years.

Some of them (about 90-110) are on shelves in my brew supplies room, 2 cabinets full and some still in boxes.

I had about 20 Hefe Weizen glasses break throughout the years. I have HW glasses ranging in size from 0,3 liter to 2 liters (lead crystal)! Then there's the seasonal (like Christmas/winter ones, etc), 1/5 liter, 1 liter, glass and ceramic, handled, pewter tops, etc.

I used to buy boxes of HW glasses for 5 Euros (about $6 for the box 6) !

I also have a collection of 40-60 pewter shot "glasses" with decorative motifs.

homebrewer_99 said:

I used to buy boxes of HW glasses for 5 Euros (about $6 for the box 6) !

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Sweet! You have more specialty beer glasses than most bars.

Thanks. Most are just dust collectors on display. I wash them out occasionally. What a job...

When I was in TX in Dec I gave Mindflux one of my Bavarian Weizen glasses.

TEND: Are those Kilkenny glasses from Coors Irish Red of from Kilkenny, Ireland?

I spent 4 days in Kilkenny a couple of years ago. My grandmother was born there and I was trying to find relatives. I was unsuccessful, but I did get some pub time in every city we visited! We were there for 8 days and I drove almost 1100 miiles.

Here is a style guide: Style guide (PDF)

Passload said:

Here is a style guide: Style guide (PDF)

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Hey, it doesn't list the imperial pint thick faceted glass with the handle. Yet its picture is on the top header.

If you are into special glasses & you ever get to S.F., go to the Toronado. The bartenders there are nuts about using the right one.[/QUOTE]

what an awesome bar! i used to live half a block from there. its the first place i ever had mead, and gravity pumped, english cask conditioned ale. (from an actual cask, warm, flat, and everything, which i dont recomend BTW)

as far as glasses i like the "english" pub style, or the american pint glass for ales.
i have a nice globe glass i drink chimay out of also.

i always cringe when i go to my brother's house and i see him drinking the homebrew i give him straight from the bottle. thats how he drinks it though, yeast and all.