Glassware: Pint Glass (#5 in a Series)*

*Special thanks to the wise men at Beer Advocate for the source material.

PINT GLASS

There are two kinds of pint glass: the 20-oz. Imperial, or Nonic, which has a slight ridge toward the top; and the more common (in the U.S., anyway) 16-oz. Tumbler. As you'll see below, there is a long list of beers that it's appropriate to drink from a pint glass. They're easy to find, easy to store, and cheap. It's not difficult to find a wide selection of your favorite brewers' pint glasses reasonably priced online (Grandstands, for example, has a nice selection here, sorted geographically).

Pint glasses are ubiquitous; you probably have at least one at home right now. The point is, if you are drinking beer, use at least a pint glass—don't swill it out of the bottle like a troglodyte (unless, that is, it actually IS swill, in which case it doesn't matter).

Which beer styles are suited to this type of glassware?

• American Adjunct Lager
• American Amber / Red Ale
• American Amber / Red Lager
• American Barleywine
• American Black Ale
• American Blonde Ale
• American Brown Ale
• American Dark Wheat Ale
• American Double / Imperial Stout
• American IPA
• American Malt Liquor
• American Pale Ale (APA)
• American Pale Wheat Ale
• American Porter
• American Stout
• American Strong Ale
• Baltic Porter
• Berliner Weissbier
• Black & Tan
• California Common / Steam Beer
• Chile Beer
• Cream Ale
• English Barleywine
• English Bitter
• English Brown Ale
• English Dark Mild Ale
• English India Pale Ale (IPA)
• English Pale Ale
• English Pale Mild Ale
• English Porter
• English Stout
• English Strong Ale
• Euro Dark Lager
• Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)
• Foreign / Export Stout
• Fruit / Vegetable Beer
• Happoshu
• Herbed / Spiced Beer
• Irish Dry Stout
• Irish Red Ale
• Low Alcohol Beer
• Milk / Sweet Stout
• Märzen / Oktoberfest
• Oatmeal Stout
• Old Ale
• Pumpkin Ale
• Russian Imperial Stout
• Rye Beer
• Sahti
• Saison / Farmhouse Ale
• Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
• Scottish Ale
• Scottish Gruit / Ancient Herbed Ale
• Smoked Beer
• Winter Warmer
• Witbier

Where can I find one?

Geez, anywhere. If you have the time and are willing to risk potential disappointment, check out a TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Gordman's or other such store–they often carry drinkware sets at bargain prices. If you'd rather order online, you can get a nonic with the Stone logo here for $7.95 (plus shipping). So not only do you get a nice glass, you can send the message that you know good beer (regardless of whether it's available where you are). 16 oz. Tumblers can be found pretty much anywhere–your favorite brewery would be a good start. Otherwise, do a google search. Whatever you're into, there's likely a pint glass for it. Harry Potter fan? Check. Beanie Baby collector? Check. And so on.

Next time: flutes! Not just for champagne–there are beers that are ideal when drunk from a flute (while listening to Jethro Tull's Warchild, if possible).

This Day In Beer

The Gottfried Krueger Brewery sold the first canned beer in Richmond, Virginia on January 24, 1935. Seventy-five years later, we can enjoy Ska Modus Hoperandi in cans whenever we want. God bless you, Gottfried Krueger, wherever you are! (Hat-tip: my dad, Mike Loehrer. Thanks, Dad!)

Glassware: Weizen Glass (#4 in a Series)*

*Special thanks to the wise men at Beer Advocate for the source material.

WEIZEN GLASS

With their thin walls and length, Weizen glasses emphasize a beer's color and allow for sufficient headspace to contain the foamy heads associated with wheat beers. Most Weizen glasses contain a bit more than a pint. Many people take their wheat beers with a circle of lemon or orange; don't do this! Citrus will ruin the head, and you want a nice foamy head, the trademark of a good wheat beer. Plus, in our humble opinion, a lemon in your wheat beer makes you look like a piker.

Which beer styles are suited to this type of glassware?

• American Dark Wheat Ale
  
• American Pale Wheat Ale
• Dunkelweizen
• Gose
• Hefeweizen
• Kristalweizen
• Weizenbock

Where can I find one?

These are a little tougher to find, but the Mikasa website has a set of 4 for around $40, which isn't terrible (or you might consider this cool assortment of glasses, including a pils glass, footed tulip glass and weizen glass, for the same price).

Next time: the ubiquitous pint glass. See you soon.

Glassware: Pilsner Glass (#3 in a Series)*

*Special thanks to the wise men at Beer Advocate for the source material.

PILSNER GLASS

A pilsner glass is a tall, slender, tapered (sometimes trumped-shaped, or flared) glass that "captures the sparkling effervesces and colors of a Pils while maintaining its head." So there you go.

Which beer styles are suited to this type of glassware?

• American Adjunct Lager
• American Amber/Red Lager
• American Double/Imperial Pilsner
• American Malt Liquor
• American Pale Lager
• Bock
• California Common/Steam Beer
• Czech Pilsener
• Doppelbock
• Dortmunder/Export Lager
• Euro Dark Lager
• Euro Pale Lager
• Euro Strong Lager
• German Pilsener
• Happoshu
• Japanese Rice Lager
• Light Lager
• Low Alcohol Beer
• Maibock/Helles Bock
• Munich Dunkel Lager
• Munich Helles Lager
• Schwarzbier
• Vienna Lager
• Witbier

Where can I find one?

Pier One comes through with this simple yet elegant $4 pilsner glass. $4!

Check back for the next installment—don't drink a dunkel or guzzle a gose before you've read up on Weizen glasses!

Glassware: Tulip Glass (#2 in a Series)*

*Special thanks to the wise men at Beer Advocate for the source material.

TULIP GLASS

A tulip glass is a stemmed glass shaped like a tulip (duh). The body of the glass is bulbous, and the top pushes out to form a lip that captures the head. This shape serves to trap and enhance volatiles. What's a volatile? Glad you asked! Volatiles are compounds that evaporate from beer and create aroma–"hop oils, or yeast fermentation byproducts like alcohol, fusels and fruity esters, spices or other additions." Meaning things that contribute to the aroma that is a crucial component to enjoying a beer. A glass that retains a healthy foam head can enhance aroma and result in optimal beer enjoyment, which is the whole point. Anyway, some of my most memorable beer drinking experiences (Double IPAs, for example) have occurred within a tulip glass.

Which beer styles are suited to this type of glassware?

• American Double / Imperial IPA
• American Wild Ale
• Belgian Dark Ale
• Belgian IPA
• Belgian Pale Ale
• Belgian Strong Dark Ale
• Belgian Strong Pale Ale
• Bière de Garde
• Flanders Oud Bruin
• Flanders Red Ale
• Gueuze
• Lambic - Fruit
• Quadrupel (Quad)
• Saison / Farmhouse Ale
• Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy

Where can I find one?

Again, Crate and Barrel comes through with this sweet 16 oz. Bruges beer glass. For a measly $5.95, you can sip a saison, imbibe a Belgian Ale or quaff a quadruple content in the knowledge you're maximizing your drinking enjoyment.

Next time, we explore pilsner glasses, as I was rummaging through our cupboards and realized we have a set of 4 we received as a wedding gift ten years ago and never used. Cheers!

Glassware: Goblets (#1 in a series)*

*Special thanks to the wise men at Beer Advocate for the source material.

If you're anything like me, you've often wondered "How can I maximize my beer drinking experience?" Part of it, obviously, is consuming quality beer–like, say, M&B beers. Another element that is often overlooked is your choice of drinking vessel; certain beer styles are best experienced in certain glasses. We will identify the various styles of glassware available (there are more than you'd think!), discuss why they're particularly suited to a particular beer style, list the relevant styles and (where possible) provide a link to an affordable example of the glass in question. Ready? Here we go, starting with…

GOBLETS/CHALICES

Goblets are longer and more delicate, while chalices are sturdier, thicker. Either way, you look cool drinking out of one. By scoring the inside bottom of the glass, a CO2 nucleation point (i.e. a point where bubbles begin to form) is created, resulting in a stream of bubbles and perfect head retention.

Which beer styles are suited to this style of glassware?

• Belgian IPA
• Belgian Strong Dark Ale
• Berliner Weissbier
• Dubbel 
• Tripel
• Quadrupel (Quad)

Where can I find one?

Consider the Miguel All-Purpose Goblet from Crate and Barrel (pictured here). At $6.95, it's sturdy and masculine without being obnoxious. Made in Mexico from recycled glass, each one is unique–like beer itself.

Enjoy! Next time we'll talk about Tulip Glasses, so try and contain yourselves.

Payton Kelly

Here's a neat story in the KC Star about Payton Kelly, the in-house creative director who has designed all 30 of Boulevard's beer labels. The "don't LABEL him" pun notwithstanding, a neat little piece for people who (like me) appreciate beer AND design.