Beer glassware choice affects many aspects of how we perceive beer, from appearance to flavor and aroma. With many glass types, it can be difficult to know which glass to reach for when serving a beer style. This article:
- Explores how glassware affects various aspects of the perception of beer
- Recommends an essential set of four glasses if you are looking to build a starter set of beer glasses
- Covers commonly encountered specialty beer glassware and the beers that go in them
Table of Contents
Beer Glass Considerations
In selecting a beer glass for a given beer, a wide range of factors are considered to decide which glass best suits a beer. How the glass impacts the flavor, aroma, and temperature of the beer are key considerations, but the impact of the glass on the appearance of the beer is also important. Sometimes, the culture and traditions of a brewery or brewing region also impact which glassware is typically used for a style of beer.
Appearance
While flavor and aroma take the main stage when drinking a beer, appearance plays a significant role in beer perception that is often overlooked. Beer appearance gives us an idea of what flavors to expect, and in some cases, appearance can influence our interpretation of a beverage’s taste. Science Friday, a radio show on science and technology, has an interesting segment on how wine color and presentation affect its perception, which explores this concept. Nearly all modern beer glasses are made from clear glass, which highlights the beer’s color, clarity, carbonation, and foam.
Aroma
Beer aroma plays a central role in our perception of beer, and the shape and size of the beer glass can impact aroma. Many glasses taper inwards at the top to concentrate aroma or are oversized, allowing the beer to be swirled to release aroma compounds.
Temperature control
Different beer styles are served at varying temperatures for historical and sensory reasons, ranging from near freezing to about 55°F (approx. 13°C). Some beer glassware is stemmed or contains a handle that prevents hand warming of the glass, while other glasses have bowl shapes than enable the beverage to be warmed by holding it.
Beer serving size
The serving size of a beer can range from just a couple of ounces for some strong beers to over 32 ounces for some continental European lagers. Therefore, glassware size and shape vary based on the typical serving size of a beer style.
Culture and tradition
Culture and tradition also have an impact on beer glass choice. For instance, Belgian beers are often served in glassware specific to the brewery where the beer was brewed, while Kölsch is served in Cologne, Germany in small, 200 mL rod-shaped glasses called a Stange. These glasses may not have the best characteristics to optimize the beer flavor and aroma, but they provide a distinctive tradition to those styles.
Four Essential Beer Glasses
While there is a specific glass that is best suited for most beers, most people don’t want (or have the storage space for) a specialized glass for every possible beer style. Below are my recommendations for four beer glass types designed for a wide range of common beer styles that can also fill in for specialty glassware if unavailable.
Note: The size specification for each glass is the typical serving size, not the total volume of the glass.
Belgian Tulip
Size – 8 – 16 US ounces (~0.24 – 0.48 L)
Traditional Beer Styles – Belgian Ale, Saison, Biére de Garde
Belgian ales are often characterized by their high level of carbonation, fruity esters, and spicy phenols, and the Belgian Tulip is a fantastic glass for showcasing these features. The glass is often oversized for the volume of beer being poured to allow ample room for the head of the beer. The bowl at the bottom of the glass allows for the beer to be swirled, releasing volatile aromatics that are concentrated inward by the top of the glass.
The Belgian Tulip has a wide variety of shapes of sizes and is typically used for Belgian and French ales, like Saison and Biére de Garde, but smaller versions are also good for other strong ales like Double IPA, Barley Wine, and other strong English ales. If you are creating this collection of essential four beer glasses, I would recommend a larger Belgian Tulip that can be used in a traditional sense for Saison and Biére de Garde but also in the place of more specialized glassware for other highly effervescent and aromatic beers like Belgian Witbier, Belgian Blonde Ale, and German Weissbier.
Willi Becher
Size – 0.5 L (~16.9 US ounces)
Beer Styles – German Lagers (Vienna Lager, Märzen, Helles, Dunkel, etc.)
The Willi Becher glass, sometimes just called a Becher glass, is the catch-all glass for nearly every malt-forward German lager. The glass is smallest at the base, gradually tapering outward the further you go up the glass, then tapering back inward in the top quarter. The gradual taper of the glass outward helps to support the foam at the top of the beer, and the varied width throughout the glass showcases the color and clarity of the beer. The slight inward taper at the top also helps concentrate the beer’s aroma, much like many other glasses on this list.
If you are building a collection of just four glasses, this glass could also be used for other lagers, like German and Czech Pilsner, and the hybrid beer style Kölsch.
Snifter
Size – 5 – 10 US ounces (~0.14 to 0.3 L)
Beer Styles – Strong English ales like Barley Wine, Strong Ale, Imperial Stout, and their American counterparts
The snifter is a fantastic glass for strong beers with small serving volumes meant to be sipped. The glass is generally oversized and provides ample room to swirl the beer and release aromatics. The inward taper at the top of the glass directs aroma inward, and the bowl of the glass sits atop a small stem that allows the beer drinker to warm the drink by hand by holding the bowl or to prevent warming by holding the stem. Classically, this glass is used for English and American Barley Wines, Strong Ales, and Imperial Stout, but it could also be used for Double IPA, Belgian Strong Ales and Trappist Ales, and other strong ales if you don’t have specialized glassware for these beer styles.
American Shaker
Size – 14 -16 ounces US (~0.4 – 0.48 L)
Beer Styles – Most normal strength US ales and lagers
Originally a mixing glass for the bar, the American Shaker is often the default beer glass at bars serving draught beer in the US despite it having no design considerations related to beer. With flat sides that angle out, the glass is not particularly appealing to look at and does little for the aroma or flavor perception of the beer compared to many other glasses in this article. Nevertheless, while functionally poor, the American Shaker is a symbol of American beer and can be used for nearly every normal strength ale and lager in the US.
The benefit of the American Shaker is that it is ubiquitous, with many already owning at least one, and that’s why it makes this essentials list. Beyond the American beer styles, this glass can also substitute as a glass for all the standard and low-strength British and Irish beer styles like Bitter, Irish Stout, and English IPA if you don’t have a Nonic Pint or Dimpled Mug (more on these glasses in the next section).
Other Glassware to Know
Nonic Pint
Size – Imperial Pint (~19.2 US ounces, ~0.58 L), smaller variants also exist
Traditional Beer Styles – Most standard strength English styles (Bitter, Mild, English IPA, British Brown Ale, English Porter, etc.)
The Nonic Pint is an ideal glass for most standard-strength English beers. The glass is characterized by the bubble out near the top of the glass that keeps the rim of the glass from clashing with other Nonic Pints and chipping. This glass could easily substitute in also for the American Shaker pint in the essentials list above.
Weizen Glass
Size – 0.5 L (~16.9 US ounces)
Traditional Beer Styles – German Weissbier/Hefeweizen
A glass specifically for German Weissbier/Hefeweizen, the Weizen Glass is tall with a slim base that expands as you move up the glass and provides a large amount of room at the top for the super dense foam that characterizes the Weissbier style.
Maß
Size – 1.0 L (~33.8 US ounces)
Traditional Beer Styles – Helles, Oktoberfestbier
Topping out as the largest beer glass on this list, the Maß is designed for southern German lagers like Helles and, possibly most famously, Oktoberfestbier. While the Maß of beer is worth experiencing in Munich, the glass is huge, and the Willi Becher glass is much more practical for most occasions for serving German lagers.
Stange
Size – 0.2L (~6.8 US ounces)
Traditional Beer Styles – Kölsch
Another highly specialized German beer glass is the Stange, a small, cylindrical glass most often used to serve Kölsch in 200 mL servings in Cologne, Germany. The serving process for Kölsch in Cologne is unique. The waiter will continue to bring you a new Stange of Kölsch every time your glass is empty until you request that they stop, and they keep a tally of how many beers have been served by keeping count on a coaster on the table.
Kölsch is one of the two Rhine River ales, the other being Altbier which is also served in a cylindrical glass. However, the Altbier glass is typically slightly larger than the Kölsch glass.
Tulip Pint
Size – Imperial Pint (~19.2 US ounces, ~0.58 L), smaller variants also exist
Traditional Beer Styles – Irish Stout
The classic glass of choice for an Irish Stout, this glass can also be used to serve most English and American Ales.
Pilsner Glass
Size – Varies, generally < 0.5 L (~16.9 US ounces)
Traditional Beer Styles – German Pilsner and Czech Pilsner
A wide variety of glassware exists for Pilsner styles, but all are designed to showcase the appearance of these beers. An example is the tall and V-shaped footed Pilsner glass, which highlights the brilliant clarity of German Pilsner as an endless stream of bubbles travels from the bottom of the glass to the top. The V-shape also helps to support the head of the beer.
Modern Craft Beer Glasses
Size – Varies
Beer Styles – IPA and Stout in particular, with more glasses being developed over time
With the rise of craft beer in the past several decades, many new beer styles have been created, and recently beer glasses have been designed to enhance the drinking experience of these styles. The craft beer glasses from Spiegelau are examples of these glasses, which were developed in conjunction with American craft brewers to showcase the features of IPA, Stout, and beyond. Another example is the Teku, a stemmed glass designed with sensory evaluation of beer in mind.