What is a Beer Glass?
A beer glass is a glass designed to hold beer. The glass can be different shapes or styles depending on the beer that it is meant to serve, but overall the glass will be built to accentuate the beer’s best features.
This could be its color, its head, or its smell and taste profile. Whatever beer you enjoy most, there is usually a particular style of glass that it would be best served out of, and here, we want to help you find out precisely what that style of glass is for the beer you love most.
Beer Glasses – The Different Styles
American Pint Glass
This is the traditional American pint glass. It usually holds about 500ml or 16 fluid ounces and is frequently used by bars and restaurants because it is durable, stackable, so it is easy to store and has an open design, so it is easy to clean. This shape neither adds or detracts from the taste of the beer, making it a pretty good glass for just about any beer out there.
Goes Best With: Any Kind of Beer
Imperial Pint Glass
The Imperial Pint Glass is very similar to the American Pint Glass except for its telltale bubble near the rim. This bubble makes the glass a little bit easier to hold, and bars love it because when stacked, the glasses don’t stick together because they catch on that bubble. These glasses also hold 20 fl oz vs. the American Pints 16 fl oz
Goes Best With: Any Kind of Beer
Stange Glass
The Stange glass is tall, straight, and thin. It gets its name from the german word for pole, and it shows. It also usually has a thick base to keep it sturdy by giving it a low center of gravity. These glasses work well to concentrates soft hop and malt aromas and preserve carbonation. They usually hold about 7 fluid ounces or 200ml.
Goes Best With: Delicate beers like Kölsch, Bocks, Lambics, Gose, Czech Pilsners, Rye beer, Altbier, Rauchbier
Pilsner Glass
The Pilsner glass is tall and thin like a Stange glass, but they widen at the mouth like a traditional pint glass. This long body showcases the color of the beer and shows off, as well as preserving the bubbles of a pilsner beer. These glasses usually hold between 12 to 14 fluid ounces.
Goes Best With: Pilsner, American Adjunct Lagers, Bock, Helles Bock, Maibock, Vienna Lager, Blonde Ale, California Common, Japanese Rice Lager, Witbier
Weizen Glass
The Weizen glass has a lot in common with the Pilsner glass. In fact, they are commonly mistaken for one another. The Weizen, like the pilsner, is a long glass built to showcase the color of your beer.
It also begins to widen out about halfway up the glass giving the head of your beer extra room to grow. The shape of the glass accentuates banana and clove aromas. These glasses usually hold a little less than 17 fluid ounces or a little over 500ml.
Goes Best With: Wheat Ale, Dunkelweizen, Hefeweizen, Kristalweizen, Weizenbock
Snifter
The snifter is a glass usually associated with Brandy. But in the same way that it works for hard liquor, it also works for beer. The large bowl holds a large volume of liquid for a good sized drink.
The width allows you to swirl your beer and release aromas that will be trapped and concentrated inside of the glass. While the narrow rim then delivers those aromas straight to your nose.
Goes Best With: Double IPAs, Imperial IPAs, Belgium IPAs
Goblet / Chalice
The Goblet has a deep round bowl and a thick stem. These keep a good head, but they won’t accentuate aromas or flavors. They are durable glasses that are good for taking large gulps of any cold brew.
These are often used interchangeably with beer chalices, but the chalice is actually a different glass. Although structurally very similar, a beer chalice usually has thicker walls.
Goes Best With: Heavy, dark beers like Belgian IPAs, Belgian strong dark ale, Dubbel, Tripel, Quad
Tulip Glass
The tulip glass is known for its wide bowl and flared rim. This allows the beer’s aromas to concentrate and intensify in the bowl and then be delivered straight to the drinker’s nose. This strengthens some of the more subtle aromas. The wide bowl also allows for a smooth swirl to release the full bouquet of your beer.
Goes Best With: Belgian Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Ale, Barleywine, Double or Imperial IPA, Belgian IPA, Belgian Pale Ale, Bière de Garde, Flanders Red Ale, Gueuze, Fruit Lambic, Saison, American Wild Ale, Scotch Ale
Thistle Glass
The Thistle Glass is very distinct but similar in fashion to the Tulip Glass. It has a bulbous bottom with a sharp, widening angle up to the rim. This glass was made to resemble Scotland’s national flower, the thistle.
Goes Best With: Scotch Ale, Wee Heavy
IPA Glass
The IPA glass has a similar shape to the tulip glass. This allows it to properly hold and deliver aromas to the drinker’s nose. Where the IPA glass differs is in its hollow, ribbed base. These ridges help aerate the beer while you drink. The bottom of these glasses are also occasionally etched to help with bubble release. Very similar to the way a champagne glass works.
Goes Best With: Any IPA
Stout Glass
The Stout Glass is very similar in shape to the IPA glass. Except the Stout glass doesn’t have the ridges that an IPA glass does, nor does it have etching in the bottom. Features not require for a less carbonated stouts. These glasses still have excellent head retention, and the design of the glass offers the optimal shape to deliver aromatics.
Goes Best With: Any Stout
Teku Glass
The Teku Glass is made for drinking your finest craft beers. The wide bowl and narrowing at the rim offer excellent aromatics. The flared rim is extremely thin, so it has an incredibly elegant mouthfeel. While the stem keeps your hand away from the bowl so that you don’t warm your beer.
Goes Best With: Your Best Beers, it can handle anything with ease.
Beer Flute
The Flute Glass is mostly associated with Champagne, but it is also great for certain beers. It displays and preserves carbonation well, and for stronger beers, it allows some of the aroma to escape. It also perfectly showcases the color and depth of a good beer.
Goes Best With: Fruit Beers, Krieks, Biere de Champagne and Belgian Lambics
Beer Mug
The Beer Mug is another classic piece of glassware for bars. While they come in a lot of different styles, they are often recognized because of their handle. The handle keeps your hand from warming the beer. The thick glass in the handle and walls of the mug also help with insulation and durability.
Goes Best With: Any Kind of Beer
Beer Stein
The Beer Stein is very similar to the Beer Mug. It has thick walls, is durable, and has a handle. The difference between the two is that the stein will have a lid on top. As well as a lever near the handle so that your thumb can easily open and close the lid—that and the fact that steins can be made out of many different materials.
The stein is not just a glass to drink your beer from it is a piece of art. Often these are custom crafted and are used as more of an art piece in the home than an actual functioning glass.
Goes Best With: Any Beer
Tasting Glass or Sampler Glass
The Tasting Glass, sometimes called a Sampler Glass, is made for precisely that. It is a small glass designed for tasting multiple beers, often called a “flight.” These glasses vary in size from 2.5 to 6 fl oz. They are commonly found in breweries or bars that are offering a small sample of multiple beers so that people can get a feel for the brand.
Goes Best With: Sampling Any Beer
The Boot
The Boot often referred to as “Das Boot,” is a staple of Oktoberfest and any good party. These glasses were not made for elegance or aromatics; they were built for fun. The toe also creates an air pocket while drinking.
To avoid beer splashing into your face at the end, you have to turn this glass at the last second. This always gives a good laugh. These vary in style, but they all hold an extremely large volume of beer, so be prepared to drink a lot when using this glass.
Goes Best With: Any Beer that you don’t mind chugging a lot of.
