A few days ago when thinking of where to go with the Cicerone related post for this week, it dawned on me that I prepared a glassware presentation for staff training at work some months ago.  So what I am doing today is removing all of the Redlight Redlight specific portions of that presentation and using for a glassware refresher for me.

In putting the information together back then I referenced and then compiled information from various sources including craftbeer.com, my copy of Tasting Beer, and other sites like BeerAdvocate.  For visual reference of the various glasses discussed below as well as information on any of the appropriate styles I may have missed I would suggest seeking out those or similar sources.

Away we go . . .

General glassware concepts:

• When considering aroma, the shape of a glass is important . . . you want a glass that has a narrower top than middle. That is why something like a snifter or an oversized wine glass is never a bad fall back for big beers. With that said, you want to have a glass where the beer is an inch or two below the rim to really allow the glass to hold in the aroma.
• Shape of glass also important is regards to foam and head retention. A pilsner glass for example is tapered outward to form a wedge and help support the foam. An inward tapered glass does the opposite and concentrates the foam into a more dense head.
• Consider carbonation level of the beer when pouring. There is a reason that the Duvel glasses are so large. The pour size is only intended to be about half the glass, knowing that the carbonation will ensure that the rest of the room will be taken up with foam.

French Jelly Glass / Tumbler:

As its name suggests, the French jelly glass was first used to store fruit jellies or preserves in provincial France and Belgium. In between jellies, the farmers used them for beverages. These glasses feature a wide mouth tapering down to a small base with large jewel-like facets around the side.

Appropriate Styles:

• Witbier

Snifter / Small Tulip:

The snifter glass is most commonly associated with digestif beverages such as bourbon and was really popularized for use in drinking brandy. However, it can be a great craft beer glass for certain types of ale like barleywines. The large, round bottom is designed to increase the heat transfer from your hand, thus warming the beer. The top tapers inward trapping aromas. Very strong beers—over 8 percent alcohol—are best-suited for this type of glassware.

Appropriate Styles:

• Russian Imperial Stout
• Strong Ale
• Old Ale
• American and English Barleywines
• Imperial IPA
• Doppelbock
• Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Large Tulip (Poco Grande):

Tulip glasses trap aromas (inward taper) and maintain a frothy head (outward flare) due to their undulating, tulip-like design. This shape aids in drinkability (as the outward flare fits the lips better when drinking) and elevates the overall tasting experience. This type of glassware is best for strongly flavored, malty craft beers. Like the stemmed goblet, the tulip shape can trap the sweet aromatics produced by heavy beers while maintaining a lively head.

Appropriate Styles:

• Belgian Tripel
• Saison
• Bière de Garde
• Straight Lambic
• Gueuze
• Flanders Red
• Flanders Brown / Oud Bruin

Stemmed Goblet / Chalice:

These glasses vary in design for each brewery that produces them. They are often beautiful pieces of glass art with brightly colored brewery logos adorning their sides. While they have different designs and shapes, they share some common features. They typically have long, thick stems and a wide mouth for easy sipping. Many have nucleation sites (etchings) on the bottom which produce bubbles and maintain an attractive, frothy head that intensifies aromas.

Appropriate Styles:

• Belgian Dubbel

Weizen / Weisse:

This tall, sloping glass is a traditional German favorite for weissbiers or wheat beers. They have a wide mouth and a slight inward taper to contain a generous head of foam. When the glass is tipped back, the additional of air increases the amount of pleasant clove or banana aromas that characterize wheat beers.

Appropriate Styles:

• Hefeweizen
• Munich Dunkel

English / Nonick Imperial Pint:

The Imperial pint was adopted as an official measure by British Parliament in 1824. Using this official system of measurement, the “nonick” version of the Imperial pint glass was produced for use in pubs in the 1960’s. The glass bulges out at the top which improves grip, prevents glasses from sticking together when stacked, adds strength and reduces chipping.

Appropriate Styles:

• English Pale Ale
• Ordinary Bitter / Best Bitter / ESB
• English IPA
• English Brown Ales
• English Style Porters
• American Pale Ale
• American Brown Ale
• American Porters and Stouts

Irish Imperial Pint / English Tulip Pint:

The Irish Imperial pint glass features a wide mouth tapering down to a small base. This glass is similar, but slightly different, to the British-style Imperial pint glass. The small surface area where it’s gripped decreases the amount of heat transferred from your hand keeping the beer cooler for longer. The wide mouth encourages a frothy head and easy sipping.

Appropriate Styles:

• American Stouts
• Irish Stouts

American (Shaker) Pint:

This glass is what most people think of as the traditional pint glass. Called a Shaker because of its original use in combination with a larger metal cup as a cocktail shaker. It’s easy to stack and clean and is inexpensive to produce. The wide mouth promotes easy sipping, but aroma and flavor are diminished with this type of glass. It is commonly used to serve light American lagers.

Appropriate Styles:

• Amber / Red Ale
• American Wheat Ale
• American Lager
• Cream Ale
• California Common

Handled Glass Stein / Mug:

With its distinctive dimpled sides, this glass is used to serve traditional German-style beers. The stein is made from thick glass that can withstand spirited clinking. The wide mouth promotes easy drinking and the thick handle eliminates heat transfer from your hand.

Appropriate Styles:

• Oktoberfest / Märzen
• Vienna Lager
• Munich Dunkel
• Schwarzbier

Classic Pilsner Flute (though we don’t have them currently):

This is a tall, slender glass that some people confuse with a champagne flute. The conical shape helps maintain the pilsner’s pillowy head while offering a wonderful view of the sparkling clarity of this-lager style beer. The narrow design brings aromas to your nose as you tip the glass back for a sip.

Appropriate Styles:

• Scotch Ale
• Berliner Weisse
• Kölsch
• Düsseldorf Altbier
• Bohemian Pilsner
• German Pilsner
• Dortmunder Export

Flute:

The world of champagne lends elegance to certain types of beer. Long and narrow bodies ensure that carbonation doesn’t dissipate too quickly and showcase a lively carbonation or sparkling color. Stems will often be a bit shorter than the traditional champagne glass, but not necessarily. Enhances and showcases carbonation and releases volatiles more quickly for a more intense aroma upfront.

Appropriate Styles:

• American Wild Ale
• Lambic – Fruit
• Eisbock

Stange:

A traditional German glass, stange means “stick” and these tall, slender cylinders are used to serve more delicate beers, amplifying malt and hop nuances and provides a tighter concentration of volatiles. Substitute with a Tom Collins glass.

Appropriate Styles:

• Düsseldorf Altbier
• Rauchbier
• Kölsch
• Gueuze
• Gose
• Faro

When I find a good (or at least enjoyable) video I cannot help myself from posting it at some point in the week and Wednesday often is the best landing spot for one.  The video for today provides a good overview of the components necessary for a proper tasting of craft beer with you and your friends in the comfort of your own home.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a job where I can taste great craft beer on a daily basis, but I would still like to hold a little gathering to do so at home one of these days.  Adding good friends and comfort and food and relaxation into the equation will only make the beers taste that much better.  Perhaps a little cheese and chocolate evening would be a good place to start.

For the side note today I will mention that I am currently thinking of a fun way to give away tickets to Taste of the Nation Orlando 2011 sometime soon here on the site.  I have a pair of general admission tickets to hand out so if you have any ideas for a contest let me know and if you are going to be in the Orlando area on Saturday, August 6th you will definitely want to keep checking back here for that contest.

Enjoy the show . . .

Cheers!

Everyone reading this should know by now that I make lists to help me be at least somewhat productive with my time.  Initially I feel great when I cross a few things off the list and see that the number of yet-to-dos is getting smaller.  Then there is inevitably a point where I begin to add things to the bottom as fast or faster than I am crossing items off at the top.

Not all of the things I add to the bottom are all that important in the grand scheme of things, but they allow me an opportunity for a mental or physical break from what I really should be concentrating on.  Today I will provide an example of that.

Somewhere floating in the middle of my current list has been a generic task that simply asks that I do some work on the websites that I have control of.  There could be a completely separate list of simply the things I am behind on doing with just this site.  Though I had put much thought into it for a while, making more videos would really belong near the top of that one.

So that started me thinking again of the things that I would like to make videos about like beer styles, proper glassware, buying beer, storing beer, and just tasting beer in general.  Then I started to think about the format of the videos.  How serious should I be?  How long should the videos be?  Where should I shoot the videos?  How often should I do them?

That then lead me to looking at beer related videos like this one . . . .

Now I am looking for a little feedback.

What did you like about it and what did not work so well?  Was the length about right?  Was the mood and presentation style to your liking?  I think that format is fairly close to what might work well for me, but I am not sure.  Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers!

In trying to start my week off in a completely different way than I usually do, I spent a good part of the afternoon in an online seminar learning about draft systems and beer service in general. The thought of sitting through two hours of anything is usually something I don’t look forward to, but this was different.

Though much of the discussion was about information already familiar to me, it was great to get those few little nuggets that I had not thought of before. Even some of the things I knew already were explained in a way that made it all more clear to me. It always makes sense to get the basics correct and have them embedded in your memory before going on to more involved areas.

Glassware and head retention and . . .

Here are a few random highlights of the topics covered . . .

• First the one that made me laugh the most. There was a picture of an air compressor with a note that said never to use compressed air for your draft system. Has anyone ever tried that?! It was likely not meant for a laugh but it made me chuckle to start the session, which was nice.
• It takes 24 hours to chill a keg down to 38 degrees . . . the typical temperature that draft systems are set to operate at.
• The vinyl hoses is a draft system have a life span of about a year, so they should be replaced accordingly. I wonder what that means for the ones I have been using for my home brewing?
• You can use salt to test the cleanliness of a glass into to which you want to pour beer. Of course that would mean rewashing the glass after the test.
• The heel in heel out method is the best way to rinse glasses when washing by hand (in the three basin setup). That is if you want to ensure that the glasses are entirely rinsed.
• There is a strain of hops that is resistant to skunking (contact your favorite Miller employee for more information). Not sure why I was not aware of that one before.

There was much more relayed during the two hour presentation, but you can ask questions if you are curious about anything else. Of course I may or may not be able to answer them.

Cheers!

A simple question does not a post make on this site, so first comes some photos of a visit The Wife and I made to a local farm located in a unique agricultural neighborhood not far from our home. It was surprising how rural it felt despite being only a handful of miles from downtown Orlando. Here is a little from our time there:

Thankfully there were none that chased me this time.

A local food supporter and rock star and local bar champion and horse whisperer all in one.

Reminds me of our dog.

As a little surprise, we ran into some familiar faces upon our arrival, giving The Wife a chance to finally meet Erica and enjoy some of her Whiskey Truffles! Having enjoyed some of her German Chocolate Cupcakes the night before, I left the sampling that afternoon others.

Whiskey truffles anyone?

Making a new friend

During our short time there we were made aware of the move by a local university to potentially change the zoning of that area, possibly putting the farmsteads there in jeopardy. As supporters of local produce and local products in general, it is an issue we will be keeping track of going forward for sure.

Now then, onto the questions of the day.   I am interested to see if I am alone in my feelings on this one.

Yesterday I spent a short time in a Irish-themed restaurant slash bar here in the area as I waited for The Wife to finish a class she was attending. I am sure that the service jaded my opinion of the place severely (as I don’t expect to sit with an empty glass for five minutes when there are two bar tenders and only 6 people sitting at the bar), but it was another issue that lead to my questions for this Monday.

When I first sat down at the bar I ordered a Boddington’s, figuring that a nice English pub style ale would be good to sit back and watch football with for a bit. Knowing the name of the place and seeing other tap handles for beers like Newcastle and Smithwicks I had a certain expectation of what would be set in front of me. Fast forward a few moments (as the beer was being poured properly) and what do I get in front of me, but my Boddington’s served in a straight (Shaker) pint glass!

I understand that those glasses are used for many reasons – they stack easier, they are cheaper, they don’t break as easy, etc. Many places, including really good beer bars (like the one I work at), use them for certain beers. My problem in this case is the implied environment and what I specifically ordered. When I go into an Irish bar stacked to the ceiling with whiskey and order a nice English Ale I would expect that it go in a nice Imperial pint glass like an English Nonic or Tulip style.

After voicing my displeasure to The Wife later after meeting up with her again, the dreaded term of “beer snob” came out. I was terrified as I constantly do my best to not exemplify what that term implies to me. My reviews on this site are pretty basic and have only become more specific as I learn more along the way in an effort to educate myself about good beer. On top of that I always encourage people to drink what they like since I don’t want anyone telling me what beers I should drink. In short, I never want to be considered a beer elitist like that term suggests.

With the background for them now explained, here are my questions . . .

Does having that glassware expectation make me that thing I never want to be? Which side of that argument do you fall on? Were my expectations unreasonable? Maybe I am the crazy one?

Cheers!