The Rise and Fall of America’s Awful Beer Glass

This looks like my kind of news article!!

 

"For unlike the U.K., where having a pint is a legally protected social institution, Americans have never had a beer culture that revolves around that measure."

I can guarantee none of these people have ever drank anywhere outside of America. I'm a Cicerone and have been told to fuck off in about a dozen countries for asking for the "proper" glassware for specific beers; This is an extremely American thing and specifically an American craft beer scene thing. You can try to treat beer like wine but it's very, very different. Just drink what you like - Who fucking cares.

 

I think you should message one of the main sources for the article and challenge him — David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) — to prove he's drank outside of America.

 

I wasn't joking about the "guarantee"; it was more of an "I know". I've been friends with Dave for 6 years and he's been to Canada once.

 

You can literally see this isn't true on his social media pages. He was just in Dublin days ago, countless articles and quotes from all over the world in his books, like: "was at the Maotai distillery in central China with Dale DeGroff, and we're sitting there drinking from these little thimble glasses. And then they bring in this girl who's kind of a bruiser, and her job is to make us drink four shots at once in a cup instead of in these little things. That was just so badass. And that gives you a real insight into the culture. "I knew I was fucked when the Toast Terminator came in”. What a weird thing to lie about with evidence so flat out obvious ...

 

This is a fantastic article. Honestly, I love this kind of shit.

I'm just starting to get into beer. It's always been that drink that I avoid because I hate it. But now that I'm learning all of the different types, discovering craft beers... I totally understand this. Just last week I had a stout beer served to me in a tulip glass and it was a revelation. So much better, so different than what I expected. I can totally see the benefits to using different glasses.

 

Drinking with a handle will keep your drink warmer. But washing/stacking? There's a good reason certain glasses are so popular. In Australia our glasses typically have curvature, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Guess that improves the aroma?

 

I personally really don't like snifter glasses. I feel like I'm getting half a beer for the same price, and I've never noticed an appreciable difference in taste either. A great beer is great in a bottle, a pint glass, a tulip, or a snifter. I can definitely see serving like, a barrel aged stout in a tulip or snifter, but please don't try to serve me a 7% ABV IPA in a snifter.

 

As long as they keep selling beer in cans I should be okay.

 

I've definitely gone back to drinking beer in cans. I think an IPA in a can tastes better than an IPA in a bottle.

 

This is the summer of cans for me too. Just so much more convenient and there is no real discernible taste difference. I put most of my beer into glasses anyway.

I have a ton of standard Pint Glasses cause you can get them pretty much at all breweries.
I also have a lot of specialty glassware that I use sparingly cause I'm afraid to break it or that my kids will break it.
I fell ass backwards into a bunch of those Sam Adams Perfect Pour glasses for free so those are usually my go to. My brother in law was helping do demolition at a bar that was being tore down and he saw boxes of those. He asked the owner what he was going to do with them and said my brother in law could have them otherwise they would just throw them out in the dumpsters. Wonder why the bar wasn't successful?!

 

Cans are probably better than bottles these days, now that most have a lining so they don't have a metallic taste.
Limit light, limit oxygen, lighter (cheaper to ship), chill faster, allowed more places, more durable, more portable, and easier to recycle.
The downside to the aforementioned lining is it's generally a plastic which has been linked with cancer. Trace elements of it have shown no link though...

 

I've yet to have stout out of a can that tasted any good, but IPAs are frequently better out of cans, imo.

 

Trace elements?! What are we talking...a case a week or 2 cases?!

 

I'm gonna be 100% honest - I was pretty drunk and trying to get into a ridiculous and uncalled for argument and I apologize for that. From one beer person to the next, let's all continue and enjoy our beers! Tate, what's your favorite beer/beer style at the moment?

 

I think I only like Guinness better out of a can then bottle. Cider goes ok in a can

 

Google BPA. A lot of conjecture about it's dangers but it's banned in some other products such as baby bottles.
I guess to be safe, don't eat the cans? Lol

 

Awww shit, I always eat the cans!

 

I've been really surprised by the shift back towards cans in craft beers. My memories of cans was being at uni and buying crates of terrible beer in tins, which you had to drink as quickly as possible lest it get warm and you might actually taste the stuff.

That I can now buy a tasty beer in a tin, decant it into a glass and have a thoroughly pleasant experience is something I would not have anticipated 8 or so years ago.

 

How am I supposed to get my iron?

 

I have a friend who can chew the top off a can in under three seconds. But even he probably wouldn't ingest one.

 

That's a little bit horrifying. Haha

 

Yo, super late response to this post but drink Ten Fidy from Oskar Blues. It's readily available in the winter in Michigan (my store still has multiple four packs left), but it is a hefty price tag ($15-19 for a four pack). It's fantastic. Massive, luxurious mouthfeel -- one of the thickest beers I've ever had -- with a great, balanced roasted malt bitterness and milk chocolate. One of my favorite stouts and seems to be VERY underrated in Michigan.

 

I'll add it to the list and keep an eye out for it!