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by Zach Rosen
The Right Tool for the Job
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aving the right beer for the right glass is a pleasure often overlooked by bars. Many places will clumsily pour beer into pints with little regard to what beer they are pouring in there. Each beer has its ideal glass. The generic “pint” glass used in America is often called a shaker pint because it originated as the bottom portion of a Boston Shaker, the two-piece shaker set that has a metal container on the bottom and a glass top. This means it was designed for cocktail mixing and was never intended for beer. Bars and restaurants began putting beer in them simply because they are cheap, easy to stack, and durable. And, hey, technically it can hold liquid so what’s the difference between that and any other glass? Right? There are many factors that go into determining a suitable glass, but you may be wondering if it is even necessary to put beer in a glass. While eating or drinking, anywhere from 60-85 percent of the flavor of a food or drink comes from the aroma and not the taste. There are respiratory passageways connecting the nose and tongue. As you swallow, aroma vapors rise into your nasal tracts and stimulate your aroma receptors. A foam head is critical for the aesthetic value of the beer and for the aroma. The wall of a bubble is composed of barley malt protein and the bittering acids from hops. As a bubble bursts, it releases aroma particles. Without a foam head, the aroma will not quite have the same punch. In addition, pouring beer into a glass pushes off carbonation which stimulates the aroma and helps make the beer less gassy. Drinking from the bottle restricts these aromas. When you’re drinking from the bottle, the beer will be less flavorful and more filling.
The Shape of Things
If ordering a beer on draft, obviously you want a full pour to make sure you are getting your money’s worth. However, if the beer is in a bottle then make sure to not fill the glass all the way to the top while pouring it. The empty space in your glass allows aroma particles to collect, concentrating and improving the aroma of a beer. As you drink out of the glass, this empty space increases and can change the aroma. A beer can smell different when filled to different levels of the glass. This is due to the shape of the glass. As aroma particles rise through the glass, their flow patterns are sculpted and molded by its wall. The speed of the aroma particles will vary at different widths of the glass. This is Bernoulli’s Principle at work.
This idea relates the pressure and speed of fluid movement. An increase in pressure is balanced by a decrease in speed and vice versa. As the width of a glass widens or narrows, the glass wall will affect the pressure and speed of the aroma particles. For example, straight-sided glasses do not differ in width, and the aromas will move at a steady rate. A stange, meaning a pole or rod in German, is a slim, straightsided glass typically used for the German beer style kölsch. These glasses look like the orange juice glass you would see on a breakfast table – and
Zach Rosen is a Certified Cicerone® and beer educator living in Santa Barbara. He uses his background in chemical engineering and the arts to seek out abstract expressions of beer and discover how beer pairs with life.
funny enough, kolsch and scrambled eggs are a great way to start a lazy Sunday. This bright beer style has a crisp malt character and a hint of grain and sulfur. The light, volatile aroma is easily emphasized in the ...continued p.22
Pilsner glasses emphasize the crisp, floral aroma of the style
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