glassware

Would you pay for better glassware?

Proper glasswareAndy Crouch writes Breweries And Bars Should Kill The Shaker Pint . . . which is a fine idea.

I posted a comment at hit site that economics could get in the way. At issue is not just the shape and size of the glasses, but the quality of the glass itself. Check out wine stemware some time, and you’ll see the lighter, easier to break, stuff costs more. While I would agree that Riedel seems to have a scam going by suggesting you need a different shape glass for every variety of wine grape I also agree that lighter glassware better serves flavor and aroma — of beer or wine.

Before I wander off on a tangent about how breweries could learn a little about glassware, because the Hoegaarden glass Pierre Celis is lousy for drinking Belgian Whites or that I’d rather drink Chimay from a Rochefort goblet than the Chimay branded one . . .

Although Andy’s comment about my comment would indicate he disagrees about the economic issue pleasure humor me. Pretend you are sitting in a pub or restaurant and your beer arrives in a shaker glass. You ask the server to put it into something better. Could be a glass reserved for other beers. Could be good wine stemware (obviously a hypothetical because plenty of restaurants stick with small, cheap, hard to break glasses).

You are told that will cost another quarter.

Is it worth two bits to you?

Oops, wrong glass

Eric Asimov of the New York Times writes occasionally about beer, though mostly about wine. In his new wine blog he drops in at Cafe D’Alsace, the NYC spot touting its beer sommelier. His description indicates that this could just be a sommelier (remember, wine sommelier is redundant) well versed in beer.

In any event, a nice discussion of beer and food – and a well made point:

I might quibble a little with the beer selection. Except for two ales from Canada, all the brews are European. I understand the logic, to match the Alsace cuisine with beers from the neighborhood, but at a time when so many good American beers are being made, many in styles that would go with the food, it seems a shame not to offer even a few.

And then there was the matter of the Reissdorf Kolsch ordered as an aperitif. It was offered in half-liter glasses, totally the wrong choice – and this at a place promoting the importance of the proper glass.