The specially designed Samuel Adams beer glass is back in the news – because Boston Beer has shipped thousands free to subscribers of Beer Advocate and All About Beer magazines as well as American Homebrewers Association members
So that gives me a chance to add something missing from the first review: The new glass is hard to get “beer clean.” It might make you think those complaining about the unusual shape have a point.
And yes, “beer clean” is an actual term in the bar and restaurant industry vocabulary. (Something I wrote about in Real Beer’s Beer Break newsletter back in the day.)
If you haven’t already noticed the difference a clean glass makes, try this. Drink a glass of milk from a glass you don’t intend to use to serve beer. Wash it out a few minutes with hot water (no soap). Pour a beer. Is that the head you are used to seeing? The Belgian lace?
Now wash the glass with soap. Pour another beer. Same problem? Soap film can be just as nasty a villain as other residue. Now wash the glass with baking soda. Pour another beer. This one probably looks better.
Detergents may contain various fats or glycerin, which is why you are better off using baking soda. Another choice is dishwasher detergent (and then maybe baking soda).
This is easier if you designate glasses only for beer – beside milk looks a little strange in the Trappist goblet. After washing them let the glasses air dry in a dish rack. If water droplets cling to a glass or if spots show while drying, then the glass is not clean. Wash it again.
I have a stiff bristled bottle brush I use for hard-to-clean glasses like the Sam Adams glass. It works wonderfully and I recommend one to everyone who cares about the glassware they use for beer.
On a not entirely unrelated note, I attended a spirits glass seminar with George Riedel over the weekend (at the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans) and can say conclusively that his specialty spirits glasses really do work wonders. We tried the tequila, cognac and single malt glasses and each performed magnificently for their specified beverage. I arrived a skeptic, but left a believer.
Okay. I have always wanted to know an easy and surefire way to get my glasses “beer clean.” Can someone please lay it out in what may seem like excruciating detail?
Stephen – what makes Riedel’s glasses different from others?
Matt – Many would find the detail above already excruciating, but basically:
– Spend a few thousand dollars on restaurant quality equipment to wash glasses, or
– Wash your glass in really hot water using baking soda.
– Let it air dry on a dish rack. Look for spots.
Beaumont’s recipe for beer clean glasses (others may vary): Clean new glass thoroughly with soap, rinse. Coat glass on the inside with salt and scrub, either with (clean) hands or bottle brush. Rinse very thoroughly with warm, not hot, water and air dry. Never let detergent or fats touch inside or lip of glass. If that happens, repeat from step one.
As for the Riedel glasses, Steve, you need to take a look at them on the company’s website. Basically, they’re designed to funnel aromas in a way that is harmonious with the characteristics of the spirit in question. The tequila glass, for instance, gave the most nuance and complexity to the reposado that was served, but was brutal when filled with Talisker, delivering pretty much peat and only peat to the nose. All this, of course, translated directly to the taste.
Okay, so it’s design moreso than glass formula. Makes sense.
What I’ve noticed works the best is to just keep rinsing with only water after you’ve had a beer. I’ll at least keep it like that for a few times before I really wash it back out with soap and use the baking soda. I really only do that on glasses i’m using for myself though.
Lemon juice works well too. I squeeze a few drops into the glass and rub the lemon round the rim, then rinse.