Beer glasses come in all shapes and sizes. Many styles of beer glasses are unique to style of beer and even to the brewery (this is common of Belgian beers). Each type of glass is crafted to help form ans sustain a nice head of foam on the beer. A nice head helps keep all that flavor from escaping before you have a chance to enjoy it.
While there are many different types of beer glasses, you really only need to have one maybe two on your home bar. Of course, if you’re really into beer, go crazy (like us) and collect as many beer glasses as you can. The most common beer glasses:
- Pint Glass – Comes in 16 ounce and 20 ounce versions. These glasses have a wide mouth and taper sightly towards the bottom. These work for many beer types, lagers, stouts, ales and porters.
- Mug or Stein – These are large, 20 ounces or more, wide vessels with a handle (for swinging it around while singing drinking songs). They can be made from glass, pewter or ceramic. Steins are usually fancier than a mug, ofter decorated with amazing designs and often a lid. Mugs are great for most types of beer, and lots of it.
- Pilsner – You find these in many bars and restaurants as Americans drink a lot of lagers. These 12 ounce glasses are wide mouthed which tapers down to a foot. Server lagers and pilsners in these glasses.
Other less common beer glasses include Goblets, Tulips, Flutes, Snifters, Stanges and the never to be toyed with, Boot.
