Why You Should Drink Beer Out Of A Glass (And Never From The Bottle)

Why You Should Drink Beer Out Of A Glass

We live in a beer-loving world. Every year we consume several millions of liters of beer, which amounts to close to 40% of ALL alcohol consumed by human beings! Want to know an even more surprising factoid? Most people are drinking it wrong!

Beer should be drunk from a glass. Period. Pour your beers in glasses, that’s what the experts say, never drink your beer straight from the bottle or, God forbid, straight from the can. 

Why Should You Drink Beer Out Of A Glass?

It is better to drink beer out of a glass because it enhances the flavor and taste of the beer. A glass allows you to see the color and clarity, it promotes aeration, and lets you smell the aroma that the carbonation releases from the foamy head.

How Does A Beer Glass Do All This?

By pouring your beer into a glass, you allow the beer to reveal much more of its natural flavors. You lose some carbon dioxide gas and that’s extremely important and influential for two main reasons:

The first reason is that it significantly reduces the feeling of bloating and heaviness that a vast majority of alcohol drinkers associate with beer consumption. Less gas inside the beer means that less gas will find its way into your stomach.

Drinking Beer in a glass is an experience

The second reason, one which is no less important, is that when carbon dioxide gas escapes from the liquid substance, the aromatic compounds produced during fermentation become volatile. This allows for a better sensory appreciation of the drink’s various qualities.

You see, beer is a surprisingly complex product. One that is composed of a wide range of chemical compounds known as esters, carbonyls, and diketones. The complex inter-balance of these chemicals is what gives different beers such a varied and complex flavor profile. Thus, drinking your beer from a glass will allow you to appreciate the drink in its truest, most realized taste.

Here are a few more reasons that you need to start drinking your beers from glasses instead of drinking them straight from the bottle or can.

Reasons Why To Choose A Beer Glass Over Bottles And Cans

Why Beer in a Glass is Better Then Cans

Eye of the Beerholder

Believe it or not, to fully enjoy the experience of drinking a beer, you must make use of more than just your tastebuds, you must make use of all of your senses.

If you drink your beer from a dark bottle or, worse yet, a can, you deprive yourself of the visual component. You miss out on seeing the golden, brown, or amber shades of the drink, you miss out on seeing and hearing the foamy carbonation.

These are aspects of beer drinking that matter (even if you do not realize it) and can either enhance or impair your enjoyment.

Aromas

A surprisingly large number of chemical compounds have been identified to play a role in the development and characterization of a beer’s flavor profile. These compounds significantly influence a beer’s taste and other chemical characteristics.

Most of these compounds are aroma compounds, meaning that you most easily interact with them via your olfactory system.

Unless you serve your beer in a glass, you severely limit your capacity to intake and appreciate the many complex aromas to be found in beer. And, since aroma plays such an important role in your perception of taste, if you don’t fully smell your beer, you won’t fully appreciate its tastes.

Aerate, Aerate, Aerate

When you serve your beer into a glass, you inadvertently put it through an aeration process. To aerate means to introduce air into something. So when you pour a beer into a glass, the movement allows air to enter its body. But, why is this such a big deal?

A beer’s complex chemical makeup is no less complex than that of wine or cheese, and no one bats an eye when they are told to let their wine or cheese breathe.

Aerating will deepen and develop any flavor profile, as well as help to eliminate less tasty byproducts of long fermentation processes, such as sulfur compounds.

Unwanted Flavors

One of the most unfortunate side effects of drinking beer straight from the bottle is that sometimes it ends up tasting strongly metallic. This is because you’re putting your mouth right on the spot where the cap was. Such issues are even stronger when drinking from a can for obvious reasons.

Save yourself this extremely unsavory experience and just pour all your beers into a glass.

The Ritual

Last but not least is the fact that serving a beer in a glass directly affects the very act of drinking. Your perception of the act itself is altered in very positive ways.

Pilsner beer glasses ready to drink

You get to participate in a ritual that is older than you, older than your house, way older than you can imagine. The first bottled beer hit the markets around 400 years ago, yet man has been drinking beers for over 6000 years!

Pouring your beer into a glass forces you to stop, and pay attention to the act. It is so easy to lose a sense of the ritual when drinking straight from the bottle or can.

Not All Beer Glasses Are Built The Same

Now that I have you convinced to never again drink beer straight from the bottle or can, I have to say that you can’t just pour your beer into any glass.

I mean, you can; but the type of glassware you use for drinking beer can also influence its flavor profile and your enjoyment of the product.

There are countless glasses and goblets in all sorts of shapes and sizes, that have been specifically designed for drinking beer. And just as is the case with wines, the shape of the glass will determine which unique characteristics of the drink will be highlighted in your mouth.

So, Which Is The Ideal Type Of Glass For Drinking Beer?

There are many different styles of glasses made specifically for beer, and it all depends on what type of beer you are going to drink. Although there are many designs, these are the main ones:

Stein

Beer Stein with Matel Pewter Lid Stanley Steel Germany Oktoberfest Tankard Eagle Bierkrug Drinking Glass

Strong and resistant, the stein is a staple of many beer-drinking households. This type of glass is ideal for light beers with a greater amount of gas because it has a very wide mouth which allows proper decarbonization.

Steins are also a great way to preserve the ideal drinking temperature for a longer period.

Drink your American Ales and Lagers from a Stein.

Wrendefull 0.85LBeer Stein with Matel Pewter Lid Stanley Steel Germany Oktoberfest Tankard Eagle Bierkrug Drinking Glass Horn Beer Stine Mug for Men Can at Christmas Ornaments Cup Broeder Horse
  • 1--[Design] This German-themed ceramic beer mug has the Oktoberfest caravan and carriage scene, and is engraved with exquisite carvings and reliefs. Not only is it a real beer mug, it can also be used as an ornament

Flute Glass

Flute Beer Glasses

Due to their elongated shape, flute-type glasses allow carbonation bubbles to continuously rise and escape the drink slowly. This helps to preserve even the most subtle aromas to be found in your beer. Therefore, we recommend that you drink clear fruity beers from a flute glass. A flute glass will also help you to appreciate the subtle color tones.

Drink your Biere de Champagne Weizenbocks from a Flute.


Pilsner Glass

Pilsner Glasses- Etched Beer Glass for Better Head Retention, Aroma and Flavor

The long, slender, and tapered Pilsner glass allows you to truly appreciate the golden hues of your beer. Its slightly wider mouth helps to volatilize all of the aromas as well as to preserve the white frothy foam for longer, which helps to protect your beer from oxidation.

Drink your Pilsners, Blonde Ales, Pale Lagers, and Hefeweizens from a Pilsner glass.

USA Made Nucleated Pilsner Glasses- Etched Beer Glass for Better Head Retention, Aroma and Flavor - 16 oz Craft Beer Glasses for Beer Drinking Bliss - 4 Pack
  • LASER ETCHED NUCLEATION - We laser etch our unique design in the bottom of each glass to create a steady stream of light bubbles, C02, which rises to the top of the glass to assist in maintaining a proper head as well as to release the natural aroma of your favorite beer, creating an intense flavor experience with each sip

Pint Glass

Pint Glasses,20oz British Beer Glass,Classics Craft Beer Glasses

Pints are synonymous with English Pubs, but you can actually drink a wide variety of beers from a pint. These glasses are very generic and will generally not enhance or hinder your drinking experience either way over more specific choices.

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Goblet

Libbey Entertaining Essentials Belgian Glasses

These are the best option for drinking beers with very complex aromas and flavor profiles, as well as those beers with higher than average alcohol volume. The wide shape concentrates the various aromas and lets you experience a fuller flavor by taking deep sips.

We recommend Goblets for German Bocks, Belgian IPAs, Imperial Stouts, Belgian Triples, Belgian Quadruples, as well as both American and English Barleywines.

Libbey Entertaining Essentials Belgian Glasses, 13-ounce, Set of 6
  • Enjoy traditional Belgian beer styles in this tulip-shaped craft beer glass
  • Inward-tapering top captures aromas to enhance your tasting experience

Other Beer Drinking Mistakes

Guess what? Drinking beer straight out of the bottle or can is far from the only common mistake people make. Here are a few more to avoid.

Beer Drinking Mistakes

Freezing Your Glass

This is a very common mistake people make during the hot summer months. Freezing your glass and then pouring a cold beer inside will make sure that the drink stays cold far longer than normal.

However, we strongly recommend against putting your beer glasses in your freezer when other foods reside. It is very easy for the glass to absorb unsavory food flavors and pass them on to your beer when you do this.

What we suggest you do, and this is a trick we learned from years of drinking tap beer in bars, is to give your beer glass a quick rinse in cold water. This is not meant to clean your glassware, but rather to moisten and cool the surface so that your beer feels fresher in your mouth.

Too Much Foam

That frothy, white, foamy collar that is so characteristic of beer is known as the Head. The beer head is a very important component of drinking beer because it serves to protect your beer from oxidizing and losing flavor.

Thankfully, creating a nice head is very easy when pouring beer into a glass. By varying how you pour the beer into the glass you can generate more or less foam.

The ideal way to do it is to start by tilting your glass at a 45-degree angle and pour your beer until the glass is 75% full. Once you tilt your glass upright, you should have a healthy visible head.

However, too much head can actually be detrimental to your drinking experience by minimizing the amount of beer in each sip. Not to mention that it is always embarrassing when you get foam on your nose.

Drink All Beers At The Same Temperature

The temperature of any drink can affect how your taste buds react. Since different beers have different chemical makeup, aromatic profile, and alcohol volumes, they should not all be drunk at the same temperature.

While most people like to drink their beers cold, especially on this side of the pond, some beers are simply not meant to be drunk at low temperatures.

Each variety of beer has an ideal temperature at which to drink.

An easy-to-remember rule is that the lower the alcoholic content in beer, the colder you can serve it.

Beers with very high alcohol volumes should be served at room temperature. Dark beers also taste better on the warmer side.

So your malty chocolate stouts and wheat beers should never be drunk at the same frosty temperature as your light American pale lager.

Saying No To Beer

The final common mistake made by people is simply not drinking beer. No, we are not promoting overdrinking. Many people struggle with Alcoholism and the is a fine line between enjoying a drink and a deeper problem.

But beer is more than just a delicious beverage. Many studies have repeatedly shown that in moderation, regular consumption of beer provides us with a plethora of health benefits.

For example, beer contains a surprisingly high content of protein, vitamin B, antioxidants, and a wide number of vitamins and nutrients. As such, moderate (moderate means 1 beer for women and up to 2 beers for men) daily consumption of beer can lower your risk of diabetes, promote heart health, protect against osteoporosis, etc.

Last update on 2024-03-28 at 06:43 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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