DRINKING GLASSES

If you stick to four different types of glass, you will have all the bases covered. As a general rule, you should drink lighter, fresher beers, such as lager, weissbier and Berliner Weisse, from tall, solid unstemmed glasses (pint glasses) and heavier, darker beers such as stout and barley wine – plus strong beers such as Belgian tripels and quadrupels – from stemmed glasses.

Well-hopped beers such as IPA and IIPA can be drunk from either a pint glass or a stemmed bowl glass, while higher-alcohol types such as barley wine and imperial stouts should be enjoyed in smaller, modest quantities from small, tulip-shaped stemmed glasses. Spontaneously fermented beers are best in a narrow unstemmed lambic glass.

SMALL STEMMED TULIP GLASS:

BARLEY WINE

IMPERIAL STOUT

BARREL-AGED BEER

PINT GLASS:

LAGER/PILSNER

WEISSBIER

WITBIER

BERLINER WEISSE

BROWN ALE

LARGE STEMMED BOWL GLASS:

IPA

DOUBLE IPA

LIGHT STOUT

PORTER

DUBBEL

TRIPEL

QUADRUPEL

LAMBIC GLASS:

SPONTANEOUSLY FERMENTED BEER

WILD ALE

SOUR ALE

You should wash your glasses carefully in warm water, but avoid synthetic detergents as any residues will destroy the head of a beer.