Beer Glassware Guide

Stemmed Beer Glasses

Tulip Glass

Now we get to the good stuff. Tulip glasses come in all shapes and sizes. Some have tall, elegant stems and wide bases, while others are squatter, with bulbous bodies and short stems. Either way, tulip glasses serve as some of the most reliable for almost all beer styles, as the telltale flare at the mouth of the glass traps and activates aromas and creates a far more pillowy, sizeable head. Also, they are just fun to drink out of. They look stylish, and there’s a vast variety of tulip glasses on the market, so please, if you’re a self-respecting connoisseur, grab as many of these beauties as you can. (I make no bones about my love for the tulip glass, journalistic integrity be damned).

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Snifter Glass

Similar to a tulip glass in most way, the delightful snifter glass is missing the trademark flare at the mouth of the glass, and instead opts for a perfectly round, un-flared design. A little less bulbous in body, snifters are also great options for most styles, though Belgian styles, IPAs and Barleywines are all perfect pairings for snifters. Aromas and flavors are all flawlessly represented, allowing seasoned craft beer drinkers to pick out new and interesting flavors and aromas that they might not have found before. Like a tulip and unlike the pint glass family, all stemmed glasses allow the beer to warm up of its own accord, without your grubby paws forcing the issue by groping the naked sides of a glass and warming it up prematurely.

Goblet

Again, similar in most ways to a snifter, the goblet’s body is far more bowl-shaped and lacks the familiar flare of a tulip. Usually featuring a far thicker stem that gets larger as it gets closer to the body, this glass suits most Belgian Ales, German bocks and other big sippers. It also works for when you want to feel like the ruler of a medieval kingdom, lording it over your serfs drinking out of muddied pint glasses. Heathens.

Tulip glasses pair well with most styles. Here, it serves as a complement to Tree House Brewing's King JJJuliusss Double IPA.

IPA Beer Glass

Not a true stemmed glassware archetype, this is a fairly new creation and a bit of hybrid between the stemmed and pint families. The IPA glass allows for a lot of creativity and flexibility, much like the style it was made for, and its body can emulate the flared rotundity of a tulip or the svelte smoothness of a snifter. One almost universal trait is the ribbed, stem-like base, which allows beer into it and serves as the hallmark of the style. As you drink the beer down to this base and bring it back to standing position, the base will reform the head every time – reactivating the beer’s aroma and allowing the beer to stay fresh and interesting throughout an entire bomber or growler (and beyond).