A proper pint?

Hubby came across this blog post  written by Julia Herz who, among other things is the Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association and a beer judge.  

The article deals with whether or not the glass most of us know and love as the proper beer glass is actually the best glass for consuming beer . . . the shaker pint.  This glass was originally used by bartenders to make and shake cocktails  . . . hence the name shaker pint . . . and at some point morphed into to being the quintessential beer glass.

What you may not know that this is an American thing . . . go just about anyplace else in the world and they drink their suds from an imperial pint.  You may recognize the glass . . . similar to the shaker pint only a bit more curvaceous.

Anyhoo . . . the article goes on to say that beer tastes better served in a stemmed glass . . . like a wine glass.  That beer served in this style glass " goes flat less quickly, stays at the preferred temperature longer, and appears to be fuller-flavored and more aromatic."

Hmmm . . . makes sense?  Or no?  

So I immediately hopped up from lounging on the couch and announced that we were doing an experiment.  

Ever agreeable to drinking beer hubby happily concurred the such research was a worthwhile endeavor.

It just so happened that I had a very yummy beer in the fridge chilling away . . . Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale.

I grabbed three glasses . . . a shaker pint, a stemmed wine glass and a stemless wine glass.  I poured a sample into each of these glasses and let hubby have a taste of each.  I waited impatiently while he sipped, made faces and made indecipherable noises.  He started with the pint glass, then the unstemmed glass and finally moved onto the stemmed glass.  He finished with another sip from the pint glass.

I went through the same routine  . . . sipping, making faces and noises . . . and then we compared notes.

The results were interesting . . . keep in mind that neither of us profess to being beer experts.  We're simply a couple a people that enjoy beer . . .

We know what we like.  A beer doesn't have to be expensive for us to truly enjoy the beer drinking experience but it can be.  We're just as likely to sip a $15 or $20 bottle of beer as we are to drink a Keystone Light . . . no one could ever accuse us of being beer snobs . . . it just depends on the situation or the occasion.

Here's what was revealed in our little home-grown taste test.  We both agreed that the beer tasted better in the shaker pint than either of the other two glasses and liked it least from the stemmed glass.  

That is our opinion . . . for what it's worth