Class in a glass!
I’ve always been a glassware nut, I think it stems from my many visits to Belgium. Where you walk into a bar with a beer menu more akin to a karaoke song list with page after page of wonders. A beer is chosen and the barkeep still manages to find the correct, usually branded glass, pours most of the beer and places both bottle and glass brand forward on separate bar-mats in front of you. For me it brings a degree of theatre, enhancing the drink if only in the mind.
There is definitely more to it than that though, beers like big aromatically hoppy IPA’s for example, really benefit from a glass that focusses those wonderful tropical notes floating toward your nose long before you touch a drop.
I remember a demonstration several years ago at a beer bloggers convention in Leeds, where the guys from Spiegelau set out a range of glasses with beers to suit and a standard glass, for a side by side comparison. The difference was amazing.
I still have my set from back then, and despite having cupboards full of branded glassware, day to day I use Spiegelau.
Since then the range has evolved to meet the needs of the modern craft beer drinker, with Spiegelau working with brewers and beer professionals of real pedigree to perfect a range of glasses to pretty much cover most bases.
I am really pleased to tell you that we have acquired sets of these at Otter’s Tears which are on sale right now. Put them on your Christmas list or hey, why wait, come grab a pack now and take your next beer to another level.
From this point on, the information is from Spiegelau, as there is no point me re-writing their own story, but read on as you’ll get a feel for who has designed what and what they hoped to achieve.
TASTING APPROVED: Focusing on beer enjoyment, members of the tasting workshop tested multiple glass shapes to find the best glass for India Pale Ale, American Wheat Beer and Stout. In the experts’ opinion, the custom-shaped glasses successfully deliver the complexity of aromas on the nose while demonstrating the optimum beer texture, balance and flavour intensity on the palate. Staying faithful to the spirit of Bavarian artisan craftsmanship, we have created these unique, functional glasses to bring out the best in complex craft beers.
IPA – The Spiegelau IPA glass has a new and unique design, created to support the complex and volatile aromas in IPA style beers.
The glass has been developed in collaboration with two of the leading IPA brewers in the United States, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada. Achieved through a series of design and tasting workshops in which hundreds of possible designs were considered, the brewers ultimately and unanimously chose, by secret vote, one glass – “number 6“ – from a final lineup of eight custom-made prototypes.
Designed to showcase the complex and alluring aromatic profiles of American “hop-forward” IPA beers, preserve a frothy head, enhance taste and mouth feel, and present a comfortably wide opening for the drinker to savour each beer, Spiegelau’s latest design is the go-to vessel for enjoying IPA.
Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada champion U.S. hop farming. The breweries are donating their portion of the proceeds from this collaboration to benefit advances in hop research.
STOUT – Following in the footsteps of their hugely successful IPA glass project, Spiegelau has partnered with two of the leading Stout brewers in the United States, Left Hand Brewing Company from Colorado and Rogue Ales from Oregon to create the ultimate tool for enjoying Stout beer.
After months of design and tasting workshops, during which hundreds of glass shapes were considered, the brewers ultimately and unanimously chose as their favourite, ‘Prototype C’, from a final lineup of eight custom-made Spiegelau shapes.
Expertly crafted, tested and approved, the Spiegelau Stout glass accentuates the roasted malt, rich coffee and chocolate notes that define the Stout beer style, while maintaining the functional design characteristics for which Spiegelau beer glassware has become known.
WHEAT BEER – In collaboration with the award winning Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery, Spiegelau has developed a specific drinking vessel for one the world’s most popular beer varieties – WHEAT. Ever focused on perfecting beer-specific glassware, Spiegelau’s latest innovation is poised to become the new standard for enjoying premium wheat beers. As with previous tasting-workshops, Spiegelau has challenged conventional thinking and presumption of what a wheat beer glass should look like. The new glass ultimately offers the best wheat beer drinking experience, enhancing the style’s delicate floral and fruit-scented aromatic profile. It delivers the optimal taste, aroma and mouth feel to enhance American and Belgian wheat beers.
BARREL AGED BEER, OLD ALES, BARLEY WINES – Barrel Aged Beer represents the height of a brew masters talent and passion. The impartation of long-term wood aging on fine beer makes for the most complex expression possible with regards to the aroma, taste, mouth feel and finish of these special beers. Barrel Aged Beers are truly a connoisseur’s choice.
The Spiegelau Barrel Aged Glass is the result of two years of development in partnership with the brew masters of four of the world’s great producers of Barrel Aged Beer: Great Divide Brewing Company of Denver, Colorado; Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, California; Uinta Brewing Company of Salt Lake City, Utah and Cigar City Brewing of Tampa Bay, Florida.
BENEFITS OF SHAPE, DESIGN AND PREMIUM MATERIALS.
LASER CUT RIM: Crisp, clean delivery in every sip
MOUTH OPENING: Wide mouth allows drinker to „nose“ the beer comfortably for heightened aroma and delivers beer evenly across palate to enhance mouthfeel and harmony of sweetness and acidity
BOWL: Slender, bowed shape amplifies hops aroma
THIN WALLS: Maintains proper beer temperature longer
REFRESHER: Wave-like ridges aerate beer into and out of the glass to balance flavours as you drink
A little about me…
This is a bit of an introduction from me, Phil, I am the proud owner of Otter’s Tears. I’m not your stereotypical craft beer shop owner, no quirky hat, plaid shirt nor the seemingly obligatory beard (I tried to grow one once but it was pitiful). But it turns out I do know a reasonable amount about good beer and beer quality, with well over ten years experience in the industry. Otter’s Tears caters for the serious beer lover, the beer enthusiast, the beer collectors and connoisseurs as well as those new to beer setting out on your own beer journey. I want you to be comfortable buying beer from me whoever you are, so if you need a helping hand, please get in touch. When you visit the Otter’s Tears website, I want it to feel like the beery equivalent of walking onto the set of “Tales Of The Unexpected” an exciting twist or an “I never expected to find that” moment around every corner. Dive in and explore Otter’s Tears for yourself, find your next beer moment!
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