Frosted Beer Glasses Suck
My wife always hates it when the restaurant offers me a frosted glass with my beer because she knows what’s going to happen next; I am going to ask for a regular pint glass and make the server feel stupid. It’s not the server’s fault, but really, if you are serving beer you should know better. While I am sure it is fine for some of the yellow, tasteless, fizzy beers out there, never use a frosted glass with your craft beer.
Here’s why you don’t want a frosted glass.
- Really cold temperatures stifle both the smell and flavor of the beer. One of the reasons you pour a beer into a glass is to allow the aromatics of the beer to come out and, if the glass is cold enough, it will almost eliminate any chance for you to be able to enjoy the smell of the beer; we all know smell is a big part of the tasting process, so it also causing it to mute the flavors and even cause “off” flavors.
- Frosted glasses also have a tendency to cause the beer to foam up.
- If there is any frozen water on the glass, then you risk water being added to the beer when it melts.
Bottom line: ask them to bring you a regular glass and do not accept a frosted glass. Want to learn more about the proper temperatures for storing and serving your favorite brew? Check out this handy post on CraftBeer.com.