Beer glasses

The best-known shapes are the fluitje, the vaasje, the tulip, the goblet or chalice, the weizen glass and the pint, and each shape traditionally goes with a different type of beer.

• Fluitje and vaasje: in the Netherlands a glass of about 20 cl is called a fluitje (also buisje or pijpje) and a glass of about 25 cl a vaasje. Pilsner glasses are tall and tapered; they show colour and carbonation, and the wider top helps the head.
• Tulip: a rounded belly with a rim that flares outward, which holds the head. Intended for aromatic beers such as barley wine and strong IPA.
• Goblet or chalice: a large stemmed glass with a wide bowl, for heavy Belgian beers and bock beer. A goblet has thick walls, a chalice thin ones; some have an etching in the bottom for an even stream of bubbles.
• Wheat beer glass: narrow at the bottom and wider at the top, usually 50 cl, with room for the thick head of wheat beer.
• Pint: in the United Kingdom the imperial pint is by law the measure for draught beer. The nonic has a bulge under the rim, which makes the glass easier to hold and protects the rim from chipping.

Brewers supply their own glass because the shape helps determine how a beer is perceived, and because the glass makes the beer recognisable at the table. Heavier beers and bottled beers in particular are often served in Belgium in a specially designed, conspicuously printed glass. According to the Brewers Association, a wide bowl captures the aroma, a narrowed opening directs foam and aroma to the nose, an outward-curving rim supports the head, and a stem keeps the warmth of the hand away. Breweries therefore sometimes work with a glass manufacturer on a glass for a single beer style, such as a stout glass or a glass for IPA. Other brewers etch the bottom of their glass to let bubbles and aroma rise. In Flanders the beer glass culture has been registered as intangible heritage, with the remark that a brewery sometimes spends months working on the glass that suits a single beer.

A beer glass must be beer-clean: free of residues of dried beer, detergent, grease or oil, because those residues make the head collapse. The Cicerone program recommends not washing beer glasses together with ordinary dishes and certainly not with glasses that have held milk or cream, because fat prevents foam formation. According to Cicerone, ordinary dish soap and an ordinary dishwasher leave residues that break the foam. Use a glass cleaner without a petroleum base, a separate brush or sponge, rinse with cold clean water and let the glass air-dry. You recognise a clean glass by water that runs down the inside as an even film. Bubbles that stick to the wall point to dirt; foam rings that remain while you drink point to a clean glass. With wheat beer from the bottle, the glass is often served wet, because that limits too much foam.

In the shop on the Brink there are 63 beer glasses, from brewery glasses to stemmed glasses. You will find glasses from Grolsch, Hertog Jan, Pohjala, Wentersch, Chimay, Erdinger, Klootzakske, Maisel's, Palm, ’t Zwarte Schoap, Abdij La Cambre and Averbode. The glasses come from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Japan, Ireland and Italy. A few examples: the Asahi Super Dry Bierglas 25 cl, the Bacchus Kriek / Oud Bruin half pint glas, the ’t Zwarte Schoap Bierglas op Voet, the Averbode Abdij Bokaal in 0.33 and 0.5 L, the Benediktiner Weissbier Glas, the Chimay bierbokaal Gourmet, the Chimay Grand Reserve Degustation Glas 25cl and the Brouwerij ’t IJ bierglas 30cl. Looking for the glass for a particular beer, or unsure between a tulip and a goblet? Call 0570 541 278 or drop by Brink 2 in Bathmen.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.