Proper Care for Your Beer Glasses and Steins

For many beer drinkers, there’s nothing better than hearing that pop that comes with cracking open a fresh beer can. But is there an even better way to enjoy our favorite beers? Of course there is, the use of beer glasses and beer steins. Drinking from beer glasses and steins has a number of advantages over drinking your favorite beer right from the bottle or can, and it seems that people the world over are realizing this more and more. A glass or stein not only improves the taste and aroma of the beer, it improves the entire beer drinking experience. When a brew flows from the beer taps, the right choice of beer glass is essential in bringing out the maximum tastiness of the beer, but how do you continue to have a great drinking experience every time once you’ve selected your ideal container?

There are a few simple things that a caring connoisseur can do to ensure that they get the most out of their beer each and every time:

1. Whatever glass you choose, use them only for beer. Residue from other drinks may stay on or in the glass, affecting the appearance and taste of the next beer.

2. When washing beer glasses or beer steins, use hot water and a soft cloth and rinse by hand. Avoid using soap; the residue left on the glass can affect the head of the beer and therefore the taste. If you have to use soap, rub the glass with table salt to remove any soap residue and let the beer glasses or beer steins air dry before putting them up for storage.

3. When storing your glasses or steins, avoid putting them in the refrigerator or freezer. Overly chilled beer takes away from the taste by numbing the taste buds and inhibiting the full aroma to be released. A frozen glass adds to this problem by numbing the lips and mouth as the consumer drinks. It can also weaken the strength of your glasses, leading to chipped edges and lips. Then you’ll just have to throw the mugs away and get some more.

4.Avoid beer glasses that are opaque in color. The breweries carefully formulate the color of the beer and it is essential in the overall experience of drinking it. The Samuel Adams recently released a special glass that brings out the full color of their variety of flavors of beer. This is an example of how more and more people and breweries are catching on to the beer drinking experience

5. Use your own judgment and go with what you find to be your own preference. If you’ve got a sweet disposition for German beer steins, who’s to say that you won’t enjoy an American lager from it? Don’t get too caught up in the pomp of beer drinking, it doesn’t require the snobbery of being a wine connoisseur; It’s just good old beer drinking. So tip it up and enjoy a cold one every time.

Michael Usry is a long-time beer lover and contributing author for "Beer Maniac" fanzine in Austin, Tx. He is also a top affiliate at beertaps.com, and steinsandglassware.com, websites for household draft beer accessories.