Recently Spiegelau, a division of Riedel Crystal, has done exactly that. My friend, Matt Rutkowski, the Vice President of Spiegelau USA contacted Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head brewery and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada brewery to design the perfect beer glass for IPA specific beers.
After several months of samples from Spiegelau and several tastings, wish I had been there, these two IPA beer specialists agreed on the world's first beer glass designed perfectly for the Craft IPA beers on the market today.
The results, a thin glass made with the Platinum manufacturing process from Spiegelau, which will keep the beer colder than the thick pint glasses of the past. Why, because the thick iron oxide glass you are so familiar with actually draws temperature from the beer instead of insulating the beer. Also, iron oxide in the typical pint glass is very porous and has fine cavities in it that collect remains of whatever was last in the pint. The iron oxide glass is not clear, look through the pint and you will see a greenish hue, the Spiegeleu glass is perfectly clear. Under an electron microscope, the iron oxide glass shows pits in the surface, while the Platinum glass is smooth as, yes glass. To prove this, in a beer glass taste testing in Miami this spring, Matt poured cold beer in an typical pint and in a Spiegelau Craft IPA beer glass. The results were easy to see, the condensation on the pint extended upwards beyond the level of the beer in the pint glass, proving the glass was absorbing the coldness of the beer, while the Spiegelau IPA glass only had condensation on exactly where the beer was in the glass.
The Speigelau IPA Craft beer glass has a tapered opening at the top which not only pushes the aromatic components of the beer to the nose, but delivers the beer to the palate's sweet middle of the tongue. This has a major effect on the flavor of the beer, as we all know the nose affects the flavor in your mind. You can smell the aromas of the melon, papaya and honey in the IPA beer.
The triple ridged bottom of the glass will re-foam and aerate the beer as you drink it. The ridges at the bottom of the glass release the CO2 that floats to the surface which will give you the effervescence when you take a sip. Incredible the way this keeps the beer fresh longer and lets you enjoy your IPA all the way to the bottom of the glass.
This is just the beginning of what we will see in the future of beer glasses designed specific for different types of beer. The result of major beer suppliers working together with the glass manufacturer to give you an even better taste of their craft.
The Spiegelau IPA Craft beer glass is an outstanding investment if you are a real connoisseur of small craft breweries and want to truly enhance you beer drinking experience.
