As the craft beer revolution has gained traction there's been the inevitable comparison with the wine industry.
This has some merit (hear the howls of indignation from winemakers and brewers alike) as the industries have both striven to increase complexity of flavour and aroma since our good old cardboard caskand swappa crate days.
To tap into this interest, Spiegelau glassware has collaborated with two craft beer heroes, Sierra Nevada and Dogfishead Breweries in the States, to produce their IPA (India Pale Ale) glass. In their own words it has a "new and unique design, created to support the complex and volatile aromas in IPA style beers". They have since gone on to team up with other specialist beer producers to make glasses for whatever beer style you can think of.
Recently I tried five beers across four glass styles. What a profound difference it made! Beer tasting is not so different to wine tasting. You swirl, you sniff and you taste.
The glasses delivered four different tasting experiences for each beer, due to the way they held aromas and distributed flavours into your mouth. I'm sure there's a lot of science to this but it felt like art.
Not everybody is going to be able to justify the expense or cupboard space for a different glass for every sub-type of beverage but they look stunning, make your beer taste stunning and give you just that little bit more craft beer cred.
