A little personal insight: I have a mild craft beerware fetish. Over many years, I have amassed a substantial collection of branded glassware from craft breweries of a wide variety of shapes and styles taking up every available space on my bookshelves, desk, closet and several boxes in the garage. For me, they are beautiful yet functional objet d’art of their own right.
And yes, I do use them with my own domestic drinking habits—well, at least a subset of them with which I am willing to risk the real-world possibility of breakage. Some styles of glassware can certainly enhance the experience of consuming a finely crafted microbrew, even if that enhancement is largely personal perception. A select few styles have been shown to physically improve taste and aroma elements, as per their specific designs, but the enjoyment is largely experiential.
As previously argued, the extent to which specific glassware enhances the actual quality of the beverage is limited at best. Good glasses will not fundamentally improve a mediocre beer. However, that is not to dismiss the additional exposure that different types of serving vessels can provide to the (literal) consumer of said beverage, as well as the setting around which such a beverage is enjoyed. A craft beer sipped from delicate stemware at a fine dinner offers a much different sensory experience than the same beer quaffed from a Viking drinking horn at a local festival.
One particular choice of drinkware that only a few breweries have embraced is the traditional branded coffee mug, usually reserved for colder months and paired with heavier and darker beers such as stouts or barleywines. As it turns out, these heavy mugs make wonderful serving vessels for beer for many of the same reasons they work so well for morning coffee or hot tea.
The material (usually ceramic) is insulating, which resists heat transfer from the beverage and maintains the temperature better than thin glassware. The design is broad and stable, meaning it resists tips and spills with a lower center of gravity and wide base (not to mention being much more solid and durable than glass). The mouth is wide enough to get your nose into the vessel to capture the limited aromas directly from the beer, as darker and heavier beers tend to be less aromatic than lighter, hoppier styles. The finish and form is smooth and tactile in your hands, with a firm grip provided by the accompanying thick handle.
And the ample 16-ounce mug is great for fresh, hot coffee, too.
As we move into the colder months, hopefully more craft breweries will consider branded mugs for serving darker, robust stouts and Belgian styles. There is always room in my collection for more. PH
