Beer Glasses - too far?

There must be some kind of incentive for the bars to buy these… maybe they are just freebies for the bar, or sold at price? I think bars that sell lots of certain brands of drinks get free signs sometimes

I kind of like the glass, to me it definitely makes the beer seem much more impressive than what I think of as a normal Sam Adams pint, though I don’t know if I buy all the reasons. As far as branding, you can tell a Chimay goblet from across a bar, with time maybe this one too

In France, different wine bottles are branded and are only used for wines from certain regions. Same with the glasses for wines and other drinks… some are to keep the vapors in, like a warm cognac that can make you feel the alcohol just from taking a deep whiff

This is just plain stupid. The ad should read like this.

I never see a beer glass in side view. When viewing a glass of beer how often do you really not see it from top view with your mouth on the object. If your answer is often, then you dont know how to drink.

I would throw a hissy fit if I ordered a Stella and it didn’t come in a Stella glass… an outrage!

Maybe the commercial is taking it too far… bit IMO there are a bunch of different glasses already for different types of beers.
ie. pilsner glasses, pints or goblets.

Definitely a marketing ploy… but the brewery is fantastic. Free samples!

We have a new guy in marketing that used to work at Labatts. The brewers give these glasses to bars for free. It’s all just advertising. The reason they are different is just to make them more distinct. We see a beer in a glass with a stem and we immediately think Stella. It doesn’t even need a logo.

As my marketing friend said, these are ad companies that also make beer.

Certain glasses do enhance the experience. The Pint is actually the worst shape because the aromas escape so easily. When I’m drinking any unibroue, I need a flying U glass:

:smiley:

My favorite beer glass is the Kwak glass. It is a tall beaker with a spherical bottom and a weird wooden handle/holder. There is a story that goes with it:

“In Napoleon’s time, Pauwel Kwak was a brewer and the owner of the De Hoorn inn (near Brussels). Mail coaches stopped there every day, but at that time coachmen were not allowed to leave their coach and horses,” “As a result, the inventive innkeeper had a special Kwak glass blown that could be hung on the coach. In this way, the coachman had his Kwak beer safely at hand.”

The sam adams glass seems like a bunch of marketing stuff.

As far as the bars go, I know some bartenders that like to use them to keep track of what your drinking. One less thing to worry about.

Nice point, I hadn’t thought about that. It would make it easier on a busy night. 'Nother Sam Adams? Don’t mind if I do.

Ok I am going to go out on a limb here and say that there might be some truth to some of these glasses. I myself have to say that I am a big fan of a well-crafted beer. I am talking a nice IPA, a Sam Adams, Anchor makes some good ones…I could go one and on. I like many beer conasur (or how ever you spell it) have found that beer is much better in a glass than it is in a bottle. This not only applies to draft beer, but also bottle beer poured into a glass. The aroma of the hops and the taste of a good IPA in a glass is no different than a nice wine in the proper glass. So I think having glasses that hit those notes of the beer is not that far off.

That being said I do not think that ever beer brand should have its own glass. I feel that it should be no different than wine where every verity of beer should have its own glass. Example Lager has its glass, Hoppy beers have their glass, porters have their glass, and so one. This makes much more sense to me. The branded glass is just that, all about the brand and are intended for college kids to steel and use at home. (Which if you think about it is the best way to get your brand in the hands of one of your biggest markets.

I think it’s great. The laser etching at the bottom will have the most effect.

From a marketing perspective, I think it’s right on. They’ve always been about passion for quality, and the thoughtfulness behind this design reinforces that perception. I think more people will drink Sam Adams as a result, regardless of what glass it comes in.

As a side thought, I think its interesting how much the brand is about the passion of it’s founder/owner. In this respect, they’re very much the “Apple” of beers. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s impossible for companies to have such singular focus without singular leadership like this.

I’d say I am about 50-50 on whether I like receiving a logo-ed custom glass when I order a beer. Sam Adams is a good beer, and I like it, but am on the fence about advertising that I’m drinking it. To me, it has vague feel of American “corporate” big beers like a Coors, and less of a hand crafted micro brew. Maybe if it were Sam Adams special blend or a premier line, or the logo was a little more clever than just stamped on? I would much rather advertise to the bar that I’m drinking something a less common than a standard Sam Adams, though the glass does seem enjoyable to drink from

I have to agree here. I like Sam Adams, but I would also consider it a mainstream corporate beer. Their seasonal brews are good, but it is the beer that I will drink when there is nothing else. I would much rather advertise me drinking a Smuttynose, a Hop Devil, or an Anchor Liberty.

I came across these today. These are glasses that are filled with a Bacardi Rum drink and sold with a lidding stock on the top to seal it. This is a great way of connecting the brand with the glass as they are sold at the same time.


Those are very nicely done. I wonder if I could get a pack of those to keep in my desk drawer at work…

edit: something strange is happening with my posts, it’s like I’m going back in time… I was referring to those shot glasses posted after this post.

Those glasses as a package are pretty cool

I saw almost the exact opposite on a flight last week - alcohol shots served by the flight attendant in pouches, no bottle or glass whatsoever. I tried to find a picture online but can’t find anything

Those Bacardi glasses are way cool, the form lends itself to some kind of pseudo-batlike shape, I dig.

Branding and designing glasses for your brew is nothing new in the industry, and i’ve kept from posting in here because that Sam Adams glass had me on the fence since it was posted. As far as the shape of the glass giving a different taste or aroma, for certain types of brews and wines it has a small effect. What bothers me most about the Sam Adams glass isn’t its design at all, it’s the positioning and marketing, it’s rather presumptuous. They have this photo with call-outs telling you what the benefits are of every curve and feature like they need to educate the average American beer drinker that Sam Adams stands apart from all the other American brews and that this is the bar-none way to maximize its elite status or something. In the American beer landscape drinking out of this makes you akin to the tallest midget.

Like someone else mentioned, I only drink this swill if faced with options like MGD, Red Dog, Natty Ice, or Budweiser and the like. I’d opt for a Schlitz, PBR, Yeungling, or Genessee as they are REAL American beers before Sam Adams, they’ve got some nice seasonal brews, but yeah they’re like the commercialized mega-micro brew in the US, fine I guess, but i’ll take the Unibroue, Stella, Spaten, Hoegaarden, et. al over this in a bar any day and not because of the glass, they’re just damn fine suds.

Beer snobbery aside, the Guinness pint seems to have been doing well for quite some time.

a few months ago we acquired 3 of these new Sam Adams glasses (free), and now only one stands, and stands alone in the corner on the top shelf, otherwise it would also have been broken by now.
I find myself getting out a pint glass even if I’m drinking a Sam Adams (which is kind of rare, there are much better beers in the same price range) Sometimes I fancy me a goblet for something with a nice head, but generally not a picky glass user. So don’t take my complaints too seriously, but:
I second the top-heaviness , it makes me uneasy. I don’t think it’s a comfortable hold - the middle is squeezed in so you’re holding either the top or the bottom (probably the top). Sure that happens in some other glasses but it’s usually a much softer curve. Oh, and the bottom is completely unreachable … washing it out after it’s been sitting around for a while is not really an option.

hey

a brewery close to where i live is working on an image change. with that it also renewed their glasses. Here it is common to hand out glasses (i think even for free) to the bars and restaurants which are selling your beer. No doubt it costs a lot to do so!!
They wanted to be more modern now and did a whole set of glasses:

By the way, they are doing good with their branding, it works, together wit a new graphic appearance and also tv ads and so they got it working.
Especially the slim beer glas is in more "cocktails"bars now

And just for the record, i always want my ordered beer come with the glass, probably cause im used to it but no logo is better than the wrong one, no doubt

MillerCoors currently holds the record for most beer awards coming in at over 160. I believe AB/Inbev comes at about 90-120? Sam Adams doesn’t have the portfolio currently to catch up to either company. I don’t know which particular beer holds the title for most awards though.

I know I’m a little late on the conversation but there are some steps of evaluating beer and they’re done in a particular order. First is the appearance (color, clarity, effervescence,head), aroma (hops,malt), mouthfeel and taste (balance, conditioning, hops, malt, and aftertaste).

There are 11 different styles of glassware and they are used to help enhance the various styles of beer when evaluating the beer on the above characteristics. For example, a snifter is good for well carbonated beers and holds the aroma right at the lip of the glass.

Aroma is a huge component in how you taste/experience beer. And yes, you lose some of that when you drink directly from a can/bottle. Also, you should never drink from a frosted glass because it negatively affects carbonation, aroma and taste.