“It’s like an olfactory cannon,” said Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery and collaborator in the development of Spiegelau’s unique IPA glasses.
Ken Grossman, co-founder of Sierra Nevada, commented, “We’ve always loved and brewed hop-forward beers, and when they’re served in the right glass, the experience only gets better. We imagine drinkers, both new to craft beer and dedicated hopheads, will appreciate how these glasses elevate all of the nuances of one of our favorite ingredients.”
Ken and Sam originally met with Matt Rutkowski, of Spiegelau Glass, at the Craft Brewers Conference 2012 in San Diego. There they employed a workshop process where they poured various representative IPAs in an array of shaped glasses to determine which best enhanced the beer’s enjoyment. After narrowing down some prototypes, Spiegelau continued to work with the brewers to refine the shape and volume. Both brewers then voted separately on which model they liked best: it was the same one.
Explains Matt, “We’re moving away from the pint glass. These were originally just shaker glasses that are convenient for stacking. But they are absolutely not optimal for craft beer.” To prove this, Matt recently visited Japan where he gave two demonstrations of not only Spiegelau’s IPA glass, but also their other specialty glasses for other styles of beer.
While guests were surprised by the dramatic results, some were a little skeptical of the price. Matt counters that they are made from the highest quality glass materials in the world, do not break easily and will serve craft beer in the best condition possible.
Ken, meanwhile, commented, “We’re all about the liquid. We want folks to enjoy things like our Torpedo Extra IPA however it makes most sense to them.”
For some in Japan, that means using popular Sahm glasses, or any of the decent domestic ones. But it seems clear to many now that these Spiegelau glasses are a game changer for IPAs and that we are quickly moving into new territory when it comes to glassware.
This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.
