We Tested the Best Beer Glasses—Here Are the Results

Best Overall

Rastal Teku Stemmed Beer Glass

4.8

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If you’re going to invest in a really great beer glass, Teku's beautiful stemmed glass is a worthy pick. Designed by brewers Lorenzo “Kuaska” Dabove and Teo Musso, the glass was initially designed to be the beer equivalent of the ISO, a universal wine tasting glass used by professional wine tasters. The 14.2-ounce glass is designed to showcase the full flavors and aromas of each beer. Made in Germany by Rastal, the angular, modern shape should trap the aromas, so when you sip, waves of the flavors hit your nose.

During testing, we found the 14-ounce glass to be the perfect size to hold a 12-ounce can or bottle of beer with ample room for foam. It’s as heavy as a standard pint glass, with thick, durable glass—it’s not one of those whisper-thin crystal glasses. But we found an appeal to that—we could be less precious with our pint, and we weren't worried about breaking it. A feature we liked was the tiny lip that curves outward and lets the beer roll from the glass right onto your palette. We also loved the thin stem—long enough to keep sweaty palms from affecting the temperature of your beer while still being stable enough, which is particularly essential if you’re a slow drinker.

The shape of the bowl is designed to concentrate the aromas of the beer and bring out nuanced scents you may not pick up in a regular pint glass. We found in our tests that it does just that, but also that if you’re drinking a bolder beer (think stouts or IPAs)—the scents can be overwhelming and far too concentrated.

The glass had nice clarity; for a glass of that thickness, it was radiant and displayed the hues of the beer well. While you can put these in the dishwasher in a pinch, it's not recommended. Clarity will diminish over time, and just like a wine glass, you risk snapping the stem. Washing with non-residue soap by hand ensures you don't get any nasty odors in the glass.

One of the best parts of this glass is it serves almost every beer particularly well. Sour? Sure! Hazy IPA? Crack it open! While it’s a switch-up from a standard beer glass, any suds fan deserves a proper home for their beers. Use these as your all-purpose beer glass, though perhaps stock up on some additional style-specific beer glasses, depending on your preferences.

Best Budget

Libbey Pint Glass

4.8

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Libbey’s standard fare pint glass is built to last. The classic glass (with the shape found in every pub and bar across the country) is made with a DuraTuff heat-treated rim, designed to resist thermal and mechanical shock. There’s a reason why so many bars stock these 16-ounce glasses—they are durable, affordable, dishwasher-friendly, and resistant to rough and tumble use. When this versatile glass is not holding fresh suds, it doubles as an excellent cocktail mixing glass once you've chosen the right pairing.

Kaitlin Vandenbosch, brewmaster at Mill Street Brewing, prefers these glasses for nitro beers. “Nitrogen charged beers—whether served from draught or can—need to be served in a wide mouth glass." She adds, "You pour the can of beer directly upside-down into the glass and allow the nitrogen in the beer to create the cascade effect that produces a thick puck of dense foam on the top of your beer."

Our tester found these glasses to be incredibly uniform and weighty, with a thick base. Shape-wise, these aren’t particularly original glasses—they’ve been seen on pubs and bartops for decades—but they’re a completely respectable budget glass.

For a budget glass, we found the clarity to be great. The straight angular lines put the liquid on display, and even though the glass is quite thick, we found them clear enough to showcase colors. Pour-wise, it was relatively easy, but our tester found this to be the case because these are the pint glasses she started drinking from, the ones she started bartending with during her college years, and the ones she sips from at her local pub. They’re familiar and reliable.

We found the rim to be relatively thick. This isn’t a glass you’re going to analyze the finer notes of a brew, but it will certainly do the job of holding a beer and keeping in cold. The angled, wider rim does allow the beer to aerate and delivers it straight to the back of your mouth. This is a great starter glass as you begin to expand your palate.

Best IPA

Spiegelau IPA Glass

4.5

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Most everyone in the beer world agrees that Spiegelau sets the standard for beer glassware. This German glassware company has been a leader in the industry for decades, and its beer glasses have racked up design accolades from the German Design and Red Dot Awards.

Made of lightweight and non-leaded crystal, Spiegelau’s 18-ounce glasses were designed by two beer masters (Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione and Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman) to perfectly amplify the flavors of an IPA. “It was tested, engineered, and proven to be a great glass for drinking any aromatic beer, but especially IPAs,” explains Bisch. “As you pour the beer into your mouth, its ridged, narrow bottom agitates the beer while simultaneously releasing carbonation (and therefore aromas)." He adds, "While the glass sits upright, the etched logo on the inner base provides a nucleation point for the CO2 to release upward, creating a denser, thicker head that captures aromas.”

We found that as soon as we picked up the glass, the quality was apparent. The glass was lightweight but balanced out by a sturdy base for stability. The ridges help to aerate the beer while the larger bowl decants the flavors of a stronger IPA and magnifies the fragrances.

At 19 ounces in capacity, we found during testing that there was plenty of room to pour and aerate a can of IPA, plus space to create a crown of foam. We found the clarity to be spectacular—similar to a high-end wine glass. The shape of the mouth is specifically designed to concentrate aromas and it did indeed deliver the beer to the perfect part of our palates. Because of the shape of the glass, we really experienced the aromas and bouquets of the liquid.

While the manufacturer recommends placing these in the dishwasher, we'd recommend handwashing these to avoid breakage.

Related: The Best Beer Fridges

Best Classic

Restaurantware 20-Ounce Imperial Nonic Pint Glass

4.2

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As for his all-time favorite beer glass, Bisch points to the 20-ounce imperial nonic pint glass. “I tend to gravitate to this glass because it's compatible with many different beer styles such as English Milds, IPAs, lagers, etc." He says, "Its wide mouth allows for an easier flow of low ABV, sessionable beers."

Consider this glass your everyday beer glass. Just like a classic English pub glass, the wide rim and slight bulge make it easy to stack and store these glasses. But just because they are easy to store doesn’t mean they lack in quality—the 19.5-ounce, machine-blown glass (a little less than the standard 20-ounce glass) boasts above-average glass clarity. “Not to mention, it fits a lot of beer and just feels damn good to hold,” adds Bisch.

In our tests, we found these glasses bigger and heavier than some of the others we tested. These are clearly designed for durability and utility. We wanted the glass to have a slightly heavier base for stability, but otherwise, we thought they are nicely made.

It was easy to pour beer in this glass and found the bump below the lip gave enough space to securely hold the glass while pouring a pint. This particular glass does have a thicker rim, with a slight seam under the rim. You can really drink anything out of this glass, but stouts or richer brown ales shine best in this glass. The wider rim tends to cause the aromas to blow off quickly, and there’s no extra nucleation.

These are designed to be used, dropped, chugged from, and partied with. Even the bulge in the glass protects the rim from cracking if the glass falls over.

Related: The Best Gifts for Beer Lovers, According to Experts

Best Set

Spiegelau Craft Beer Tasting Kit

4.8

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Ideal for the serious beer aficionado, Spiegelau’s ultimate craft beer tasting kit contains glasses for any and every beer you’re sipping. The paper-thin, dishwasher-safe glasses are ideal for most craft beer lovers, with a thin lip that pours the beer right onto your palette. Each of the set’s four glasses is designed with beer experts to amplify the aroma and flavors of the beer. The set includes a 19.1-ounce rippled IPA glass, a 26.5-ounce deeply rounded American wheat glass, a 21-ounce stout, and 17.7-ounce stemmed barrel-aged beer glasses, all made of lightweight, non-leaded crystal and crafted by Bavarian artisans. Order one set, or pick up a few to host your own tasting club.

The first thing we noticed when testing these glasses was their weight. They’re generous in size but still light as air when empty. Even with a pint in these glasses, they had an elevated feel, designed for the discerning beer drinker. Though they call upon pretty standard beer glass shapes—wheat, IPA, stout, barrel-aged, and pilsner—we could tell the shapes have been tweaked to enhance the taste and aroma of the glass (Spiegelau partnered up with a series of brewers to help nerd out on the nuances of glass shape).

We found the clarity of these glasses to be brilliant. There are no seams on the glasses, and the glass is clearly crystal-quality. For the price point, we were surprised by how affordable these are; they feel very expensive. We loved how the thin rim helped to enhance every aspect of the beer—from the aromas to the mouthfeel to the taste.

Immediately after we poured a stout, a pillow-y, bubbly foam crown appeared and remained. Sipping from the wheat glass and the wider, mellower bowl brought forward all those bright citrus and tropical fruit notes to the palate. The IPA glass was a particular favorite, as the ribbed bottom helped aerate out the beer and preserved the aromas. The barrel-aged glass did an excellent job of pushing forward the barrel characteristics without overwhelming the palate by the wood aromatics.

Related: The Best Kegerators

Best Design

Libbey Classic Can Tumbler Glasses

4.2

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“My favorite type of beer glass is the beer can-shaped glasses,” says Jessy Jolicoeur, Owner, Brewer, Oval Craft Brewing. “The lip on top curves in a little making them great drinking glasses, and they hold up well with a little motion.” The shape mirrors that of a traditional beer can but opts for thin glass instead of aluminum. This is ideal for flaunting your favorite light beer. “I serve anything not hoppy in my beer can glasses,” says Jolicouer. “The narrowing top does limit aromas a little but not in an average beer.”

Upon opening the box for testing, we appreciated the design right away. These nod to a traditional beer can while taking the tasting experience up a notch. Compared to your standard pint glass, they’re light in weight and sit at a nice height.

Thanks to a wide mouth, the beer poured smoothly into the glass, although, because of the inwardly curved lip, the foam did fizz and nucleate more aggressively than in a standard pint. The glass offered medium clarity, similar to what you would find with a standard pub pint.

During testing, we found that this may not be the glass you’d evaluate beer from. If you’re transferring a beer from a can to a glass, it will certainly aerate the beer better than a can will. However, we found the lip to be thick and rounded, and it awkwardly led the beer to the palate. The sharply curved rim also pushed the liquid over the hump sharply and into the mouth. The straight walls didn't really add or detract anything to the taste.

These glasses were cleaned easily in a standard dishwasher. Run through several times, they still boasted the same level of clarity and quality. These glasses even survived a few drops from table height.

Best for Gifting

Made in Cookware Beer Glasses

5

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Gifting for the beer enthusiast? These are an excellent addition to a home beer collection. These unconventional, tall stemmed beer glasses are specifically designed to let the beer shine, from a wide, angled bowl that shows off aromas to a curved lip that allows the foam to stack perfectly in the glass. The opening of the glass is designed to let your nose fall naturally into the glass so you can fully experience the aromas. A long stem (8 inches high) keeps the heat of your hand away from the beer, meaning your suds stay colder for longer. 

“If the person is an IPA drinker a tulip glass is perfect,” says Jolicoeur. “The flaring top accentuates aromas and provides the drinker with a wider mouth to sink their nose in as they enjoy.” 

During our testing, these were, by far, the most well-packed glasses. Many of the glasses we tested were hastily packed in brown cardboard with little cushioning, but these were packed to safely protect all the contents. We found this glass nods to a Teku style in design, with the angular, stemmed shape, though they’re less sharp in silhouette and more similar to a stemmed tulip with a flared lip.

The clarity was brilliant off the bat. However, as we drank, the glass fogged quite easily. It took a little extra effort to maintain the clarity of this glass. We appreciated the thickness of the rim. It’s not whisper-thin like the Spiegelau glasses, so you can worry less about cracking the glass while polishing or snapping it in the dishwasher. It’s thin enough to let the drinks shine while maintaining a durable thickness. Like the Teku, the curve under the lip forced the beer to waterfall slowly into the mouth, letting air into the beer right before drinking it and bringing out all the best aromas. The top curve was less angular than a Teku, which helped guide the beer a little smoother towards the palate. It was a really enjoyable beer drinking experience—the glass brings a whole painter’s palette of flavors out of any beer, craft or not.

The glass comes in a set of four and is dishwasher safe for simple cleanup. The glasses held up well in the dishwasher with a quick polish.