By Willie Simpson

For a nation of beer drinkers who love to imbibe straight from the neck of a bottle, we are slowly beginning to embrace the concept of premium glassware. Sure, there’s fair way to go, but if we’re going to get serious about educating palates on the merits of craft beer, the tasting journey has to be matched with appropriate glasses.

Drinking from the bottle does nothing for the flavour experience, and denies the eye-pleasing presentation of a perfectly-poured beer in a stylish glass. After all, we appreciate beer first with our eyes and the crowning glory of that collar of foam should entice the drinker, a few moments before the nose and palate come into play. Besides which, drinking straight from the bottle makes you bloated.

Anyone who has visited one of our local Belgian beer cafes will be familiar with the elaborate pouring regime and serving beers in their own distinctive glasses – goblets, flutes and mini yard-glasses among them. And the number of these glasses which go missing in action – young ladies with bulky handbags are the major culprit, I’m told – suggests that they make elegant trophies for the home. Hopefully, they still get used to serve beer rather than gather dust on a shelf.

The range of Spiegelau Beer Classics is now available in Australia, offering some European flair for serious beer consumers.

“It’s the fastest-growing category across our whole product range, including Riedel [wine glasses],” says Mark Baulderstone, managing director of Riedel Nachtmann Spiegelau (Australia). The main outlets for Spiegelau are department stores like David Jones and Myer.

“Glassware is a very considered purchase and usually a gift item,” he says.

The range includes a typical vase-like wheat beer glass, a tall pilsner number, a broad glass suitable for either lager or ale, and a stemmed pilsner glass which is also recommended for Belgian ales and stouts. Each variety is sold as a twin-pack.

“The stemmed pilsner glass dwarves all other glass sales by two to one,” says Baulderstone. “It has multiple uses but we know people will choose glasses more because they like the look of them.

“The wheat beer glass does a lot better than I thought it would – after all, it’s only meant for wheat beer.”

Baulderstone has been organizing tasting promotions showcasing the Beer Classics range matched with local craft beers, depending on which state they are held.

“We ask people to first sip the beer from the bottle,” he says. “Then we get them to pour some of the beer into one of our glasses and taste it. They are genuinely shocked that beer out of a bottle tastes that bad.

“It’s been a great learning experience for us and I reckon beer will go through that same evolution as wine did here 15-20 years ago. If you look at where the craft beer market is going at the moment, it’s all about quality over consumption.”

Baulderstone says the next step is to target upper-end restaurants, who might be encouraged to offer Spiegelau glassware with a carefully selected beer list.

“Look at where sommeliers have come with wine and [craft] beer is the next path for them,” he says. “We need to see better and broader beer lists. If consumers are going to pay $10 or $15 for a beer they want a glass which offers a higher level of service.”

Details: spiegelau.com.au