Function meets Form: The New Sam Adams Beer Glass
I recently attended a party sponsored by The Boston Beer Company (BBC). This was their way of rewarding the hard-working volunteers at the Atlantic City Beer Festival, of which I was one. The other reason they decided to throw the party was to let all of us know about the new Samuel Adams beer glass. We all received a free sample of the glass to take with us. I have to hand it BBC, the more I read about the development of the glass and the more I use the glass, I continue to be more impressed. Imagine spending a few hundred thousand dollars and countless hours of evaluation just to design a beer glass!
The Sam Adams glass is not just an ordinary glass. When you really understand what went into designing this thing you start to think that this is something out of Q’s laboratory: “Here 007, notice there is a laser-cut nucleation site at the bottom. This is to release the CO2 gas from the beer. If you need to quickly escape, simply pour a Miller-Lite into it and you’ll be whisked away by the rush of carbonation”…
Wow! That’s cool!
OK, the glass isn’t really that attractive I admit . But it is the result of empirical testing and application specific design. Jim Koch (BBC’s Founder, Prez, and brewer), commissioned a Boston-based design company called Triax to come up with a design that would enhance the flavors of his Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Three months and a 300-page report later, they were ready to start “sensory” testing. This was the chosen design. It is manufactured by Rastal and is available at Boston Beer’s website.
Cheers! To Jim Koch and Boston Beer for realizing how using the proper glass can really make a difference and then putting their money where their mouth is. By the way, the glass works well with just about any beer with flavor.
