Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

The 7 Best Stout Beer Glassware Choices in 2022

By

Stout beer glassware has changed considerably since the Imperial Pint Glass or the Nonic Pint Glass were invented. The Imperial Stout Glass is what you would typically find your Guinness in. It looks like a regular pint glass but it also has a weird bulb shape near the rim of the glass. Since then, stout glassware has evolved into the use of tulip glasses or snifters.

A little Beer 101 for Stout Glasses seems to be in order. We’re going to leave behind the typical pints, beer mugs, and pilsner glass because yes, every beer has its glass soulmate. Just as there are several cocktail glasses, there are also different types of beer glasses to enhance the beer’s flavor profile. It’s not that regular pints and mugs don’t have their place, because they do. When talking about craft beer, it’s about the body, the viscosity, the aroma, the flavor, and the visual appeal.

Recommended Videos

Think about it. When you pour a beer, it seems to dance, sparkle, foam, and you get that hoppy aroma. That is why a snifter beer glass, tulip glass, or yes, even a wine glass (in a pinch) is perfect for stouts. The shape of these glasses allows the hands to gently increase the beer temperature. This in turn enhances and the beer’s head and in doing so, the head (or foam) is where the beer’s aroma comes from – those tiny bubbles trapping the beer’s fragrance.

Related

1. Luigi Bormioli Birrateque Craft Beer Snifter Glasses (Set of 2)

two stout snifter glasses
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The crystal glass snifter is made specifically to allow the beer to flow and avoid heat transfer from your hands. Think of it as hybrid-style glassware and a mix between a snifter and a tulip glass. This glass will allow you to draw out the depth of the beer’s aroma. You will be able to see as well as smell the structure of these delicious and complex beers.

2. JoyJolt Grant Beer Glasses, Set of 4

empty grant beer glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ok, call us traditionalists if you must but this JoyJolt Beer Drinking Glass is a wonderful vessel that will hold up to 19 ounces of your favorite stout. The style of glass is known as Nonik, or Nonic, and is made from thick glass. Originally they were designed with a bulge at the top for added grip, to strengthen the rim, and to not stick when stacking. Little did anyone know they would turn out to be one of the best glasses for the kind of foam thickness only found in stouts or porters.

3. Spiegelau Stout 21 oz. Craft Beer Glass (Set of 4)

spiegelau stout beer glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This fine set of German-made beer glassware was created in 2014 by Spiegelau in partnership with stout brewers from the United States. Spiegelau had an IPA glass project that turned out so well, they decided to create a product for stout beers. After design work and a lot of research and development, they created eight custom shapes and this is the version that won out. The shape of the glass is not typical in pint glasses and it enhances the roasted malt, rich coffee, and chocolate notes of the stout-styled beer.

4. Luigi Bormioli 20.25 Ounce Birrateque Stout Glass, Set of 2

luigi bormioli birrateque stout glass
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Another Luigi Bormioli glass is the Birrateque Stout Glass made from lead-free glass with a contoured chamber. This glass was designed to enhance the flavor, aroma, and creaminess so you can experience the roasted malt and scent profiles. The Foam Control System maintains a fine and continuous foamy head due to the etchings made on the bottom of the glass. This stout beer glass set was designed explicitly for stouts and as a porter beer glass.

5. Holmegaard Humle Stout Beer Glasses, Set of 4

holmegaard humle stout beer glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Holmesgaard has been in the glassmaking business since the 1820s and has been Denmark’s royal glassmaker ever since. This stout glass shape is created from mouth-blown lead-free glass, and is fire cut and polished by hand. It features a snifter-styled bowl with a large round shape designed to release the beer’s rich aromas and fragrant volatiles and allows you to swirl the beer and develop its profile even further. Once you take a drink, all of the aromas collect at the narrow rim of the glass filling your senses with complex flavor profiles.

6. Bruges Beer Glass

bruges stout beer glass.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This beer glass is made in Germany and is known as a Belgian glass. The tulip glass shape resembles a cross between a goblet and a snifter. It has a round bowl on a short stem and the glass tapers at the rim to capture aromas. The curve of the rim is perfect to create that foam known to stouts and allows you to swirl the beer to release its fragrance.

7. Schott Zwiesel Beer Glasses

schott zwiesel beer glass
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Made from titanium crystal, these glasses are made to bring out the best in your stouts. Schott Zwiesel uses Tritan Crystal technology that is barium and lead free. The titanium crystal is a crystal that is reinforced with non-toxic titanium metal and zirconium to make it scratch, chip, and break-resistant. Think of it as the glass being infused with titanium which typically involves nanotechnology creating a hard protective covering on the glassware or crystal. The deep base, the tulip shape, and the flared rim create the perfect environment for your stout to breathe and develop additional flavor.

How to Drink Stout

It’s all about the experience. Same as when you dine out, you are there for the food but also the experience. The glassware enhances your experience and it’s much better than just sipping out of the beer bottle. Here are four quick tips on drinking a stout:

  • Pour the beer into the glass slowly and don’t stop until you can leave about a finger’s width of beer in the bottle. This is to avoid the yeast from going into the glass.
  • The stout should be between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit unless it has a higher ABV then you can have it chilled to 55 or 60 degrees.
  • If your stout is colder, then let it breathe after you have poured it. Use your hands to warm it up a little. Cold beverages typically mute or mask flavors that weren’t intended to be hidden.
  • Drink responsibly and enjoy one of the best beers out there.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Joe Morales
Joe Morales
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joe Morales is a trained chef with over five years of experience working in fine dining and Michelin recommended restaurants…
Stout vs. porter: The real differences between the beers
Do you know how to tell them apart?
Schlafly Beer Nitro Irish Stout

It's easy to lump beer styles together, especially when we're talking about a stout vs. porter. But the two are distinctive genres in craft and it pays to know what makes each of them unique to truly enjoy their singularity in the glass. Porter beers and stout beers are perfect for fall and winter, just as they are for the summer. Basically, they're year-round beers but are sometimes enjoyed more at certain times of the year.

So, before you start confusing West Coast IPAs with hazy IPAs and smoothie sours with standard sours, let's offer a little wisdom on porter vs. stout. In fact, a little context is especially welcome when it comes to porters and stouts, as even brewers can't always agree on how the two are different. They have more in common than not, so it can be a little hard to know what you're sipping and to answer the question, "What is stout beer?"

Read more
The best imperial stout beer to drink this winter
Enjoy these rich, robust drinks
Stout

When the weather turns cold and the days continue to get shorter and shorter, while we still imbibe lighter beers like pilsners and pale ales from time to time, we mostly turn our attention to stouts. We love these robust, wintry beers’ roasted malts, chocolate, and coffee flavors.

For those unaware, imperial stouts are richer, more robust, fuller versions of the classic stout beer with more roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee, and sometimes smoky aromas and flavors. On top of that, imperial stouts get an extra kick by being higher in alcohol than their classic counterparts. We’re talking 8-10% ABV in general. If that doesn’t warm you up on a frigid fall or winter day, nothing will.

Read more
Everything you ever wanted to know about bourbon barrel-aged stout beer
Jim Beam and Goose Island are responsible for this delicious beer
Stouts on a wall

You might not realize it because it seems like a fairly new beer phenomenon, but bourbon barrel-aged stouts have been around for more than 20 years. It all started on a random evening in the early '90s in South Bend, Indiana. It was a beer, bourbon, and cigar dinner featuring some big wigs in those three industries. In attendance was Goose Island Brewing’s Greg Hall. If you believe in fate, this is where the story of bourbon barrel-aged stouts began.

Hall could have been seated near anyone or he could have had other obligations and might not have attended the dinner at all. But the proverbial beer-soaked stars were aligned that night because the former Goose Island brewmaster met Booker Noe (grandson of Jim Beam and Beam’s master distiller at the time) at that event. Noe told him and another brewer named Seth Gross about the various things he randomly added to bourbon barrels, including water and ice, to create a bourbon version of iced tea. This is where the idea of aging stout beer in ex-bourbon barrels was formed.

Read more