If you’re anything like me, you have too much glassware. Far, far too much. But what if you wanted to narrow it down to just 2 or 3 glasses, do you think you could? Dave emailed me in hopes of trying to find the perfect glassware for his new bar:

I’m currently building a home bar with an intention of having the minimum of glassware type.

I have recently narrowed down my wine glasses to buy to 2. That apparently can serve and enhance all wines. I would like to find a beer glass or 2 or fit the same purpose. At present, I find I need to have about 5 to 10 ‘different’ types of glasses for different beer. Heck, Riedel has about 200 glasses for their wine. WAY TOO MUCH. I think 10 different beer glasses is likewise too much. I presently use a pint glass but want to enjoy and enhance my beer drinking.

If I was forced down to just two glasses, a deserted-island selection, these would be my two choices:

The first would be the tulip glass from New Belgium Brewery. I find that it provides just about the most perfect beer drinking vessel for almost any style. Enough room to swirl the beer for aroma without spilling any. Enough volume to hold a full beer with a lot of head, which is perfect for your Belgian style beers. Also enough surface area to allow for easy warming if the beer is served too cold. It’s my go-to glass for beers I really want to take time to enjoy. My only issue is that I wish I could find it without a NB logo.

My second choice is just a standard Imperial Pint Glass. With having two homebrews on tap at any time, it’s nice to walk downstairs and pour off 20oz of beer whenever I like. It also makes drinking things like Pale Ales and Stouts just seem more authentic.

One other thing to possibly consider Dave, since you’re doing a bar with wine as well look at getting some large Champagne flutes. They’re just about the same shape as a pilsner glass and would allow you to do double duty. I’d be curious what everyone else thinks about possible glass choices.

It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled down Watson Road, it’s amazing to see some of the changes. There’s a whole new complex west of the Best Buy and Schnucks, Crestwood Mall is called Crestwood Court (also, it’s interesting that I remember when Crestwood was considered the “nice” mall and South County was the dirt mall, but it seems like they’ve swapped and South County is the nice one now) and the complex that houses Friar Tuck once held a Sport Authority and a Sears store. Anyway, enough of this Andy Rooney-esque rant.

Store: Friar Tuck Address: 9053 Watson Road, St. Louis, MO 63126 (Map it) Phone: 314-918-9230 Selection: “Everything that is offered in Missouri”

I’ll be perfectly honest, I was really impressed with Friar Tuck when I first walked in. It’s extremely well organized and very visually appealing. I probably should have snapped some photos of the wine section, but hey, this is a beer blog. After talking to a few to the store manager and assistant store manager, I quickly realized these guys were all about beer as well. They talked to me about what they had, what they’d like to see and even asked me what my dream list of breweries not distributed would be.

They claimed they have acquired every beer that’s currently being distributed in Missouri and after quickly looking over their selection, I’m prone to believe them. While the beer on the shelves is very impressive what also got my attention were the massive beer coolers. If I had to take a guess, about 60% of the beer on the shelves was also available cold.

Some other neat areas of mention was the large line of unbranded glassware they have to offer. Bill and I have discussed this quite a bit, and as we’ve gotten older, we’re not as interested in having advertisements on our beer glassware. I’d like to have glassware I can use for everyday use without looking like I’m still in college. Also mentioned was that they’re going to begin selling homebrewing equipment and ingredients as well.

Be sure to stop in and tell them what you think and what you’d like to see. It’s good to have another option in the excellent St. Louis beer retail scene.

You may remember way back last year when Boston Brewing Company, the makers of Samuel Adams beer, debuted the ultimate beer glass.  The glass was designed for ultimate beer enjoyment with a narrow base to keep your beer cool and a tulip top to allow for maximum aroma.  One of the other design features was laser etching at the bottom of the glass that provides a nucleation point for continuous bubbling from the CO2, which also helps to provide more aroma from the beer.  This isn’t new technology, Champagne glasses have had this feature for quite some time.

Well, it looks like AB has followed suit and has designed a glass of their own which also contains the same laser etching feature found in the Samuel Adams glasses.  And from the looks of the picture Paul from The Wine and Cheese Place sent me, it looks like it really works.  If you looking for a beer glass that’s not nearly as funky looking as the Sam Adams ones, this may be your best option.