Pint Glass
The Pint Glass is the beer glass most often seen in drinking establishments. Pint Glasses are cylinder-shaped with the mouth of the glass being wider than the base.
There are two standard sizes, the 16-ounce US Pint Glass and the 20-ounce Imperial Pint Glass. Imperial Pint Glasses normally a bulge at the top of the glass while the standard Pint Glass is straight and tapered. Ales are typically served in the Pint Glass.
The Imperial Pint Glasses is used to hold a larger quantity of beer or for styles of beer with that pour with a significant head.
Mug
Mugs are strong, heavy, large beer glasses with a handle.
Mugs come in many styles, shapes, and sizes, with the 12-ounce, 16-ounce, and 20-ounce being the most popular.
The Mug is appropriate for most styles of Ale.
Flute
The Flute glass offers a higher degree of style and elegance to certain styles of beer. Beers poured into the Flute Glass typically have long-lasting carbonation, due to the fact that the shape of Flute Glass allows carbonation to escape rapidly.
Flute Glasses are often used for drinking champagne. Beers typically served in the Flute Glass include Belgian-style lambics, fruit lambics and gueuze beers, as well as many others. A Flute Glass built with beer in mind will typically have a shorter stem than the traditional champagne glass.
Pilsner
The Pilsner Glass is typically a tall, thin, tapered 12-ounce glass.
The Pilsner Glass captures the sparkling effervesces within the beer while trapping some of the carbonation that the similarly shaped Flute Glass allows out.
The Pilsner Glass is typically served with American, European, German, and Czech-style pilsners and lagers.
Goblet
The Goblet is a wide-bowled glass, perfect for capturing the aromas of most strong ales, like barleywine-style ales.
They are normally smaller than typical beer glasses such as the Pint Glass and the Flute, since Beers served in a Goblet typically have a high alcohol content. The small stem of the Goblet is to help in twirling the beer and agitating the aroma and head.
Some goblets are larger than normal, resembling a chalice.
Chalice
Chalices are conventionally reserved for Belgian-style or Trappist and Abbey dubbels and triples.
Chalices are highly dignified pieces of glassware and often the rim of the Chalice will be ringed with silver or gold.
Chalices are often designed to maintain a 2 centimeter head, allowing for a sufficient union of flavors and aromas to come to light.
Tulip
The Tulip glass is quite similar in shape to the Goblet.
The difference between the Tulip and the Goblet is the lip at the top that helps catch the head of the beer if it is poured properly.
The Tulip glass is ideal for most Belgian-style beers.
Weizen
The Weizen beer glass is built to hold Wheat Beers, particularly those of German origin.
Wheat beers, especially of Germanic origin, are often served in taller versions of a pilsner glass, due to their being bottled in larger sizes and to accommodate their huge heads.
The Weizen is built like a taller version of the traditional Pilsner glass. The taller glass is preferable due to these styles being bottled in larger sizes as well as to accommodate their unusally large head.
