New Glassware and Lagunitas IPA

#275 Lagunitas IPA

The Lagunitas Brewing Company

Petaluma, California, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Partially Owned by Heineken International
India Pale Ale 6.2 % ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 355 ml.

ISO Standard Tasting Glass

$2.49 (Canadian) At the LCBO ($14.95 for a six pack)

Twitter: @LagunitasBeer

So over the years I have used a number of glasses for tasting my beers. They have varied in shape and size, however, mostly I use wine glasses over beer glasses. Originally I started out with an ISO Standard Tasting Glass. Used mainly in wine tasting it tends to highlight the less than favourable qualities of the beverage. So basically if the wine can overcome the glass... it's good. From there I migrated through a number of glasses (mainly because my cat disagreed with Issac Newton and kept trying to test the theory of gravity...) I recently settled on a stemless wine glass as my go to beer taster and it does a good job of concentrating aromas and enhancing flavours. 

Teku Glass

Lately there has been some buzz in the glassware world (it's not often anyone gets to say those words...) A Italian stylist (and beer lover) partnered with brewers to develop a glass that enhanced the craft beer experience. The Teku was born. While on the surface it looks great I just wanted to put it to the test. So I thought the best way was to do a side by side taste with my stemless glass against the new Teku. I chose Lagunitas IPA because IPA is one of the main beers this glass was designed for.

Onto the side by side.

Teku Aroma: Very fruity. Tons of tropical fruit passion fruit and hints of pineapple.some sweet caramel notes with hints of vanilla and soft malt notes.

My stemless wine glass vs the Teku

Stemless Wine Aroma: Nutty and malty fruit notes are very muted more caramel and wood notes.

TeKu First Taste: Fruit driven sweet IPA with hints of lemon and orange peel

Wine glass first taste: Sweet sugary, some caramel, malt driven, tropical fruit and lemon in the background

Aeration (too similar for each glass so just recorded it once): sweet malty west coast style IPA some turbinado sugar with light hints of molasses and herbal hops notes. Some marijuana, and a little funk.





The Results


Teku Glass Pros: The build is the best positive of this glass. The long stem prevents early warming of the beer. The shape concentrates the aroma and delivers it straight to your nose. Plus I noticed that because of the shape of the glass my nose was positioned far closer to the beer helping to deliver those delicious volatile compounds and esters right into my olfactory. The lip of the glass is very thin. I have heard many people claim their biggest fear is breaking this glass. Yes, it is more delicate but that also helps by giving a nice slick runway for the liquid to be delivered onto your tongue better. Thinner glass, less turbulence, more flavour. The same principle is used in high end wine glasses. Yes it is probably best to break out the mugs for your beer if you are day drinking and out for a rip.... (or may I suggest a solo cup...) But if you are in enjoying one or two craft beer the more fragile TeKu is well suited. Lastly this beer accentuates the more subtle nuances of the beer. The fruitier lighter tones came out... mainly because those flavours are the most volatile and evaporate the quickest while the heavier malt tones and caramels tend to linger longer. The exageratted tulip of the TeKu traps the volatile compounds and gives you an opportunity to savour them before they are lost.

TeKu Cons: I think the biggest con is that this beer glass is "too good." It makes every beer taste good. Worse, it makes a flawed beer taste much better than it should.

Final Thoughts

The Teku is fine, expensive but fine. It your new date is a beer snob and you want to impress his or her pants off... Pour them a hoppy APA or a tart sour beer in this glass, and the night is going to go well (results not guaranteed). But for my purposes, a.k.a pint glass pontification... The Teku is kinda useless. However I am certainly not about breaking it out to sit in my lawn chair to watch someone else mow the lawn...

Oh, and the Lagunitas? A very good IPA Truly a shame they were bought out.

Cheers

CJT

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