Wheat beer glass
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Collins glass
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A wheat beer glass is a glass that is used to serve wheat beer, known also as Weizenbier or Weißbier. The German glass generally holds 0.5 litres with room for foam or "head". It is much taller than a pint glass, and starts out very skinny before growing slightly at the top. In other countries such as Belgium, the glass may be 0.25 litres or 0.33 litres.
[edit] Pouring the beer
Pouring the beer into the glass requires skill as a lot of foam is built when pouring and without the right technique, you will invariably end up with a glass filled with a tiny bit of beer at the bottom and lots of foam on the top.
Always start by wetting the inner surface of the glass with cold water. This reduces the surface tension and limits the bubble formation which would otherwise cause overfoaming.
Then hold the glass at an angle of approximately 45°, and boldly pour in the beer (from a well-cooled bottle). While pouring, the beer should not fall freely, as it will otherwise turn to foam when hitting the glass. To accomplish this there are two techniques:
- Touch the inner top rim of the glass with the top of the bottle and pour slowly or push the whole bottle with one elegant move upside-down into the glass so that its opening is immersed in beer and swiftly pull it up as the beer fills the glass.
With either method, before draining the bottle completely, it is common to return the bottle upright and swirl any remaining yeast (particularly common in Hefeweizen beers) into the remainder of the liquid, before topping up the glass. This completes the foam cap and ensures the full flavour of the yeast is distributed into the beer. The yeast can sometimes be seen falling through the glass after a successful execution.
Correctly pouring a glass of Weißbier is an art which any self-respecting adult Bavarian or Tyrolean is expected to have practised well enough to execute flawlessly. (It is considered a disgrace to be unable to pour the whole half-litre bottle into the glass or — even worse — let foam spill over requiring one to hastily suck it up.)
