Stop Asking for Beer in “frosty” Glasses
While it’s tempting to ask your beer to be poured into a frosty glass or mug to act like your own mini freezer, don’t. This is definitely something going on because there is a bar in my area that has a huge sign that says “No Frosty Glasses”. While the idea of banning frozen glasses may seem like a hipster trick, there are actually many good reasons not to drink beer from a frozen glass.
Let me preface this by saying that if you like frozen glasses , keep that in mind. There is definitely something to be said if you go outside with a cold beer on a warm day (your beer stays cold longer). But if you’re in a temperature-controlled bar where you don’t have the risk of ending up with a beer brewed in the sun, this frozen glass is doing you more harm than good.
Taste killer
In my opinion, the biggest reason to avoid frozen glasses is because cold temperatures kill the taste of the beer. Bluejacket Brewery’s Greg Engert agrees, telling Vine Pair that frosty mugs are the enemy of flavored beers: “Served too cold, [craft beer] flavors are held back.”
Having said that, if you’re drinking a cheaper beer that might not excite you much, a frozen glass is probably a good idea. As Engert says, these “macro beers” usually need to be colder and more refreshing than aromatic, so a cold container works.
Mugs aside, the ideal temperature for serving most beers is 40-50 ° F. As you get colder, you start to change the flavor. Don’t believe me? Try beer side by side in a frozen glass and one glass from a glass at room temperature. You will get a lot more from this lightly chilled beer than from an ice cold one.
Presumably you spent $ 5 on that better beer because you wanted to taste it. Don’t spoil it by placing it in a crazy cold glass and killing the nuance of its taste.
It can make it taste strange.
Since your glass was supposedly cleaned just before it was placed in the freezer, there is a good chance that some of that “frost” on the side of your glass is actually the disinfectant used to clean it. This is not what you want to drink.
Plus, this glass allows you to experience tons of crazy flavors that you don’t need in your beer. Take a close look at the freezer bar. Would you eat a sandwich that was just on the shelf in it? Probably no. That same funk is now frozen in your beer glass. The essence of the bartender’s lunch, which was added there to stay cold, is the aromas of cleaning products used to wipe the freezer overnight.
The same can be said for the home freezer . Think what food tastes like that’s been in there for too long. Why would you do this with beer unnecessarily?
It can make it more frothy.
Finally, your precious frost mug can make your beer a lot more frothy than it should be. Bubbles of carbon dioxide stick to the frost on the side of the glass. This means your beer will be much frothier than in a glass at room temperature.
Nobody wants a beer with a massive head on it, but when you put it in a frozen mug, you’re pretty much setting yourself up for failure.
Again, if you love frozen glasses, don’t let me stop you. But try both versions. You might be surprised how much better unfrozen glass can be.
This story was originally published on 10/21/17 and updated on 6/17/19 to provide more complete and up-to-date information.