Beer Clean Glass Day: Presenting Beer as Intended

It’s #BeerCleanGlass Day

Along with today being Saison Day and German Beer Day, we have one more beer-related celebration going on this year (2022) on this day, Beer Clean Glass Day!

The Cicerone® Certification Program has designated the fourth Saturday of April calling attention to what properly cleaned beer glassware looks like. The end goal is not to call out the dirty glass, but rather to educate and encourage all pubs, breweries, bars, and restaurants to take those extra little steps that could make all the difference. A Beer Clean Glass will not hinder the appearance, flavor, or aroma of the beer rather it should enhance all of them.

One could argue that clean is clean, but things aren’t always what they seem. Along with a well-maintained drought system, beer clean glassware is equally important to ensure the beer is served and consumed as the hard-working brewers intended.

Beer Clean Glass Indicators (Before Drinking)

Sheeting. Dunk the glass in water and the water will evenly sheet the interior of the glass. There should be no patterns developed by the water.

Salt Test. This one is a bit odd. Wet the inside of a glass. Then, throw salt into it. The salt should adhere to the wet glass evenly much like testing for sheeting. This is a neat trick to show a group, but you now have a dirty glass again. If the glass is dirty to begin with, the salt will not sheet evenly.

Beer Clean Glass Indicators (While Drinking)

No bubbles adhering to the glass. This is an indicator of the glass being free of soils and any oils. Co2 will be knocked out of solution if there is an impurity for the gas to latch on to. Note that etching on the bottom of the glass has the intended effect of creating a nucleation point to promote head retention and aroma release.

Head retention. If the glass is properly cleaned and there are no oils to kill the head, the cap of foam should be long-lasting and ever-present in some capacity while you drink the beer. Note: the foam may collapse to some extent regardless after you take your first sip due to the natural oils found on one’s lips.

Lacing while you drink. The rings formed by the foam as the
beer is enjoyed will adhere to the glass. If head retention is maintained as mentioned above, this marker will be visible.

Dirty Glass Indicators (Before Drinking)

No Sheeting. Dunk the glass in water and it will create patterns like a spider web, not evenly coat the glass, or bead up around any soils. This is an indicator of oil-based detergents, hard water residue, or generally dirty glass.

Visibly Dirty. Obviously. Not much else to say about this one.

Dirty Glass Indicators (While Drinking)

Bubbles will adhere to the side of the glass (see image above). The surface of glass does not promote Co2 bubbles to stick. Therefore, if you see this, it means that it may be residual sanitizer or hard water deposits at best, but it could be food, dirt, debris, fats, oils (food or soap), or a chip taken out of the glass at worst.

No head retention. This is an indicator that oil-based detergent was used. Oils will drastically dissipate any foam that may have formed under other circumstances.

Lipstick/Chapstick on Rim. This is just unsanitary. Imagine grabbing your beer, taking a sip, realizing it tastes a bit off and waxy, looking down and seeing you’ve just indirectly kissed a stranger. Mitigate this by cleaning the rim of the glass before cleaning it as one would usually.

How to Get Beer Clean Glass

First, and probably most important, is to use a cleaner that is not oil-based. Household dish detergents will usually contain lanolin and/or other oils that will leave deposits on the glass. Draught cleaning suppliers and restaurant suppliers will carry oil-free detergents designed for glassware. They don’t need to be low foaming but can be useful if a 3 or 4-compartment sink has electric spinning brushes. A dishwasher machine can be used if an establishment prefers to use one, so long as it is dedicated to beer and barware. No dairy!

Whether by hand in a 3 or 4-compartment sink or a dishwasher, care must be taken to ensure the correct dose of detergent, rinse-aid to mitigate any hardness, and sanitizer.

For manual cleaning in a 3 or 4 compartment sink, dump any remaining beer either in an empty sink or a standpipe to bypass the brushes, wash/scrub the glass with the brushes, wash the glass heal-in and heal-out in the next sink, then sanitize in the last sink heal-in heal-out. Let the glassware air dry upside down.

Usually, a glass rinser often is used right before serving the beer from a faucet. This is to remove any residual sanitizer or dust that may have found its way into the glass, slightly chills the glass, and more importantly creates a wet surface on the glass to let the beer flow into it with little fr
iction.

A word on chilled or frozen glassware. A chilled glass is ok, but it may take on the flavors present in the fridge it was stored. The glass rinser will provide adequate cooling.

Frozen glassware is never recommended! Think about it. Once the glass is cleaned and sanitized, it is then placed in the freezer. The sanitizer is frozen over the glass and the beer is, in turn, poured over it. Two things will happen. First, the frozen crystals create a rough surface for the beer to flow over and will create a turbulent pour with way too much carbonation and foam creation. This causes the foam to be poured down the drain, which is a waste of product, and the beer that’s left is way too flat. Second, the icebergs you see floating atop that may look refreshing are indeed frozen sanitizer that has ended up in your beer! Ask for a non-frozen class whenever possible.

It's ok to send a beer back, just be polite about it. Usually, the server may be unaware of the issues, and it is not their fault. Please keep that in mind. There is no need to be snobby or rude about it and also keep in mind your location as any mention of this may be ignored outright.

Below are some additional resources for you to read/watch for even more information to make sure the beer is enjoyed as it was meant to me.

Cheers!

Gilbert “Charlie” Perez, Advanced Cicerone®

Additional Resources

Beer Clean Glass Video (YouTube)

https://www.cicerone.org/us-en/blog/celebrate-beer-clean-glass-day

https://www.cicerone.org/us-en/blog/the-cicerone-guide-to-drinking-beer-at-home

 

The Reinheitsgebot and German Beer Day!

Bitburger Pils
The Phoenix Club, Anaheim, CA

*Originally Published 4/23/2021, Updated 4/23/2022*

Happy #GermanBeerDay!

On this day over 500 years ago, April 23, 1516, Duke of Bavaria, Wilheim IV decreed what will eventually be the longest still-standing brewing standard we now refer to as the German Purity Law: The Reinheitsgebot.

The story goes, this law was enacted so brewers could produce quality beer using only water, hops, and barley malt. Yeast was not mentioned because they did not yet know about what it was, it is said. Although it makes for a wonderful story, this is only partially true. Of the over 300 translated words, a bit less than 30 of them are about beer.

Among other reasons, the Purity Law was legislated to stabilize the price of bread by ensuring barley was used for beer and resulted in only backers could use wheat for bread and the royals could use wheat for their beer. Wilheim IV, as a member of the royal Bavarian family, the Wittelsbach’s, had a historical, unwilling hand in the modern-day Weissbier (Hefeweizen) with this order, too. By the way, the Wittelsbach's are also the royal family that would later celebrate (in 1810) a wedding of a prince that would later become the Oktoberfest.

An undisputed positive result was the ban on the use of some ingredients that were harming beer drinkers before the proclamation was enacted. Additives, such as belladonna or wormwood, would have some psychedelic and/or toxic effects that understandably found their way off the list of approved list of ingredients.

It can be argued the non-mention of yeast is because it did not stay in the beer. However, it is most likely that yeast was indeed known at that time because there were brewery workers called ‘hefener,’ and ‘hefe’ means yeast. They were responsible to put the ‘zeug’ (stuff) leftover from one batch to another to encourage fermentation. Perhaps they did know it was yeast, which could explain why it was left out, but they knew it did the job. In other words, it may be that yeast was simply implied.

This law only applied to Bavarian breweries, too. Lager brewing was very well established by this time and the restrictions in The Purity Law were favorable, luckily. In 1553, Wilheim’s successor and son, Duke Albrecht V, outlawed brewing in the summer months due to the inconsistent beers being produced during these warmer months. The dates Albrecht chose were April 23rd, the original date of his father’s proclamation, to September 29th. They didn't understand why, yet they knew fermentation and cold storage (“Lagern,” German verb “to store”) done in the colder months of the year resulted in higher quality beers.

Northern breweries were predominantly Ale producers and most used either wheat and/or other spices. In fact, Köln (Cologne) enacted a similar decree in 1603 that outlawed bottom-fermenting (Lager) brewing to preserve the brewing tradition and beer quality. Some have speculated this was done in direct response, while the timing may only be a coincidence. The more logical reason is the clement in Northern Germany is warmer on average and is more suitable for top-fermenting (Ale) conditions.

To add more confusion, in 1551, Bavaria began to allow the use of some additional ingredients, such as coriander, and in 1616 more ingredients were added, like salt. German Unification in 1871 resulted in a law that omitted mention of any ingredient restriction for taxation purposes. Ale and Lagers were separated in the law in 1906 and the ingredient restriction only applied to Lagerbier.

The first time the decree was referred to as “The Purity Law” was not until after World War I. Bavaria joined the new German union under the pretense that their version of the Purity Law joined with them, thereby creating two laws once again, for Ales and Lagers. It was referred to as the Reinheitsgebot from 1919 going forward. This means the Lager brewing tradition that was perfected in Bavaria can still adhere to their law while the Ale producers (Kölsch, Alt, Weisse, Gose, etc…) are also legal. Both laws are now under the Biersteuergesetz (Beer Tax Law) after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, unifying Germany yet again.

In 1987, the European Union declared that imported beer into Germany does not need to meet The Purity Law.

The 1993( most recent) update to the law further clarifies what was done in 1906. The law is still the same, with the addition of being more restrictive in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg with no additional adjunct sugars permitted, even for Ale, and Bavaria can not use sugar adjuncts even for export.

Clear enough? No!? Well, that's understandable. Given the turbulent past in that region, the constant modification of the law makes it difficult to follow. Add to that the use of the word Reinheitsgebot in marketing and we have the understanding (or misunderstanding?) of the proclamation.

On this German Beer Day, take joy that the pride of German brewing tradition is alive and well. Hoist your pint up and appreciate the part of history that played an integral part in shaping that beer.

Prost!

Gilbert “Charlie” Perez, Advanced Cicerone®

References

Alworth, J. (2015, 2021). The Beer Bible. Workman.

Dornbusch, H. D. (1997). Prost! The Story of German Beer. Brewers Publications (Brewers Association).

Kraus-Weyermann, T., Dornbusch, H. D. (2018). Dark Lagers: History, Mystery, Brewing Techniques, Recipes. Master Brewers Associations of the Americas (MBAA).