I thought of Reg for the first time in years when enjoying a glass or two of Lagunitas IPA in the Hops and Glory in
Islington. It’s an amiable and easy-going kind of pub, named after a certain
book that anyone with any interest in beer should read and majoring in (let’s
not beat around the bush) craft beers. So there I was with my first pint of
Lagunitas’ IPA and decided that I needed another to get to the heart of what
the beer was all about. Another please, the bar man nodded, would I like it one
of Lagunitas’ branded ‘jam jars’. He showed me it and yes it looked like a jam
jar. Does it hold a pint I asked? It did. I’ve drank from some curious glasses
(if I order a glass of Kwak in my local there are always people who have never
seen the test-tube-in-a-wooden-bracket glass before and it seems to cause a
minor sensation but then we live in the countryside and we still turn out in
droves to watch the air ambulance land on the football field) and once at
Boston airport I rather enjoyed a glass of Sam Adams from that peculiar glass
that the brewery developed with the aim of enhancing the flavour and aroma of
the beer (I thought it worked even though the glass’s shape reminded me of that
bloke’s face in The Scream).
Back to the jam jar. As I write I’m still trying to
work out my feelings about it — yes it was simple and utilitarian, easy to
hold, and the perfect alternative to the handled dimpled hipster’s choice mug
(the sort of glass you’d imagine Ukip members drink from), but I’m still not
sure whether it’s a bit of a gimmick. What does it say about the beer in the
glass? That it’s ordinary and down-to-earth? That nobody really cares how it’s
served. That it’s quirky (as in Timmy Mallet rather than Dali)? On the other
hand why shouldn’t an IPA become as John Doe as PBR or Bud? It’s a lovely beer,
being spicy, peppery, hoppy, fruity, dry and bitter over several layers, a beer
that given time I would have studied for the rest of the evening. Yet, the jam
jar haunts me, I wonder why?
I've never concerned myself with the proper glass or, worse, the perfect one. Yes, the vessel will set a tone presenting the flavour. But it is like the audiophile who needs 1970s speakers and an amp for his early punk or disco LPs. Sounds fine otherwise, too. Besides, what if in this case the brewery brewed the beer for maximum experience via a jam jar? This is the beer as intended.
ReplyDeleteI think the beer came first and the jam jar came much later — I’m looking for a brewery to develop a glass commode from which to sip their beer.
ReplyDeleteI suspect it still haunts you due to the feeling of unease that having gimmicky bollocks thrust upon you causes.
ReplyDeleteThe correct response to the question "would you like your beer served in a jam jar?" is "Do I look like a c**t?"
ReplyDeleteSeems they're taking the 'de-poncification route' of implying it's an honest beer to be enjoyed passively, not mulled over for too long. Something I pondered on in a similar fashion here: www.eatingisntcheating.co.uk/2014/04/how-much-does-packaging-affect-our.html
ReplyDeleteAlthough admittedly I was talking about putting craft beer in cans or those malt-liquor shaped bottles that red hook and camden use.
I *cannot* stand them. They look great on the shelf, but are inpractical for drinking. I've used them twice, as you say, in the company of 'hipsters', and found the edge of them contributed to much dribbling, Or maybe that was because I was one of the 'oldies' in the bar, you never know...
ReplyDeleteHello. Lagunitas here. The jam jars you're referring to are, here in the colonies, known as Mason jars. Back in the days of prohibition it was the bootleggers who used mason jars to package their wares. So there's a little bit of connection between alcohol beverages and that glass. A pirate history, if you will. But the actual truth is, I got a little sick of seeing all the precious specialty glassware that was evolving around craft beer. Pretentious. And I just wanted to go the other direction completely...Cheers all.
ReplyDeleteCheers all for your comments and thanks Lagunitas for shedding some light on their origins
ReplyDeleteScientifically, we have been shown to drink faster (so over an evening, more) out of those curvy pint glasses that go in at the bottom like an inverted pear shape. A straight glass makes it FAR too easy to judge how much you're drinking. The weirder the shape, the more you drink. So this looks like a kind of self-defeating shaped glass for a bar to choose - sort of sweet, really. At least it still looks like a drinking glass, for comfort. Why people would CHOOSE to drink out of something with a thick edge with an added ridge, 80 years after prohibition and in another country, seems just beyond rational analysis.
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