The Mythology of Glassware.

We've got a mirrored hutch full of fancy beer glasses. They're mostly from a six-month flurry of collecting after we first moved here a few years ago. Thankfully, before things got out of hand, we realized most of them were useless. OK, useless is a strong word. They do hold liquid. They have a use. Impractical. That's the word.

Here's another in a long series of myths about Belgian beer: Each beer must be served in its own special glass. What nonsense. (In fact I suspect it may be what the bruxelloise call a zwanze – a practical joke. On all the rest of us.)*

And here's a universal truth about all beer, including that from Belgium: Each beer is best drunk from the glass from which you would most enjoy drinking it.

Finally, here's something I've never told anyone: As much as I love most Trappist beers, I hate the chalices. Especially the stylish Orval glass. They look pretty and that's about it. They don't do the beer any favors. Give me an Orval — bitter, complex pale ale that it is — in a straight-sided tumbler any day. Give me an intensely aromatic Westvleteren 12 in a brandy snifter, which nearly demands sipping and swirling and contemplation. The chalice lets all that aroma just slip away. It's kind of a waste.

But that's just ranting. What do you like to drink from what?

*Joke or not, it's great marketing. Pushing your competitors' glasses off the shelf behind the bar is a nice way to increase visibility.