Use the right beer glasses

If your idea of glassware for beer is limited to the bottle it comes in, you're cheating yourself.

Beer needs air. It doesn't like being bottled up. Freeing it from its glassy confine allows beer's complexities to stand out. An added benefit: You'll burp less because some of the carbon dioxide can escape.

But what to drink it from?

For many drinkers, any glass will do, even, heaven forbid, an icy mug pulled from the freezer. If you store your mugs in the freezer, do yourself a favor: Don't. Cold beer is one thing, but beer served too cold dulls the taste buds, and the frosted glass can pick up flavors from the freezer, which will detract from the beer. The icy coating can also water down beer.

As it is for wine, a variety of glassware is available for beer's many styles.

"Traditionally, most breweries, especially those over in Europe, have their own glass styles to go with their styles of beer," said Jeffrey Walewski, owner of Sharp Edge Creekhouse, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant well-regarded for its beer selection.

Let's look at some:

The American pint glass: With its sides widening from bottom to top, this standby is good enough for most beers. The style developed from cocktail shakers, Walewski said.

The mug: This vessel has fallen out of favor. Its thick walls do a good job of insulating; it's fine for typical American beers.

Hefeweizen glass: This tall glass flares out in a graceful curve from bottom to top. It's a treat to see a talented bartender place it atop a bottle, turn them right side up and slowly lift the bottle to pour the beer. The large glass has plenty of room for Hefeweizen's thick, creamy head of foam.

Goblet or fishbowl: Stemmed glasses are most often used, in some variation, for complex Belgian beers. Walewski said each Belgian brewer has its own style of glass — bars won't serve one brewer's beer in another brewer's glass. If a given brewer's glasses are all in use, you have to pick another beer.

Pilsner: These glasses, resembling a thicker version of a champagne flute, make an attractive presentation for their honey-hued namesake brew.

Thistle: This glass takes its name from its shape, which resembles a thistle — Scotland's national flower — and is used for heavy Scotch ales.

Whatever glass is used, it should be for beer only. With milk especially, fats can remain and detract from the head. Glasses should be washed in hot water and air-dried.

A savvy beer drinker would be well-suited to have a couple of glasses on hand to match her favorite beers.

The correct glass "accents the whole experience of drinking the beer, not only with taste, but with smell, the opening up," Walewski said. "When you tip the glass, you get that rush of smell coming down your nose."