The Boston Lager Pint Glass is no accident. It's designed to deliver colder beer to the perfect spot on the drinker's tongue. THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY Visit the Photo Place

INVENTION LEAVING FROSTY MUG IN DUST Cheers to glass that elevates beer drinking page 2

High-tech beer glass more than a marketing tool

Date published: 7/8/2007

TIAX, a Cambridge-based tech company that also works with the Department of Defense, helped Boston Brewing decide on goals for the pint glass. A number of glass manufacturers submitted prototypes, and ultimately German glassware manufacturer Rastal created the merger of style and function they were seeking.

A small ridge inside the top rim creates turbulence to increase carbonation and aroma release just as beer reaches the drinker's palate.

The outward-turned lip of the glass places the beer on the front of the tongue where sweetness is tasted instead of dumping it farther back in the mouth as most glasses tend to do.

Narrowing at the top of the glass concentrates the head and enhances aroma.

Thinner walls and a round shape provide a greater volume-to-surface ratio, maintaining cold temperature longer.

A narrow grip reduces exposure to heat from the hand.

A "nucleation site" increases hop-aroma release.

Koch called the glass's "turbulator" a "ski jump that creates turbulence and releases carbonation just as it hits the tip of the tongue."

The nucleation sites, he said, "release a column of bubbles all during the drinking experience."

Koch compared the large bowl shape of the glass to that of a wine glass.

He said Boston Brewing Co. spent a six-figure sum developing the glass.

"This is really the first time we or anybody else have done this based purely on focusing on enhancing the flavor experience," Koch said.

"The glass wasn't designed to be beautiful, it wasn't designed to create an image, it was designed for one purpose--to enhance the flavor of the beer."

Koch's contention that beer glasses have been designed to bounce on barroom floors in the past is only partly true.

Pint glasses, best for serving stouts, porters and English ales, generally come in flared-top, conical and jug shapes.

As Fitzpatrick points out, in Europe glasses intended for different types of beer have been shaped differently for hundreds of years,

Tall, slender pilsner glasses taper without curving.

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The Boston Lager Pint Glass is available at the Sam Adams e-store at samueladams.com.

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Date published: 7/8/2007