How Do You Clean Your Beer Glasses?

squonk

I was having a Slow Lives by GBB outside for the evening that’s in it! This weather is brilliant. The thing I noticed though is that the lager went flat almost as soon as I’d poured it. I was pouring carefully mine you because I didn’t want a huge head but it got me wondering if my glass was clean but not beer clean. I throw my glasses in the dishwasher where they get washed with the rest of the household stuff. I know there’s a whole ritual you see barmen going through in a quiet pub rinsing tge glasses then popping them into a washer and drying them when they come out. Just wondering what you guys do or if you go through any particular routines to get beer clean glasses? I will say though it could have been the beer. It was from a cold can but I had a Western Herd Irish Red Ale and noe a McCrackrns Pilsner and they seem to be holding some kind of head. I might be overthinking this!

Insect Overlord

My Erdinger and 8 Degrees glasses won't fit properly on the top shelf of the dishwasher anyway, so I usually clean them by hand. Loads of cold water and elbow grease with a fresh tea-towel. Same thing with my Belgian glasses 'cause I'd be worried about the stems breaking in the machine.

irish_goat

One thing you often hear from Guinness snobs is that a pub that doesn't serve food will do a better pint as they won't have food particles contaminating their glass washer which ends up leaving oily residue on the glass. Nearly every pub like that will still run Irish coffee cups and tea cups through the glasswasher too though and there's plenty of food serving pubs that also have "the best pint" so it's absolute rubbish.

At home I think a dishwasher is still the best way but without it a good scrub with a soapy sponge and then a towel dry is the next best thing. You can get special glass towels that bars tend to have that help to get a really nice shine on them.

The Continental Op

Not specifically recommending this brand but wash with anything you like then rinse and wipe around with a clean one of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Cleaning-Sponge-Pack-Melamine/dp/B0BG1J1SKT/

They are those foam cleaning sponges that have a grippy feel to them and you don't need a detergent to clean a surface with them aka Magic Eraser Cleaning Sponge.

L1011

There is one section of the top shelf of my dishwasher that will take most of my pint glasses (8 Degrees, Coors, ancient Guinness) and they get washed with everything else

The awkwardly tall ones - Five Lamps; Journeyman goblet style, some other random ones - get handwashed unless the bottom of the dishwasher is emptier than the top in which case they get a go on the bottom half. As do any more than the ~5 that'll fit in that magic bit at the top (its slanted compared to the rest of the shelf) at a time.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120669064#Comment_120669064

Whut??? Do these people seriously think pubs are washing flatware in the glass washer? Doesn't happen.

irish_goat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120673839#Comment_120673839

I think the logic is that people eating a burger, for example, will leave greasy marks all over their pint glass, which ends up getting oil into the glasswasher.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120673944#Comment_120673944

Ah.

Lip gloss/lipstick/lip balm probably introduce way more insoluble matter into most glasswashers, I'd imagine. The amount of wineglasses with visible lipstick residue I've had to hand back over the years...

Larbre34

At home I'd always wash booze glasses by hand, bit of a soak in warm water and washing up liquid, good rub of a j-cloth and bottle washer then rinse with hot clean water and left to drip dry.

Every dishwasher will damage glassware and leave residue even if it takes ages to build up over time.

The difference in a pub is that glasses are rotated out frequently for cloudiness and damage. The ones you have at home tend to be way older.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120673753#Comment_120673753

The bottom basket of a dishwasher is a lot more vigorous so won't it remove printing off the glasses a lot faster?

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120673839#Comment_120673839

Pubs that don't serve food have a "proper" pub atmosphere, hence the pints of Guinness taste better 😉

phelixoflaherty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120668817#Comment_120668817

You can adjust height of top rack, although dinner plates might not fit afterwards

Insect Overlord

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120675308#Comment_120675308

My FIL tried to adjust his a couple of years back and now the whole thing is held together with cable ties 😂

coylemj

I was told by a Guinness employee many years ago that the issue with a flat head on beer is typically caused by traces of fat. Which usually comes from drying the glass with a dish cloth that has been contaminated when drying dinner plates with traces of meat or a glass that contained milk.

I saw this link illustrated the other night when I had a pepperoni pizza and a glass of Peroni. I poured the beer into a clean glass and got a nice frothy head. Several minutes later when I started eating the pizza, the beer still had a frothy head. A few minutes later, I noticed that the head on the beer had completely disappeared and the only explanation was that fat on my lips from the pepperoni had contaminated the beer, thereby causing the loss of the frothy head.

I don't think there is any issue with a dishwasher or which shelf you use. If washing glasses in a basin with other dishes and vessels, wash the glasses first, rinse them thoroughly under a warm tap and either let them dry on the draining tray or dry them with a cloth that never touches any other items.