cleaning pint glasses

chuky_r_law · 20-09-2018 2:20pm #1

i have procured a number of interesting looking pint glasses. however, there is a problem with them - they don't keep the beer head on them. the beer is a lot flatter in them and if i transfer it over to one of my old glasses you can really see the beer come back to life. is there any special way to rescue an old pint glass when it is not holding the head? or are they just fit for the recycling centre?

L1011 · 20-09-2018 2:57pm

Are you comparing them to new glasses with micro-etching? Old ones just don't have the nucleation points that modern micro-etched ones do. If you can see a pattern of sorts 'generating' bubbles on the new ones, they're micro-etched.

I'm fairly certain it's possible but probably not worth the effort of etching the bottom yourself.

Additionally, its probably the wrong type of glass for recycling... if they're properly interesting someone would almost certainly take them off your hands; plenty of people drink lots of non-carbonated beers on here!

chuky_r_law · 20-09-2018 3:16pm

the glasses would be about 5 or 6 years old. certainly not antiques. they are from a bar i used to drink in. i think they got stored away for a few years so they probably haven't had a pint poured through them in a while. some of them have a white disk down the bottom - would that be like the micro etching?

a few years ago i had the same problem with some old harp and stella pint glasses. they just wouldn't hold the head. no matter how well i cleaned them i could never get them back to life. is there a special way of cleaning them or some chemical perhaps?

L1011 · 20-09-2018 5:11pm

The white disc would be the etching in most cases; 5-6 years ago it was common although not every glass has it; Guinness, Smithwicks and other stouts and ales usually won't. I'm not sure if they can actually wear out, none of my glasses are old enough really.

If you're in a hard water area it could get clogged up. Domestic dishwashers usually have ion exchange resins (if you put salt in them, all in one tablets are not enough) and a few runs through that will remove scale usually. Pub dishwashers are lucky if they have detergent in them usually!

Lemon juice or vinegar could also dissolve scale out of them.

chuky_r_law · 20-09-2018 5:23pm

ok...i'll try that and let you know how it works

coylemj · 23-09-2018 11:32pm

If your glasses can't hold the head, it's a sign that they have been contaminated with grease. When washing glasses alongside dishes or cutlery in a basin, do the glasses first and avoid drying them with a cloth that was used to dry plates or anything that could have a trace of animal fat.

cleaning pint glasses

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