Libbey Craft Beer Glass Set Review

About 6 months ago I bought the Libbey craft beer glass set after I moved into my new house. I didn’t have any beer glasses at all except a pint glass I bought at Save Mart, and I wanted to get some glasses that were appropriate for a wider range of styles of beer.

Libbey’s 6 piece set seemed a perfect fit! It didn’t have all the glasses I wanted, but had enough to get me started, and it meant I didn’t have to order each glass individually. At $20 for six glasses and free shipping, I essentially paid $3 per glass, which is an absolute steal since some styles of craft beer glasses cost $30 PER GLASS.

Quality

The #1 concern of mine was going to be quality. I had never heard of Libbey (as opposed to Spiegelau which I had read a lot about). At $3 each I was expecting some seriously cheap quality. I wasn’t too concerned though because you general get what you pay for.

However, I was very surprised at how heavy the box was when it arrived, and even more surprised when I opened the box and discover that these were VERY legit beer glasses. I guess I’m not an expert at how glasses should be manufactured, but with all the drinking I plan to be doing, I wanted something that was going to hold up to lots of banging around and multiple washings in the dish washer.

I discovered later after buying some other specialty craft beer glasses that thin walled ones can be more desirable because there’s less heat transfer, but I’m not completely sold on the idea. I still enjoy drinking from something a bit more sturdy.

Types of Glasses & Uses

There are 6 glasses that come in the kit. The ones I enjoy having most are the wheat beer glass and the Belgian Tulip. I think they are the most valuable of the pack.

Weizen Glass

Part of enjoy a wheat beer is getting that voluminous head that comes from this highly carbonated style of beer. That’s why wheat beers need their own glass with that large bubble up top (not it’s not just for looks). This allows me to get an appropriate pour for the style.

Belgian Ale

The same goes for the Belgian ale. It’s a style that allows you to enjoy a full head of foam, though the yeast character famous for Belgians is what I’m looking for here. The bell at the bottom allows for some swirling action as well, as a way to wake up some of those aromatics half-way through. It doubles as a snifter or a tulip glass.

Porter/Stout

I didn’t realize that porters had their own glass, but I’m a huge fan of porters, so this one gets a lot of use as well. I also bought a Rogue Stout Glass so I keep this one for porters an the other one for stouts.

I’m not sure there’s any advantage to using this one except that it looks really nice.

English Pub, Pilsner, Craft Pub

Using the English pub with English beers, or a Pilsner with a Pilsner is fun, but in my opinion, they go just as well en a regular old pint glass. I don’t drink many Pilsners anyway.

The English pub glass and general ‘craft beer’ glass get used for whatever I’m drinking.

Pick up Your Libbey’s Craft Beer Glass Set here

More Glasses?

It’s too bad that there’s only 6 in the set, because there’s so many other styles to try! I really liked the Spiegleau kit as well, but that one comes with a repeat weizen glass (different shape), repeat general craft glass (different shape), plus an IPA glass and a tulip glass.

At $39 for 4 glasses, I decided to just buy the IPA glass and tulip glass separately. The IPA glass is pretty awesome in my opinion.

I also bought stout glass and a TeKu glass. Both of them are a little price, but totally worth the money and a fun part to have in your collection.

There are actually tons more beer glass styles. Some are more practical and use for specific styles of beer for a reason. Others just look nice and I enjoy using to enhance my drinking experience.