By design these glasses are tall, very narrow, stemmed and hold smaller volumes of beer. Some are cone shaped, some are tulip shaped, some are just straight edged like a stange.
With their tall and delicate stature you can’t help but turn up your nose a bit while drinking from them.
Benefits of a Beer Flute or Fluted Glass
In a lot of ways the flute matches the stange in both form and function. Like the stange, the tall narrow body helps showcase the beer’s sparkling carbonation. It’s narrow mouth also helps with head retention and concentrating volatiles right upfront and into your nose.
This is similar in many ways to what’s going on with the narrower versions of the pilsner glass as well. What we dubbed the “European Pilsner” can also be called a “fluted pilsner” first, because it looks like a flute, but also because it shares some of these benefits.
What Beer Goes in a Beer Flute?
Generally speaking a beer flute will work for any light colored, crisp beer with lots of bright, sparkling carbonation. If the bottle has a cork that might serve as a clue.
For specific styles, I really only reach for a flute glass when I’m drinking a lambic. Outside of that I’m typically happier using a pilsner glass, stange or chalice.
Where Can I get a Flute Glass?
For unbranded glassware you’re best bet is just to pickup some champagne glasses. These are easily available at most Target, Walmart and Home Goods locations. For fancier flutes you’ll want to look for lambic glasses or “fruit beer” glasses.
If your local beer bar serves lambics just ask if they turn their glasses over regularly. These glasses are often decorated with a gold rim and brewery artwork that can wear down over time. Restaurants and bars will sometimes throw faded glasses out or offer them up to regular customers as they replace them. Amazon also has Lindeman’s lambic glasses for $15- $20 each.