In America, the standard 16-ounce pint glass has gained ground on the traditional pilsner glass. But the greatest concession to ceremony is usually saved for imported weisse beers, usually served in a tall Bavarian weisse beer glass with a citrus wedge served on the rim or in a small napkin beside the beer. But does glass shape and size actually affect the taste of beer when one is drinking a beer at home? The answer is yes. Conventional ales and pilsner style beers have no specific requirement other than a glass that is the right size to easily take a 12-ounce pour and leave room for some of the foamy head at the top. It’s a drag to wait around for a head to settle before pouring the last dregs of the beer in the bottle. If you like a head on your beer, be sure there are no traces of detergent in the glass. Detergent eliminates head formation and will prematurely make your beer flat. When it comes to Belgian ales, there is no need to have a different glass for each brand of beer. However, the Belgian approach is still fairly useful when it comes to appreciating Belgian-style beers. Belgian abbey ales and specialty styles are brewed to be consistently savored for their smells as well as their taste. The key feature of specialty Belgian beer glasses is their wide, bulbous shape, with an upper edge that keeps your nose close to the beer and enveloped in smells as you drink it. The glass must be large enough to accommodate the beer in the bottle in one pour. If not done in one pour, yeast sediment will cloud the second pour. If Belgian beers are going to be a part of your life, you should equip yourself with an all-purpose Belgium glassware set. Barley wines can be best appreciated from a large brandy snifter. This will capture complex smells while not making small pours of such heady brews, making it seem disproportionate to the glass. Finally, the Bavarians discovered their extravagantly frothy weiss beers needed something tall to accommodate all the foam, not to mention the finishing touch of wedges of citrus fruit. If imported weiss beers are your choice beer at the house, then the appropriately tall, slim glasses would be a good investment.