Subject: Digest for the period 3/5/2007 - 3/6/2007 Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2007 01:01:44 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. RE: glass v. plastic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Joe Gherlone Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 13:57:38 -0500 Subject: RE: glass v. plastic I do prefer glass in most cases, but that isn't quite practical in many cases, so I take what I can get. Even at most brewpubs, the ability to sacrifice dozens of sample sized glasses for the duration of a competition is a little hard to find. What caught my eye below is the statement about recycling -- I am not sure that I've ever seen a recycling setup that accepts the hard plastics (can't remember the # just now) that are preferred for judging. That is despite living in 5 different states on the East Coast, and several locations in California (which, despite popular belief is HORRIBLE on recycling). I hate the waste as well, but I don't know how practical recycling really is. It'd be nice to find a way to get some grass-roots action on that, though. Joe thinking globally, drinking locally, but not today because I am home sick ... -----Original Message----- From: JudgeNet - the beer judge digest [mailto:judge`at`synchro.com] Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 1:05 AM To: Digest Recipients Subject: Digest for the period 2/25/2007 - 2/26/2007 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. glass v. plastic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Paolino Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 10:31:36 -0500 Subject: glass v. plastic Peter Garofalo wrote on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:55:19 -0500: [snip] > Jeff McNally opines that plastic is better in many cases. > I respectfully disagree, and have even used my re-rinsed > water glass at many competitions to evaluate beers from. > I find that many plastic glasses have a characteristic > aroma (sometimes the expected plastic/phenol, sometimes a > sickly sweet note, sometimes other off-putting smells). > Sometimes these will dissipate if the cups are aired out, > sometimes not. I prefer glass, though as Jeff points out > rinsing with proper water is key. In the cease he cites, > tainted rinse water (not glass vessels) is the problem. I > should note that I will sometimes even rinse and re-use > plastic cups. What can I say? I hate to waste. I hate to waste, too. All those plastic cups, single use, and often mis-disposed into the trash rather than the recycling bin. I suppose if the competition were in Arid-zona, you'd have the balancing act of which waste is worse, the plastic (which often ends up landfilled rather than recycled, not to mention the petrochemicals used to make them) or the water to rinse glassware in the desert. ;-) As for judging aesthetics, glass is my "clear" favourite. But as a practical matter, most of the competitions we encounter use plastic, and I unstack plastic cups to air them out as one of the first things I do at the table. Some plastic cups are better than others. The advice I've usually read is hard plastic over soft plastic (which, I'll add is not only generally better for odour, but also better visually in judging clarity, and MAY be better for head retention). But many times we end up seeing the soft plastic ones either because the organisers didn't know to specify what to get, or because you get what the store has when you're buying supplies. I don't know offhand if one type is cheaper than the other, but cost might influence the selection, too. > The NY State Fair competition has the unique distinction > (I believe) of providing fresh, clean *glasses* for all > judges to evaluate beer from. The State Fair folks > provide us with dozens of glasses, and a dishwasher to > clean them on the fly. Unique? Ha! I have judged many competitions (and organised some of them) that use glassware rather than plastic. That's easier, of course, when you are in a brewpub or restaurant, which has both lots of sample-sized glassware and convenient washing facilities. The problem can arise if a sanitiser is used and the glasses not dry. (I sometimes encounter the same problem even when a customer in some brewpubs.) But if you are judging at a time when the pub/restaurant is not open (or has a second separate bar area exclusively for the group's use), get permission from management to use the glass washer and assign stewards to do it, not using plain water and no sanitiser. (You might wonder why I mentioned stewards doing the washing, as though there might be someone else to do it... We've had occasions when bartenders--it is a slow time of the day, after all--have done a great job for us keeping us supplied with clean glassware.... tip generously :-) ) I also know of at least one club that purchased its own supply of taster glasses for competition use. Yes, there's a certain appeal to the "convenience" of using plastic, but glass is the better choice, IMHO, and if you have plenty of well-organised stewards, keeping a fresh supply of glassware is not all that difficult. Now go have a beer, Bob Paolino "Are Canadians just Americans who carry hockey sticks instead of guns, or is there more to it than that?" --"This Canadian Existence" Wisconsin Public Radio ( ) ASCII ribbon campaign X against HTML e-mail: / \ Friends don't send friends HTML-bloated messages! A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. Q: Why is top-posting frowned upon? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Important Subscriber Information ***** To post a message to JudgeNet, send it to judge`at`synchro.com. Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments. Make sure you use a meaningful subject. Quote only as much material as is needed for context. 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