You deserve beer-clean glasses at home - here's how to clean 'em properly

I feel awkward having this conversation. I don’t want to glass-shame you. (Yeah, that’s a thing.)

But the truth is your beer glasses could probably be cleaner. Yeah, I know they look clean. But good beer deserves beer-clean glasses.

This means not just free of visible dirt and smears, but also free from foam-destroying residues like soap, fats, or oils.

Now I’m not suggesting your glasses resemble something from a nasty-ass dive-bar, glasses all smeared with lipstick. But I bet there’s room for improvement.

So how do you tell if your glasses are dirty? Here’s a simple test:

Do you pour your delightful beer into a glass only to see the magnificent foam disappear in seconds? That’s oils and fats in your glass sucking the very life force from your beer. (Overdramatic? Moi?)

Or do you see bubbles clinging to the inside of the glass? They’re actually clinging onto tiny particles of dirt. Bleugh. ????

Yes? Then now you know your glass-cleaning regime needs some work.

A case in point:

This glass is not beer-clean…

A clean glass will retain beer foam for longer – and you won’t see those tell-tale clinging bubbles.

A passably beer-clean glass looks like this…

Firstly, let’s get into why your glasses are not getting properly washed.

You’re putting them in your dishwasher. I know it seems like the right place to put them, but if you ever worked in a bar, you’ll know that professionals never ever put their glassware in the same machine as the crockery.

Here’s why:

Even if your glasses come out looking shiny, they will have microscopic remnants of food on them. Your dishwasher won’t completely break down proteins and fats, and these will stick to your glasses, ruining that enticing foam. Not to mention being rather gross…

Also, given time, your glasses will become cloudy and unattractive. If you’ve gone to the effort to collect a decent selection of glasses for different styles of beer, that’s disappointing. And even if you’re not such a beer-geek, you still don’t want to serve a beer in a glass that looks like this, do you?

You’re handwashing your glasses using regular household detergent. But unfortunately even that’s not good enough – even when using a fresh, clean sponge.

That’s because detergents will leave a film on your glass. You can’t see it, and your glass looks shiny, but it will still affect foam retention.

An Experiment – The Salt Test for Beer-Clean Glasses

So, you know how to tell if your glass is not clean enough when you pour a beer into it. That is the simplest beer-clean glass test. And you get to drink a beer afterwards, so it’s pretty good, huh? (Except you then have to drink beer from a glass you know is dirty. Worse things happen at sea, I suppose.)

Luckily, there is a way to check if your glass is beer-clean without wasting a beer. With a household item you surely already have – table salt.

Simply sprinkle the salt on the inside of a dampened glass. See where the salt sticks, and where it doesn’t. Behold! Where the salt stuck is properly cleaned – and where it didn’t stick is dirty.

The Salt-Test exposes all the parts of the glass you didn’t clean properly

*Figure 1. Spot the unclean spots around the rim of the glass.*

*Figure 2. Oh no – this one’s frankly horrifying – I don’t know how it got put back in the cupboard!*

Using the salt test for beer-clean glasses — *Figure 3. That’s more-or-less beer-clean*

If you are anything like me, you’ll be horrified to see how unclean your favourite glassware actually is. And I’m sure you’ll resolve to up your game.

So how do you clean your glassware properly?

*This is all you need for beer-clean glasses at home!*

Bars that care about beer will usually have a three-sink system, often with electric brushes. I’m guessing you don’t have this luxury at home, right?

At the very least, they’ll have a dedicated dishwasher machine.

I’m going to show you how to get your glassware perfect, just using what you may even have in your home already.

First, give your glasses a wipe inside and out with a clean sponge, to remove any visible dirt.
Then leave your glasses to soak in some hot water to sterilise them.
While your glasses soak, make a paste of three parts bicarbonate of soda to one part of salt, and a little water. Bicarb’s great for all sorts of cleaning jobs, so it’s cheaper to get a big tub like this, not the scrawny supermarket pots.
Rub the bicarb/salt paste inside and outside your glasses, making sure they are fully coated. Now give them a scrub with a clean sponge. (I mean it, a scrupulously clean sponge that has never seen food residue.)
By the way, these sponges are good, particularly for skinnier glasses like some pilsner ones.
Rinse away the bicarb/salt mixture with plenty of hot running water, until all residue has gone.
Leave the glasses to air-dry on a draining rack. Don’t even think of drying them with a tea towel, because air drying is both easier and more hygienic. So why would you do it any other way?

Now, when you pour your beer into your glass, you can expect to see a longer-lasting head, and admire the lacing of the foam on the glass as you drink your beer.

(No, in case you were wondering, foam sticking to the glass is not a sign of a dirty glass – the reverse, if anything.)

You won’t see the horrendous clinging bubbles or the vanishing head.

I guarantee now you know this, you will spot dirty glasses in all kinds of pubs and bars. Try not to be too much of a bore about it.

But when you find a bar that gets it right – one that clearly cares about its beer and wants to its customers the best possible experience – make sure to give it your continued custom. (Particularly on Beer Clean Glass Day.)

Because excellence deserves to be rewarded.

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