BitterSweet Blog

By Kristy | Posted: December 2, 2009

While the rest of us tend to be quite easy on our beer glasses, only expecting them to be cold and clean, 31% of the UK’s female population are incredibly displeased with beer glasses.

Yes, 31% of women in the UK think that beer packaging is “ugly and manly” and want say that they want to order a drink that looks good. If you think about it, martinis and glasses of wine do look a bit more attractive than bottles or even pints of beer, but it’s shocking to think that more women would drink beer if it looked better. (I mean, just think of how that makes the beer glasses feel!)

This year at the Great British Beer Festival, I participated in a Girls Guide to Beer tour led by the fabulous Melissa Cole. As cool as the tour was, I was admittedly a bit put off by the dainty little one-third pint glass they gave us. You know, ‘cause we’re girls.

A third of a pint glass! That’s nothing.

But once I got over how “sexist” it was to suggest I drink out of a small dainty glass simply because I have a couple ovaries, I actually warmed up to my little one-third pint glass.

It felt a bit nicer to drink out of. More like drinking wine or a cocktail. And I could actually understand why more women might prefer the one-third option, rather than griping and entire pint.

Naturally, the Bittersweet Partnership understand this, and have teamed up with Amy Molyneaux – cofounder of fierce fashion label PPQ – to create and design four new half pint glasses.

Awesome, right?

Even more awesome is that Molyneaux seems to totally *get* it. She says that it’s “not about adding a stereo-typical girly pink” to these new glasses” but about “creating shapes that enhance the flavours of the beer and also look cool”.

And because the Bittersweet Partnership are all about listening to what women want, you can vote on the different shapes and patterns for the final four glasses.

From classic goblet shapes to even a pentagon-shaped glass, choosing between the Syrus, Hera, Tutu, and Lyla glass is actually a bit difficult.

The patterns for the glasses are really cool as well, as you can choose from frosted, a swirly gold and black pattern, a kitschy graffiti pattern, or a striped monochrome pattern.

My personal favourites are the Lyla glass in “stripe” and “black” patterns, as the shape of the Lyla glass is very classy, and reminiscent of the fantastic glass that Belle-Vue is served in.

The most popular design will be put into production on a trial basis by the BitterSweet Partnership in 2010, and I would definitely head over to the Bittersweet Partnership website and vote, as everyone who votes will be entered in a competition to win their own glass, as well as £150 in ASOS vouchers to spend on PPQ clothing.

If the way beer is presented is really all that important to women, I’m hoping everyone will head over and vote for their favorite glass.

It’s a shame to think that the way beer is served is preventing women from fully enjoying all of the fantastic lagers and beers that are out there – but if these half pint glasses take off, women will no longer have an excuse!

So go on and vote, ladies! Let us know what you think.

Cate Sevilla is the founding editor of BitchBuzz.com. You can follow her on Twitter as @cupcate.

Image © BitchBuzz

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