A glass above the rest

Having just got back from a City Break in Budapest, I feel a little bit cheated about my overall experience. Don’t get me wrong, the Hungarian capital ticks loads of boxes –

I)                    Authentic foreign language that you cannot make head nor tail of – TICK

II)                  Great sounding Police cars with a real foreign nee nah sound – TICK

III)                Mad local soups served in huge bread roll bowls - TICK

IV)               Geo-thermal swimming baths with the obligatory large hairy chaps – TICK

V)                 Complicated public transport system with pre cold war trams - TICK

But when it came to reviewing the standard of beers and breweries -

I)                    A fantastic selection of local bottled beers with branded glassware – NO CHANCE

While it may be a little unfair to compare Budapest with other popular European destinations, the local brewing industry cannot hold a candle to the likes of Amsterdam, Prague and Berlin. We did manage to find a couple of decent bars in Hungary and it was no surprise to us that they were serving imported beers such as Kwak and Delirium from Belgium and Germany’s DAB. Not only are these brews far superior to the standard European fayre on offer, but the exquisite shape and styling of the glassware enhances both the appearance and taste of the product.

We looked at a whole variety of different shaped glasses for Best of British Beer before deciding on our current style. Unlike standard pub glasses, we chose a model that holds just under a pint, giving you the chance to pour most of the beer, take your first sip, then top it up again – hey presto a magic pint ! As a number of our beers are bottle conditioned, our glasses will also help you retain the fine sediment as opposed to pouring it into your ale.

While some traditionalists will maintain that beer should be served in a tankard, or a glass with a handle, we think our glasses are very tactile and show more than a touch of class, thus appealing to our ever growing number of female drinkers. We’re offering a FREE Best of British Beer glass with every case of our Award Winners beers until the end of January.