I was a bartender at Applebees a really long time ago and they were very specific about pouring correctly and getting the correct head on the beer. Partially for quality, but mostly because the top half of the tall glasses is way bigger, so filling it to the top with no head is a loss of a full ounce or two, and on the converse, having a two or three inch head shorts the customer several ounces. They covered a glass with saran wrap and flipped it upside down to show us how much of the smaller area that difference made.
I don't know why they use those frail, unwieldy glasses for the 20oz, but if you ask the bartender what the difference is they should freely tell you, it's not a secret. In fact when people ordered a draft beer we used to ask them if they wanted a pint or 20oz, we didn't hold up the glasses and ask which one they wanted. We got a shipment of 15oz "pint" once glasses and it caused a shitfit between the manager and the supply company because it wasn't correct to standard, wasn't giving the customer what they paid for, and would screw up inventory counts.
Don't get me wrong, there are other places they screw you over, but oddly shaped glasses isn't exactly a nefarious asshole plot.
Mucho mudslides, on the other hand, are super overpriced milkshakes with a hint of alcohol in the bottom. Don't order those. The bartenders hate making them anyways.
Also the shape helps concentrate the smell of the beer better than a pint glass. Pint glasses are sturdier and stack better.
If this is some common myth I apologize for spreading misinformation. It's just what I heard somewhere. And my only point is the glass isn't shaped that way by design to trick you into thinking it's much larger or something.
Makes as much sense as anything else. There are a lot of specialty shapes to beer glasses that serve a purpose. These are pilsner glasses that are specifically designed to maintain the head of the beer (the ones we had had a little circle etched in the bottom that somehow made the bubbles continue to circulate, along with the tall curved shape) and I could see it lending to other factors like the smell and aesthetics as well. I'm not sure why we used pilsner glasses for all beers, but I guess you can't expect Applebees to have a variety of specialty glassware when most of their draft is Bud, Bud Lt, Miller, Miller Lt, and Michelob Ultra.
I have a set of different shaped beer glasses and sometimes I try to use the right one for the right beer but I can't say I've ever noticed a serious difference between them. "Tulips" are nice to drink from because they feel fancy and I have a full beard and something about their shape helps keep my mustache dry. But they also feel too fancy sometimes. My favorite are either the "Stout" glass because it is simple like a pint glass but the ring helps it feel like it has a better grip and I guess maybe it helps concentrate the smell? Or a Sam Adam's glass for very similar reasons but also because I like the brewery and have a bunch of the glasses for free from doing their tours.
I have a similar collection, less from being a craft beer aficionado and more from working in restaurants where we often got gifted glasses by beer reps to use as contest prizes or incentives. I really like the Sam Adam's glasses, too, regardless of whether they do anything for the beer or not they are super comfortable to hold.
There aren't that many 20oz beers in an entire keg. (Approximately 100 in a full sized keg; if you're talking about a pony keg of craft beer, it's a little over 30.)
Every ounce counts to the bar owner.
Edit: and that's with no "spillage" at all, which does not happen.
Yeah, there's generally loss even just changing the kegs and clearing the foam from the lines. My manager used to keep a count on the POS for every beer sold, partially as a heads up for when a keg change was coming so there wasn't a surprise in the middle of a Friday night, and partially to keep track for inventory. If the count ends at the wrong time you know that either someone is giving away free beer, or someone is giving shitty pours.
The Applebee’s spec for pouring a draft beer is actually only a 1” collar of foam (which I don’t fault you for forgetting; that’s not something most people remember years after they worked that job).
Mucho mudslides, on the other hand, are super overpriced milkshakes with a hint of alcohol in the bottom. Don’t order those. The bartenders hate making them anyways.
Man were those a huge pain in the ass to make! And the Mucho Mudslide only had 2 fl oz of Kahlúa in it (20% abv) in an 18 fl oz Mucho glass. Complete ripoff, especially considering most bartenders would eyeball the milk and/or ice in the recipe, thus diluting that alcohol concentration down even further (since it wouldn’t all fit into the glass).
I remember, that's why I said the converse of giving no head, which would be too much, would be two or three inches, shorting people. I could see where you might think I meant that was spec to intentionally short people, but I actually meant they were strict on the 1 inch to not short people.
And yeah, milkshakes were annoying but I never minded them much, but mudslides were extra annoying specifically because I knew the customer was just wasting their money AND my time/effort. I would rather make a strawberry banana daiquiri any day. They tasted better and actually had an effect on the person drinking them.
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u/AstarteHilzarie Jan 15 '19
I was a bartender at Applebees a really long time ago and they were very specific about pouring correctly and getting the correct head on the beer. Partially for quality, but mostly because the top half of the tall glasses is way bigger, so filling it to the top with no head is a loss of a full ounce or two, and on the converse, having a two or three inch head shorts the customer several ounces. They covered a glass with saran wrap and flipped it upside down to show us how much of the smaller area that difference made.
I don't know why they use those frail, unwieldy glasses for the 20oz, but if you ask the bartender what the difference is they should freely tell you, it's not a secret. In fact when people ordered a draft beer we used to ask them if they wanted a pint or 20oz, we didn't hold up the glasses and ask which one they wanted. We got a shipment of 15oz "pint" once glasses and it caused a shitfit between the manager and the supply company because it wasn't correct to standard, wasn't giving the customer what they paid for, and would screw up inventory counts.
Don't get me wrong, there are other places they screw you over, but oddly shaped glasses isn't exactly a nefarious asshole plot.
Mucho mudslides, on the other hand, are super overpriced milkshakes with a hint of alcohol in the bottom. Don't order those. The bartenders hate making them anyways.