Where to buy fancy Belgian beer glasses in the US?

December 30, 2007 6:37 PM

Where to buy fancy Belgian beer glasses in the US?

I visited Belgium recently and fell in love with the whole Belgian beer tradition. Each brand of beer has its own unique glass, and only that glass is appropriate for that beer (in theory). I'd like to buy some glasses for my favorite beers, but I have no idea where you'd get them outside of Belgium. Half the results on Google are UK shops priced in pounds, and the other half look like e-commerce sites from the mid 90's whom I wouldn't think of giving my credit card # without an endorsement.

Can anyone personally recommend somewhere online, or at least relate a story on where they found them in the real world? In particular, if it helps, I'm looking for Chimay and Rochefort glasses, among others.

posted by smackfu to food & drink (17 comments total)

I know Ebay has a bunch of them. I've looked on there before and found tons.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:42 PM on December 30, 2007

What glasses are you looking for specifically?
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:42 PM on December 30, 2007

Some liquor stores sell Chimay gift sets that include glasses.
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:49 PM on December 30, 2007

Yeah the Chimay gift sets would be easy to find, we even have them at my work. I work at an extensive beer bar with about 300 types of beer, most being Belgian.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 6:53 PM on December 30, 2007

good beer distributor. most of them around me have at least some glasses.
posted by KenManiac at 7:18 PM on December 30, 2007

Check for a local restaurant/bar supply store, they'll carry all sorts of different glassware.
posted by pupdog at 7:19 PM on December 30, 2007

first result I found with google dunno where they are based, but they've got the chimay and rochefort glasses on that page. Maybe ratebeer.com would be able to point you to a local shop? They seem to have good listings for pubs and beer stores, probably have something about glassware.
posted by glip at 7:28 PM on December 30, 2007

oops, dunno what I did there...this is the link, should have previewed
posted by glip at 7:30 PM on December 30, 2007

glip's link is on the mark: GlobalBeer. They have everything. I got a set of Hoegaarden glasses and an array of beermats as a wedding present, and still get their mailshots.

Chimay chalices are easier to find locally, as they're often offered as promotions with the beer. But GlobalBeer has Chimay and Rochefort glasses. Heck, they have Westvleteren glasses, and you can barely get hold of the beer to put in them.
posted by holgate at 9:12 PM on December 30, 2007

It's not super cheap, but a quick google search turned up BelgianShop. The selection looks pretty and most glasses seem to be about $10.
posted by timelord at 9:24 PM on December 30, 2007

Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown NY sells glassware for their Belgian beers. I can't seem to link into their online store, but you'll see the link on the main website. We saw the glasses in person when we toured the brewery, and they were very nice. The beer is great, too.
posted by xsquared-1 at 6:23 AM on December 31, 2007

Ommegang had a table at my local annual beer festival, and they were selling their glassware for $10 a piece.
posted by breaks the guidelines? at 8:01 AM on December 31, 2007

Thanks all. I placed an order at GlobalBeer for a few of the rarer ones, and I'll try to get the Chimay set locally. BelgianShop was another option but their shipping is crazy high: their minimum order ($50) was $35 extra for shipping. Which makes their prices not so reasonable. GlobalBeer was only $12 for shipping.
posted by smackfu at 8:18 AM on December 31, 2007

I'm not sure how close you are to a Whole Foods, but I've noticed my local store now carries a pretty decent variety of beer mugs and chalices, including the Belgian style Unibroue glasses.
posted by adustum at 9:36 AM on December 31, 2007

I'd like to recommend the "Verboden Vrucht" glass as especially pretty. The beer is quite nice, too. Just sayin'.
posted by Goofyy at 12:09 AM on January 1

Follow-up: Local beer shop was a good place to get the Chimay glass... was $16 for one glass and a 33cl bottle each of the red, white, and blue. I think that beer is usually $4 or $5 at that size (I usually get the 75cl bottle), so the glass ends up pretty reasonable.
posted by smackfu at 3:58 PM on January 4

One last follow-up: GlobalBeer worked out just fine. Glasses were in perfect condition and well packaged. I now have quite a collection to match all my favorite beers. The Rochefort glass is especially nice.
posted by smackfu at 5:06 PM on January 10