A friend saw a posting on a local website where a company was looking for bloggers to review these new cups that they were making. The idea is a good one and it is local so I wrote and said I would try them and review. So here it is…

According to the literature provided with the cups, Joel Bigham President of Fermented Reality was on a road trip and wondered why the only cups available for beer were those horrible red solo cups.  If you are drinking good beer, then you should be using the proper cup, correct? Therefore, Joel decided to invent a plastic IPA cup.  Apparently, there were difficulties in getting the design actually made but they are here– and actually a really good idea.

The plastic is BPA free, which as a toxicologist by training, I really like.  The cups are clear, which allows you to see the color, cloudiness, and head on the beer, unlike those horrible red cups. The plastic is very light — almost too light as one friend said she would forget there was beer in it and throw it over her shoulder on pick up. The shape is very nice with a narrower neck just below the main part of the glass that allows, even someone with small hands like me, to hold the glass comfortably.

I took the cups over the House of Brewz with me to try them out and get some opinions from the experts.  We filled a couple with Sculpin IPA and Racer 5, since they are both excellent examples of quality, yet easily available, IPAs.  Everyone agreed the greatest thing about these glasses was the ability to really get the nose of these beers.  The plastic didn’t interfere with the nose and the shape was very consistent with why the IPA glass was designed.

According to the literature, if you are in the Tampa area you might be able to find these glasses at a few grocery stores, Cigar City and Tampa Bay Brewing. Unfortunately, I don’t live in Tampa but they are available through the internet at http://bcups.net. A set of 4 is just $10 so they are quite reasonable. The plastic seems high quality so as long as you hand wash, they should last for a while.

This weekend I think I am going to pick up a growler and take my new cups down to the beach for the afternoon. For me, this would be why I need these cups– beach, festivals, and trips were I want to be able to really taste, see, and smell quality local beers.