Do you drink beer and cider more slowly from a straight-sided glass compared to a curved glass?

Posted: May 12, 2021 By:

Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol increases the risk of a range of diseases, including liver disease, heart disease, and many cancers.

Previous work in a laboratory setting suggested that beer might be drunk more slowly from a straight-sided glass compared to a curved glass. This in turn suggests that using straight-sided glasses could potentially lower overall alcohol consumption, improving health. However, no previous studies have looked at this in a real-life bar or pub setting.

The aim of our study was to compare the amount of draught (tap) beer and cider sold between straight-sided glasses and curved glasses. We asked 24 bars and pubs in the UK to record their sales of beer and cider for 8 weeks. For 4 of those weeks, the bars and pubs served beer and cider in their usual glasses (mostly curved glasses), while for the other 4 weeks, they served beer and cider in straight-sided glasses. Bars and pubs were randomly allocated to the order in which this happened. We then compared the amount of beer and cider sold between these two time periods when different glasses were being used.

We thought that a lower amount of draught beer and cider would be sold when bars and pubs served these drinks in straight-sided glasses compared with their usual curved glasses. However, we did not find any clear differences in the amount of beer and cider sold between the two glass shapes.

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