Beer Glasses - NYTimes.com Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg, looking at large etched botanical glasses by Roost at Sterling Place in Boerum Hill. THERE are those who believe that during the hot summer months there is nothing better than ice-cold beer. Garrett Oliver is one of them. As the brewmaster for Brooklyn Brewery and the editor of "The Oxford Companion to Beer," Mr. Oliver would argue, in fact, that beer is the most appealing drink at any time of year. But in recognition of the approach of traditional beer-drinking season, he recently set out in search of appropriate glasses. "Form, beauty, function, ritual: all of these things go into making a great beer glass," he said. One might not be the best tasting glass, but it might be an excellent drinking glass. They're really two different things. Tasting is all about paying close attention to flavor and aroma. Drinking is hopefully a fun emotional experience. Mr. Oliver's first stop was Sterling Place, on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where he found a set of six glasses with botanical etchings by Roost. "I see these looking better with beer in them than anything else," he said. I could see a pilsner or a saison with a nice cap of foam over the top, sitting on an outdoor summer table looking like little ice cream cones of happiness. He picked out the Orrefors Difference porter glass, which he found online, because it "combines the best qualities of a red-wine glass and a brandy snifter," he said. It's got a big bowl for capturing aromatics, but it's not so tall you feel it's putting on airs. For a good all-around beer glass, Mr. Oliver liked the Stemmed beer glass by Spiegelau at Bed Bath & Beyond. "It's very thin, light and sophisticated, with a classical tulip form that releases aromatics but also holds a good crown of foam," he said. You can serve anything in it, and it'll never disappoint. He was also impressed by the Aarne pilsner glass by Iittala at Bloomingdale's, which he thought was "tall, slender, good looking and slightly aloof, like a modernist skyscraper." He added, "This is a display glass: it wants to show off a bright golden Czech pilsner." But it was on a recent trip to Oslo that Mr. Oliver found the chalice-style glass by Hadeland that quickly became a favorite. "I love it because it looks like something a skilled medieval glassmaker might have made for a king's coronation," he said. If you're drinking out of a glass like this, you know things are going pretty well for you.