Glossary
Beer-clean glass
A glass washed and rinsed so that no fat or detergent film remains — the condition required for a beer to hold a head and leave lacing.
Trade usage. Established by practice in the trade rather than by any formal definition.
A visibly clean glass is not necessarily beer-clean. Detergent residue and lipids from lips, hands or a tea towel collapse foam on contact. The trade test is to wet the glass: water should sheet evenly rather than beading.
It is the single most common reason a beer behaves differently in a pub and at home, and it has nothing to do with the beer.
Related
- Head retention — What it makes possible.
More vocabulary
Brewer’s barrel · Cask · Cellar conditioning · Crowler · Draught · Firkin · Growler · Imperial pint · Keg · KeyKeg
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.