In a glass of its own

At first glance, it seems like a chemistry experiment gone wrong: a 25-centimetre glass tube with a flared top and bulbous bottom, clasped in a wooden clamp and oozing coffee-coloured foam.

But this is no B-movie toxin, brewed by a mad scientist with a booming laugh and a lightning rod to pour death into the air of New York: it is the "Kwak chalice" - arguably Belgium´s most famous beer glass.

"In Napoleon´s time, Pauwel Kwak was a brewer and the owner of the De Hoorn inn (near Brussels). Mail coaches stopped there every day, but at that time coachmen were not allowed to leave their coach and horses," the beer´s current brewer, Bosteels, explains.

"As a result, the inventive innkeeper had a special Kwak glass blown that could be hung on the coach. In this way, the coachman had his Kwak beer safely at hand," the Bosteels website adds.

The Kwak glass remains to this day one of the most distinctive drinking vessels in Belgium. Served to the client complete with monogrammed wooden stand, it is a familiar sight in Belgian bars, and a popular purchase for homeward-bound tourists.

But in a country whose passion for brewing beer is matched only by its passion for giving each brew a unique drinking vessel, Kwak´s chalice is no more than the froth on a very deep reservoir.

According to tourist guides to Belgium, the country boasts some 1000 different types of beer. The great majority have individual glasses, with the rarer types much coveted by connoisseurs.

"Wow, what a collector´s opportunity! I picked up a Chimay goblet from 1930 for $20.50!" a US-based collector raved in a typical comment posted on a fan site for Belgian beer.

Naturally, not every beer has its own unique shape of glass. Most come in a limited range of forms, with straight-sided lager glasses, broad, thick-legged goblets, and tulip glasses like a squashed brandy balloon all given individuality by their engraved logos.

Explanations for such variety vary, with enthusiasts saying that the shape of the glass and the consequent channelling of bubbles have a major effect on the drinking experience.

"Using the wrong type of glass for some products will reduce the quality of the experience due to inappropriate head formation, poor aroma release, or by failing to accentuate a particular beer´s sparkling/cloudy nature," the beer website ratebeer.com wrote.

Sceptics, however, claim that it is all a marketing trick. Such glasses certainly feature regularly on weekend flea-markets, drawn up in gleaming ranks between old gramaphones and oriental carpets