Pass or fail? Shatterproof, polymer, beer fest pint glass

Craft beer served in a glass is perhaps the ultimate experience, but what glass? I suppose it depends on your situation (here’s a quick primer). Drinking a heavy-aroma, Imperial IPA at a swanky bar might call for a tulip glass. Singing polka songs with your buds at an outdoor German beer garden might call for a frosty beer mug.

But here’s a curve ball: What glass is fit for a craft beer festival — one that doesn’t allow glass and has loads of samples?

The organizers of the 26th Colorado Brewers’ Festival (COBF) — which is slated to take place from June 26-28 2015 in downtown Fort Collins — think they may have the ultimate polymer vessel for such a brew fest.

“We’re retiring the tiny taster mugs we’ve used in the past,” said COBF Event Director James Yearling. “This year our beer-drinking patrons will receive a distinctive, 16-ounce beer glass that allows them to enjoy tastier portions or full pours of their beer of choice.”

Genius. That beer glass is a clear, shatterproof, reusable, ergonomic and recyclable polymer creation from govino, a California-based company with a manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colo., and elsewhere in the United States.

The govino glass is also a timely festival solution for Yearling and his team, which last year introduced a larger-sized glass for online COBF ticket buyers. With the positive reception of the larger glass last year, the COBF sought to put a larger vessel in the hands of all beer-package buyers this year, to both in-advance and day-of-show purchasers. However, Fort Collins recently instituted a ban on glass in Civic Center Park where the fest is held, making last year’s glass impossible to use for the 2015 event.

“This year we needed a clear, non-glass vessel that properly showcased the brewer’s art and didn’t impart flavor or aroma,” said Yearling. “The festival and the city are always focused on being environmentally responsible and sustainable as well, so it had to recyclable, reusable and shatterproof.”

He discovered govino online and requested product samples. “We were blown away,” Yearling recalled. “It’s the perfect solution for the COBF and I don’t know what we would’ve done without it. We did not want our patrons drinking exceptional beer from a standard ‘party’ cup.”

Joseph Perrulli, govino’s founder, sought to create his line of glassware after attending a tasting at a wine store in New York in 1998, during which participants had to drink high-end wine from inexpensive plastic cups. His research showed that wine sales people also wanted a wine-enhancing but unbreakable glass. Six years later, after much trial and error, Perrulli showed his govino prototype to wine sellers.

“They loved it, and wanted to know how soon they could begin to use them,” he recalled. The company launched the original go anywhere 16-ounce govino in 2008, selling first to California wine sellers and then to food and wine festivals, where attendees appreciated the shatterproof nature of the glass and its unique thumb-notch feature.

“It’s ergonomic in your hand,” Perrulli said of the notch. “But there’s also something elegant and organic about the design that provides added enjoyment without sacrificing functionality.”