The beer glass that forces you to drink slower

A Japanese brewery has made a beer glass that is purposefully designed to make it more difficult to drink from, in order to raise awareness of moderating your intake of alcohol. 

There has been over many decades drinkers who enjoy downing a pint, and the idea of a chugging beer or alcoholic beverage is as old as booze itself, from Shakespeare’s Falstaff to US frat houses.

But one Japanese brewer has decided to turn the tables on this tradition by designing a glass which delivers a “slower paced” drinking experience.

You may have heard of the ideas of slow marketing or slow reading or even slow journalism, which is the practice where you take your time to produce something, and as a result deliver a better, more focused and detailed result.

世界一（？）飲みづらいビアグラスをつくりました pic.twitter.com/YnQbVMOwRb

— よなよなエール｜ヤッホーブルーイング公式 (@yohobrewing) July 16, 2024

Well, now you can add the idea of slow drinking into the mix.

The idea for the 350ml “Drink Slowly” Yona Yona Ale glass is that by stopping drinkers from being able to neck a beer at speed, it will mean its beers can be enjoyed at a slower pace, and therefore with flavour more appreciated and enjoyed.

The Yoho Brewing company, which is based in the Nagano prefecture in Karuizama, said the hourglass-shaped glass would take around three times longer to drink from that a regular glass.

It worked with Tokyo Glass Art Institute for half a year to develop the product, which has a neck of just 6 millimetres to slow the flow of beer.

According to the brewer, 15 out of 16 drinkers said that the glass made drinking more difficult.

Hard to buy

If you fancy a glass though, it won’t be easy, as they are being sold on the brewer’s website through a lottery and priced at YN9,800. Entrants must be submitted by 16 August. Only 20 currently exist, but the brewery added if demand was strong then it would consider mass production.

In addition, you will be able to get the Yona Yona Ale in a glass at the brewery’s own taproom for YN880 until 16 Augst, and also at the Tokyo pub Beer College from 28 July until 3 August.

The glass follow’s Japan’s health ministry health guidelines for moderating drinking. Yoho’s own survey of 1,099 people aged from 20-60 discovered that only 21% were aware of the guidelines, and 35% of regular drinkers wanted to reduce their alcohol intake.

Yoho CEO Naoyuki Ide said: “When it comes to responsible drinking, breweries tend to be too serious – ‘We will work to raise awareness,’ for example.

“We want to use humour to let people enjoy themselves while learning about responsible drinking.”