Full disclosure: I had been pronouncing the name of this glass like a fool. Thankfully I was only doing so to myself & only once to my wife. For the uninitiated, a group of which I am included, the word Stange seems like it would be pronounced “Stawn-juh”? No? At least that’s how I kept saying it over & over in my head. Look, I only know how to speak
one language, English, & I don't even do it that well so…
But then came research. And it was during this exhaustive phase that I discovered this drinking vessel was created to shepard the German Kölsch, from tap to tummy. It was then that I started to think maybe I was pronouncing it wrong. And I was right.
At a glance “stange” doesn’t strike me as being typically German the way say, the German word for “natural science” naturwissenschaft does. That is unmistakably a German word. So after perusing the web I finally found something on Reddit or some other forum that had a phonetic spelling. And that’s when I learned the name of the glass is pronounced, “ Stawn-guh”. A group of them, “stawn-gen”. I also learned that I’ve been pronouncing Kölsch wrong, but not terribly. Apparently, the correct pronunciation is more along the lines of “cull-sch” as opposed to “coal-sch”.
Now that we know how to say it, what is it? Well, the stange is fairly similar to the pilsner class except historically it is smaller & more rod-like. Go figure that’s what stange translates to, “rod”. Traditionally, the glass is only 200 mL (6.5 oz).
Because of their size they are finished fairly quickly. To combat the constant back & forth to the bar & table, German servers developed the Kranz (tr. wreath) tray which holds 10-12 glasses & can be easily transported to eager patrons.
Producers of Champagne & Kentucky Straight Bourbon have strict guidelines they must follow before being able to use those terms. A “true Kölsch” is no different. One of the qualifications, as outlined & ratified by Colognian brewers in 1986, is that it must be served in a stange glass which encourages beading & allows for the beer's striking clarity to be in full view.
Comments