There’s a bar in my neighborhood that has a huge sign up that says “No Frosty Glasses” on it, presumably because people would ask for beer in one. While the idea of banning frozen glasses might seem like a stunt by a hipster bar, there’s actually a lot of good reasons to not drink your beer out of a frozen glass.

Let me preface this by saying that if frozen glasses are your thing, have at it. There’s definitely something to be said for going outside with a cold glass of beer on a warm day (your beer stays colder longer). But, if you’re in a temperature-controlled bar where you’re not at risk of ending up with a sun-cooked beer, that frozen glass is doing you more harm than good.

Killed Flavor

The biggest reason to ditch frozen glasses, in my opinion, is that cold temperatures kill the flavors in beers. While that’s likely a good idea if you’re drinking an inexpensive lager that might not have the most ideal flavor, doing it with a fuller-flavored beer is just destroying the flavor of it. The ideal serving temperature for most beers is between 40° – 50° F. When you go colder than that you start to change the flavor. Don’t believe me? Try a side-by-side of a beer in a frozen glass and one in a room temperature one. You’re going to get a lot more out of that slightly chilled beer than you are out of the ice cold one.