You might have noticed, if you order a kwak beer this is hopefully served in the traditional Kwak glass and stand. In Belgium, pretty much every single beer has it’s own unique glass, going from the lager which are simply branded glasses all the way down to the Trappist beers which have completely unique glasses. There’s one glass that is quite famous, even in Belgium, everyone knows it and everyone talks about it when it’s being served. The Kwak beer isn’t just served in a unique glass, the glass is accompanied by a wooden stand to ensure that it doesn’t fall over and spill the beer all across the able.
History of the Kwak beer glass and stand
Every single beer has it’s own glass, but not every single beer has a history and meaning like the Belgian Kwak beer does. The Kwak beer glass dates back to the 18th century, you know the time when people were still going around with horse & carriage. The horse & carriage is also the reason why the very peculiar glass was invented. When travelling around in horse & carriage, people sitting inside the carriage were able to go inside the pub for a drink, however, the coachmen had to stay with the horses.
A local inn in Dendermonde, part of Flanders fields, saw and opportunity to also give the coachmen an opportunity to have a drink. The local innkeeper developed a special glass which would be easy for the coachmen to hold (as they would wear thick gloves to control the horses) and the glass was shaped it such a way so it could be attached to the coach.
In that sense, the glass is something which has existed for a long period for time, the wooden stand was introduced at a later date to keep the tradition going.
In modern times, you won’t find the beer attached to any carriages anymore but with the occasional beer fair you might see Pauwel Kwak’s own horse carriage riding around time with the famous beer.