Japan’s new difficult-to-drink-from beer glass protects your liver, but it’s a brutal experience

Yona Yona Ale brewer purposely takes the enjoyment out of drinking.

For many people, summer means beer. That’s certainly how our reporter Ahiruneko sees it, and it’s not uncommon for him to pour a cold one after work most days to feel refreshed in the summer heat.

So when he received a package from YO-HO Brewing, the makers of Japanese craft beer Yona Yona Ale, he was thrilled to see it contained a beautiful-looking beer glass, with a very unusual shape he’d never seen before.

▼ It’s called the “Yukkuri Beer Glass” (“Slowly Beer Glass”) in Japanese, or “The Slow Pace Glass” in English.

Inspired by an hourglass, Yona Yona Ale created this special piece of glassware for a very unusual reason — to make it difficult to drink from.

While that might seem counterintuitive to the whole drinking experience, it’s actually designed to benefit your health, because drinking slowly gives your liver time to process the alcohol effectively, which in turn reduces liver damage.

▼ As a frequent beer drinker, that sounded like good news to Ahiruneko, so he wasted no time in pouring himself a can of ale.

While we say he wasted no time in pouring the ale, it took its sweet time to fill the glass, because the liquid dripped to the bottom at the speed of an hourglass.

Feeling like an impatient driver sitting behind a car going at 40 kilometres (25 miles) an hour on the highway, Ahiruneko decided to embrace the slow life, patiently putting the brakes on his desires and sitting back to admire the beautiful, vivid amber colour in front of him.

With his speed now set to slow, Ahiruneko was able to appreciate the finer things that would normally pass him by, like the pleasant texture of the pale head and the delicious aroma of the beer.

▼ Kanpai!

As he sipped, he was surprised to find that the glass wasn’t hard to drink from at all.  It was perfectly normal, making him wonder what was meant to be so difficult about it.

However, after polishing off the beer in the top section, he immediately felt foolish about his initial bravado, because no matter how far he tipped the glass back, he was barely able to get a drop out of it.

▼ Drip…

▼ …drip.

Ahiruneko could hardly believe what he was experiencing — it was like he was a parched flower in the desert, stretching his arms out to the distant rain clouds in desperate need of liquid nourishment. While the glass wasn’t impossible to drink from, it made things incredibly difficult, with the narrow section in the middle releasing the liquid in tiny trickles.

▼ The narrow path for the beer has been carefully designed and hand-blown to the exact millimetre to control the flow of liquid.

At first, the glass was a novelty to drink from, but after a while it felt brutal. Even turning the glass upside down didn’t do anything to increase the flow, and Ahiruneko says it took him about three times longer than usual to finish the whole beer.

As a result, the aspects that usually play a big part of the joy of drinking, such as the smooth feel of the liquid going down the gullet and the sense of strong refreshment, were completely eliminated. According to Ahiruneko, the glass is like something you’d use in a punishment game, and he says it’d probably be more satisfying to drink the beer straight from the can.

However, YO-HO Brewing didn’t design this glass for enjoyment. Instead, it functions as a tool to educate people about the importance of drinking slowly, and once you realise the recommended rate of drinking alcohol, it’s a sobering reminder of how fast people usually drink.

While the glass is hard to drink from, it’s also hard to get, because Yona Yona Ale is only offering it to 10 lottery winners (applications here), who will be able to purchase it for 9,800 yen (US$62.71). However, if you’re in Tokyo, there are two places (listed below) where you can try it with a beer…just remember to allot yourself some extra time to finish it!

Location information
Yona Yona Beer Works Shintora St Branch / よなよなビアワークス新虎通り店
Address: Tokyo-to, Minato-ku, Shinbashi, 4-1-1 Shintora-dori CORE 2F
Open: Weekdays 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (last order 1:30 p.m.); 5:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. (last order 10:30 p.m.); weekends and public holidays 12:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (last order 9:30 p.m.)
Availability: 16 July-16 August 2024
What you get: One can of Yona Yona Ale served in a Yukkuri Beer Glass for 880 yen
Website

Beer College / 麦酒大学
Address: Tokyo-to, Nakano-ku, Nakano 3-34-23 Tsuji Building 2F
Open: Mon-Sat 6:00 p.m.-midnight (last order 11:00 p.m.); Sun 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (last order 9:00 p.m.)
Availability: 28 July-3 August 2024
What you get: One can of Yona Yona Ale served in a Yukkuri Beer Glass for 780 yen
Website (Instagram)

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