Catalogue no. BBG176
Glasses
Exhibit information
Glass style Goblet A stemmed glass with a broad bowl, traditionally associated with stronger Belgian beers, particularly Trappist and abbey ales.
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Explainers
Capacity 33cl / 25cl
Manufactured 2024 Curator’s Notes This Rince Cochon glass is a substantial goblet whose most memorable feature is built directly into the stem: a moulded glass pig sitting beneath the bowl. The front carries the brand motif of a pig enthusiastically quaffing a large beer, framed by a gold band and the Rince Cochon name. The design is hardly restrained; the pig in the stem makes sure the joke is fully, and quite literally, hammed up.
Rince Cochon is an unusual inclusion in the Museum because the brand itself is French in origin. The beer is, however, brewed in Belgium by Brouwerij Haacht in Boortmeerbeek. That Belgian brewing connection is why the glass has been admitted as a deliberate edge case rather than treated as a straightforward French beer glass.
The result is a useful reminder that beer identity does not always fit neatly within national borders. A brand can belong culturally to one country while its beer is produced in another. In this case, the Belgian connection is not incidental: Haacht is the brewery responsible for making the beer itself.
As an object, the glass is gloriously theatrical. The bowl is broadly conventional; the stem is anything but. It is difficult to imagine this glass being mistaken for another beer, which is probably exactly the point.
