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But while the brewer claimed a number of advantages for the new design - named Galaxy and designed to be rolled out worldwide, bar and café owners in the Netherlands are blaming the glass for causing a new phenomenon, 'beer arm'.

Galaxy (left)

  
"A tray full of beer glasses has become a lot heavier. A lot of people who work in the catering trade are having problems", spokesman for the intdustry trade association, Anthony van de Klis, tells the paper.

According to one unnamed bar owner from Utrecht, with Galaxy, a full glass of beer is bow about double the weight it would have been previously. "If my people are continually running around with full trays on party evenings, its not 'mouse arm' they're going to be suffering from but 'beer arm'". For non-Dutch readers, 'muisarm' is Dutch for 'repetitive strain injury'.

When launched in September, 'Galaxy' replaced 'Stier', Heineken's previous preferred glass shape which had been in service for 26 years. An initial production run of 800,000 glasses was distributed among the 15,000 catering outlets served by the brand. Claims for the new design were that the beer looked more attractive and that the glasses themselves were easier to stack.

Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in Dutch, on the Zibb.nl website. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit Heineken's Dutch website.