A pint glass is a form of drinkware made to hold either a British pint of 20
imperial fluid ounces or an American pint of 16 US fluid ounces. These
glasses are typically used to serve beer, and also often for cider.
Current shapes The common shapes of pint glass are:
Conical glasses are shaped, as the name suggests, as an inverted truncated cone
around 6 inches tall and tapering by about 1 inch in diameter over its
height. Also called a "shaker pint" in the United States, as the glass can be
used as one half of a Boston shaker. The most common size found in the US, such
as those made by Anchor Hocking, holds 16 oz to the rim.
The nonik a variation on the conical design, where the glass bulges out a
couple of inches from the top; this is partly for improved grip, partly to
prevent the glasses from sticking together when stacked, and partly to
give strength and stop the rim from becoming chipped or "nicked". This
design was invented by Hugo Pick, of Albert Pick & Co., who was awarded two
US patents: design patent 44,616 and patent 1,107,700 – though the design
patent was invalidated – and which was commercialized as Nonik. The design was
preceded by many other bulged glass designs, dating to the mid-19th century,
which differed in having a severe bulge and different purposes, rather than the
shallow bulge of this design. The original motivation for the glass was to
reduce breakage when stacking, reduce breakage when tipped over, improve grip,
and facilitate cleaning. In the United Kingdom, this style was popularized
after World War II, with Ravenhead glass introducing a Nonik glass in 1948.
Jug glasses, or "dimple mugs", are shaped more like a large mug with a
handle. They are moulded with a grid pattern of thickened glass on the
outside, somewhat resembling the segmentation of a Mills bomb. The
dimples prevent the glass slipping out of the fingers in a washing-up bowl, and
the design of the glass emphasises strength, helping to withstand frequent
manual washing. These design features became less important when manual
washing was superseded by machine washing from the 1960s onwards. Dimpled
glasses are now rarer than the other types and are regarded as more
traditional. This sort of glass is also known as a "Handle" or "Jug" due to the
handle on the glass. Tulip is a more modern glass having a
taller shape, usually flaring out towards the top; these designs are more
commonly associated with continental lagers or promotional campaigns by
breweries, and are frequently etched or marked with the beer's label.
History Pint glasses became popular in the
United Kingdom in the early/mid-20th century, replacing tankards. This change
is notably lamented by George Orwell in his 1946 essay "The Moon Under Water".
= Older styles= Older styles include:
Decorative Toby jugs, although these would not have been for everyday use.
Mid 1700s onwards. Pewter tankards. 1500s to 1900s
Ceramic tankards with strap handles. Late 1800s to early 1900s.
10-sided glass tankards. 1920s and 1930s.
United Kingdom law In the United Kingdom, draught beer must
be sold in Imperial measure. United Kingdom law requires certain steps be
taken to ensure that a pint of beer is indeed a pint. Though this can be
achieved using "metered dispense", the more common solution is to use certified
one-pint glasses. Until recently these had a crown stamp and number etched upon
them indicating that the certification had been done by an agency of the Crown.
Under the EU Measuring Instruments Directive, the certification of
measuring instruments and devices used in trade can be done by third parties
anywhere within the EU with governments taking "only the legislative and
enforcement functions" and "ensuring that the system of third party
assessment ... has sufficient technical competence and independence". Glasses
that have been certified by authorised firms anywhere within the EU have the
letters CE etched on with the certifying agency's identification number.
Conservatives campaigning to have dual markings of crown and CE were informed
by EU Commissioner Günter Verheugen that "a Crown stamp look-alike could
naturally be affixed to the glass, as long as it is done in such a way that it
is not confused with the CE marking". Selling beer in unmeasured glasses
without using some other form of calibrated measure is illegal.
Half-pint, one-third pint and two-thirds pint glasses are also available, and are
subject to the same laws. Despite this emphasis on accurately
measured glasses, there is a practice of defining a pint of beer as only 95
percent liquid. It is common for drinkers to be served less than a full
20 ounce pint of liquid — either because too much of the glass is taken up by a
foamy "head", or simply because the customer has been sold a short measure.
This allows publicans to sell more beer than the stated capacity of the cask or
keg and hence save money. This practice may have consciously increased since the
removal of a duty allowance on ullage. To counter this the British Beer and Pub
Association have issued guidelines for bar staff to respect a customer who asks
for a 'top up' to a full 20 ounce pint. For those wishing to avoid this practice
while still serving beer with a large head, "lined" or "oversized" glasses are
available. These have a line near the top to which the beer should be poured,
with the head forming above it. In the past a number of breweries supplied
these glasses to their pubs; this is now rarely the case and lined glasses are
found mostly at enthusiasts' events such as beer festivals, serious cask ale
pubs, and breweries' own bars. The use of lined 568 ml pint glasses in pubs is
advocated by the Campaign for Real Ale. Other countries
Beer in Australia is formally measured in metric units, but draught beer is
commonly ordered and sold in glasses approximating imperial measures,
including a 570 ml pint. glass, known as a schooner in the rest of Australia.) As
in the UK, certified glassware must be used; the capacity of the beer glass is
defined by either the brim or, where present, the capacity line.
In Canada, Federal law mandates a standard imperial pint. However, this
law is rarely enforced, and establishments can sometimes get away
with selling US pints or other measures as "pints."
The Republic of Ireland uses a 570 mL glass, where legal metrology marks are
used to show that a glass has passed inspection by the National Standards
Authority of Ireland, a state-run body which enforces a number of standard
rulings. Starting in 2006, the NSAI "pint" mark, a circle featuring two wavy
lines, between which "PINT" is written, with a year mark, and a three digit
batch code either side; has begun to be phased out with a European standard
"PINT"/CE logo stamp. Smaller Pint glasses have been used in pubs and
nightclubs though. In Israel, although officially defined
as 568ml, pubs use the term rather arbitrarily and the "pints" served
constitute a wide range of volumes. In the past, the custom was to serve beer
in 330ml or 500ml in the original beer manufacture's glass. After the reform in
the alcohol taxes in July 2012 the tax rate doubled. Each liter of beer is
charged with 4.2nis tax. In order to avoid raising prices at the pubs, and as
a result, the loss of customers, a new "magic" appeared, called "pint". The
customers don't really know the vague term of a pint, and it varies from place
to place. Some of the places didn't even change the menu, and it's served as 500
ml. In the United States, a pint is 16 US
fluid ounces. However, the typical conical "pint" glass holds 16 oz. to its
rim. With a half inch of foam, the actual liquid fill is roughly 14 oz.
Recently, some restaurants have replaced 16-ounce pint glasses with 14 ouncers to
which customers have objected. In response to this, legislation has been
introduced in the state of Michigan to require bars to serve 16-ounce pints.
Nucleated pint glasses It is increasingly common to find pint
glasses which contain markings on the base; very often these glasses are
branded to one particular beer. The markings themselves are formed from
small pits which aid in nucleation, allowing the gas within it to be
released more easily, thus preserving the head. Without the aid of these pits
a regular pint glass will keep a head for only 3 or 4 minutes before appearing
'flat'. The markings come in a variety of styles ranging from a simple circular
or square hatched pattern to more complicated branding messages.
Collecting Pint glass collecting is an increasingly
popular way for individuals to commemorate their visits to popular
tourist destinations, most notably to microbreweries or sports arenas. These
destinations often sell pint glasses adorned with their logos, which are
either screen-printed or engraved on the side of the glass. Brewery enthusiasts
may travel thousands of miles to see where their favorite beer is made or to
sample new local and fresh beers, and collectors often display their
collections in display cases or on shelves.
Beer festivals frequently have commemorative pint glasses made
specially for the event. Use as weapon
As with other glass objects such as glass bottles, pint glasses can be used
as a weapon, either smashing an intact glass in a victim's face or smashing the
glass and then slashing with the shards. Such attacks, called "glassing", are a
significant problem in the United Kingdom, with more than 87,000 glassing
attacks per year, resulting in over 5,000 injuries. This has led to
less-dangerous alternatives being used, either plastic glasses and bottles at
large events or violence-prone venues, or treated glass, primarily tempered
glass, which has been used in Australia. References
External links CAMRA's Full Pint Campaign page.
Glass beer mugs collection - Private collection of about 5000 different items