Traditional Glass Pint Tankards

Glass tankards showcase the frothy head of the beer.

Beer wasn't always poured into glass. Prior to the 20th century, clay and pewter drinking vessels were the norm, but when they went out of style, the glass pint tankard came in. Whether it is the imperial 20-oz pint glass or the American 16-oz pint glass, tankards of various shapes remain popular drinking vessels.

Origins

At one point, tankards were made of pewter, which contains toxic lead.

Glass pint tankards first entered the scene after World War I. When the brewing industry began to standardize, glass-making methods improved, bars were better lit, and beer quality and clarity went up. The first glass pint tankard that appeared was the 10-sided tankard. Glass-bottomed pewter tankards were created to compete with the glassware, since they, too, exposed the clarity of the beer, but the toxic qualities of the pewter soon rendered them obsolete. Ten-sided tankards really caught on after they were promoted in the Brewers' Society's "Beer is Best" commercials in the 1930s.

Dimpled Glasses

Dimpled beer mugs are sturdy and show off lighter beer colors well.

Unfortunately for the 10-sided glass pint tankard, dimpled pint glasses entered vogue after World War II, when bitter, amber-colored beers gained popularity over mild dark beers -- which were thought of as too 'working-class.' The dimples showed off the color of the amber beer better than straight-walled glasses. These dimpled glasses are sometimes referred to as beer tankards, but they are more properly called beer mugs. The heavy, dimpled glasses went out of fashion in the 1960s, when public taste shifted to thinner glasses without handles.

Traditional Tankards Today

Some meals call for a tankard.

Today, traditional tankards are still used at some bars for ambiance or for serving specific types of beer, such as stout, in order to show off their color or head. Some beer connoisseurs prefer tankards with handles because they prevent the hand from warming up the beer. Glass tankards are also used today as collectors' items whose age and origin can sometimes be identified by engravings or insignias in the sides. Traditional pint tankards can be easily ordered online as housewarming gifts or stylish accessories for backyard barbeques. Some companies will even personalize the tankards with an engraving of your choice.

Variety

Glass tankards, like tulip glasses, are now a type of novelty beer glass.

Glass tankards are no longer the most popular beer vessels. Many artisan beers have designed their own pint glass shapes that are supposed to trap yeast sediment, showcase fine color or retain flowery bouquet. However, there is a wide variety of pint glass styles even within the category of glass pint tankards. Some glass pint tankards are printed with beer brands or sports teams, while glass pint tankards with lids are a reminder of when people needed to protect their beer from diseased flies and dust. Traditional glass pint tankards, whether real antiques or fun modern remakes, are still the perfect vessel for a heady pint of beer.

References

• Revolutionary Players: Pewter Tankards
• PintGlasses.com: Tankard Pint Glasses
• Tastings.com: Glassware for Beer
• Zythophile; A Short History of Beer Glasses; Martyn Cornell; June 2007
• True Beer: Beer Glass Types