The History of the Beer Receptacle



Posted: Tuesday, April 03, 2007

by
all niche stores l.p.

It is commonly known that beer has been around mankind for a long time. As beer itself changed, expanded, and advanced, so did the way in which we got the brew to our mouths.

Pottery, carved wood, stoneware, as well as sewn up bits of leather made up the earliest drinking receptacles. As time passed on, people saw small advancements in the quality of their beer receptacles. Midieval Europeans living during the era of the Bubonic plague saw the creation of beer steins, which had a closed top on the steins to prevent flies from getting in the brew and getting the person ill.

The development of glass might have been the most crucial part of the way beer glasses are made today. As glasses became increasingly popular, drinkers could really see what they were drinking and wanted a lighter and more appealing hue and flavor. This led to the filtration of beers; drinkers didn't want the chunks that were often found in the earlier products of the breweries. It almost seemed like beer steins were on the way out as the improved beer glasses became more and more popular.

The development of beer glasses thrived and produced a variety of beer glasses for all types of different beers. The most demanded in America is the sixteen-ounce pint glass.

It was later discovered that the shape let some of the carbonation to be freed and let the aroma be more definite. It is also favored for its storage capabilities; pint glasses may be put on top of each other and stored easily upright on shelves, quickly making them a favorite with the barkeeps who ended up having to wash out each glass.

On the promotional and marketing front some extraordinary and groundbreaking products were manufactured by early breweries to try and drive people towards their beers. Handing out glasses to people was one way that breweries found to promote their products even though it was illegal. This led to the breweries developing glasses that were works of artistic merit unto themselves. The first were ornate and costly; they would often have gold or silver embossed on the sides. Eventually, artisans for the breweries started doing intricate etchings on the sides of the glasses or steins and even developed a method of firing enamel paint onto the beer glasses. These enameled glasses are still some of the most rare beer souvenirs, even though they were manufactured more recently than the others. Nowadays, some of the beer memorabilia and banners are worth thousands of dollars and sought out worldwide by avid collectors. Have you been up in the top of Granddad's drawer in a while?

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