The fact that beer has been with humans for a long time is well known. The way we drank beer developed as beer expanded, grew, and improved. Pottery, wood, stoneware, and even sewn up pieces of leather made up the earliest drinking vessels. The quality of the beer glass saw small advancements as time passed on. During the bubonic plague beer steins were essential because of their closed top to prevent bugs from landing in the beer and making them sick.
The development of glass may have been the most essential part of the way beer glasses are made today. As consumers actually started to be able to look at what they were consuming from the beer glass they began to demand a beer with improved flavor and a improved color. Customers didn't want chunks in their drinks anymore so breweries started to filter their products. With this new, more aesthetically pleasing wave of
beer glasses, it appeared
beer steins were on the way out.
The creation of glassware thrived and produced a variety of beer glasses for all kinds of different beers. The most popular in the U.S. is the sixteen-ounce pint glass. It was originally developed to cover the top of a Martini shaker, but barkeeps soon discovered that as the beer flowed out of the
beer tap handles the pint glass was the top receptacle because it let part of the carbonation to be released and let the smell of the brew to be more pronounced. The pint glass quickly became popular with barkeeps who had to clean each glass by itself because it can be put on top of each other and put easily on the shelves.
On the advertising and marketing front some unique and groundbreaking moves were manufactured by breweries to try and drive customers towards their products. Early manufacturers were often prohibited to give away beer or other promotionals to their customers, but found that giving out beer glasses was a good way to reward consumers and also to advertise for themselves. This led to the manufacturers developing beer glasses that were works of artistic merit unto themselves. The first were gaudy and costly; they would often have gold or silver embossed on either side. Eventually, artists for the breweries started doing intricate etchings on the sides of the beer glasses or steins and even created a way of firing enamel paint onto the glasses. These painted glasses remain some of the most unique beer collectibles, even though they were manufactured more recently than the others. Nowadays, some of the beer collectables and signs are worth lots of money and sought out worldwide by avid collectors. Have you looked up in the top of Grandpa's dresser in a while?
