Types of Beer Glasses or The Germans and their Beer Glasses

A Guide about German Beer Glasses

If you have ever been on vacation in Germany, you know that there is a beer glass for every type of beer.

Some make sense, others are more for fun, such as the Beer Boot.

You will find here a small beer glass education so that you can impress your friends and relatives. 

But please, do not take it too seriously - drinking beer should be a pleasure and not a duty.

 

Die Biertulpe / Pilsner Tulip

Pilsner Tulip German Beer Glass with Eagle and German Flag. Filled with Beer

The ideal beer glass for a Pilsner. Can also be used for a Schwarzbier.

Thin walled, relatively high and conical at the top, it provides good foam stability and runs easily into the mouth.

All thin-walled glasses can cool down more quickly after washing, so that no one must drink a warm beer.

And who likes to drink a warm beer?

 

 Das Weissbierglas / Wheat Beer Glass

German Wheat Beer Glass with Eagle and Flags

The classic for wheat beer.

A long, slender, but thick-walled beer glass.
The shape of the beer glass allows the yeast to settle perfectly at the bottom and the foam crown gets, as with the Pilsener glass, a good stability.
Since the wheat beer is normally drunk more slowly, the thick-walled glass helps to keep the beer cold for longer.
 

 

Der Bierkrug / Beer Mug

1 Liter Beer Glass Mug featuring the German Coat of Arm, and the Federal Eagle by Boeckling

The beer mug is presumably the oldest beer drinking vessel.

It probably comes from the 16th century.

I call the beer mug here a drinking vessel and not glass, because among other things it was also made of ceramics, pewter, stone or even silver - and still is (although I'm not so sure about silver today).

The beer mug exists in cylindrical but also in conical form.

Whether made of glass (thick-walled) or any other material, it is ideally suited to keep the precious beverage cool for as long as possible.

Every Oktoberfest visitor knows the beer mug in its 1-liter size as a so-called Masskrug.

The deepening in the glass (eyes) ensure on the one hand a good stability and on the other hand they are perfect for indicating the filling height.

(Thus, among other things, you can specify exactly how many rows of beer and lemonade you want in a Radler/Shandy).

 

Die Koelner Bierstange

 

This beer glass also called Kölschstange is a cylindrical beer glass with a relatively small capacity, which ensures that the beer is always fresh.

Those who order the local Kölsch (which must have been brewed in Cologne) should know that there are rules for this.

The waiter (Köbes) puts a new Kölsch in front of you for the one you have drunk until you put your beer coaster on the empty glass.

Good to know, there have been a few who have gone home quite drunk and with a high bill.

  

Altbierbecher

Even though Düsseldorf and Cologne are only 45 minutes apart, their beers and beer glasses are totally different, right?

As you can see from the name, you drink Düsseldorf's Altbier out of the Altbierbecher.

It has been the misfortune of many a tourist to have ordered the wrong beer in the wrong place.

 

Der Willibecher

Invented in 1954 by Willy Steinmeier, the glass is available in various capacities.

The double conical shaped vessel is preferably used for Helles (traditional German pale lager beer).

Thin-walled, it is characterized by a rapid flow rate.

However, the foam does not last long here, but a Helles tastes best fresh anyway.

 

Die Berliner-Weisse-Schale

Berliner Weisse may only be brewed in Berlin breweries.

The unfiltered twice fermented beer is today usually drunk with woodruff or raspberry syrup.

The glass is not only particularly well suited to accentuate the Berliner Weisse, but is also supposedly important for the flavor development.

 

And here is our fun glass, Der Stiefel / Das Boot

A one Liter Glass Boot with the typical blue Hofbräuhaus Logo in the front Center and the words Hofbräuhaus München underneath. This Beer Boot is filled with a nice cold Beer and has a perfect Foam crown.

There are endless stories about the boot.

From a battle won and a general's promise to drink a soldier's boot filled with beer upon victory, to fraternities that used drinking from a boot as an initiation ritual.

The fact is that a beer boot not only looks good, but it also makes a particularly good drinking game vessel.

Some are simply happy to see the last sip of beer run down the face of the inexperienced drinker, while others have the rule that you have to pay for the next round or drink a shot if the next person in line drinks the boot empty.

In addition it must be explained that the boot may not be set down and must be really empty.

Some people have tried desperately to empty a boot that is still too full.

Fortunately, however, there is no law when drinking from a boot, and so you can also just enjoy your beer comfortably in a glass or ceramic boot.

 

It doesn't matter whether you follow the German beer glass rules or not, the important thing is that you enjoy your beer.

But, if you would like to have the right glass, you will find a selection here in our shop.

In this regard: "I think this would be a good time for beer.” -Franklin Roosevelt, March 12, 1933