Why a Lid for a Beer Mug?
9 min of reading
Nowadays, you might wonder why beer mugs have lids , but the answer lies in the past. Modern mugs have long since been lidless, or some have kept them for the sake of folklore.
What was the primary purpose of this lid ? Let me take you on a journey into the past to explain this part of the beer mug's history.
Originally, beer mugs did not have lids.
The exact origin of the beer mug is not the subject of this article, but initially the container holding the beer was closer to a jug than a tankard .
The aim was to have a solid container , if possible not too expensive and which could keep the temperature of the drink cool.
The closest thing to the tankards of this era today is this vintage model that we offer on our site:
The plague in Europe gives birth to the beer mug lid
It was the 14th century in Germany and the "jug" tankards were made of stoneware. For your information, at the same time, in neighboring countries, it was rather the wooden tankard that was in fashion. In any case, the Black Death that was raging at that time knew no borders. The deaths were counted in the millions across the continent because of this bubonic plague .
Scientists of the time rightly believed that all the flies and insects that feasted on the swarming corpses could transmit the disease to healthy people. The German authorities then issued a decree: all drinking establishments and inns must cover anything containing food or drink .
What fly could resist the smell of a good beer after feasting on a rotting body, right? 😊
The trick with the tankard was to design a lid that was fixed to the beer stein but still removable. Although German tankards were made of stoneware, pewter was chosen for this purpose.
Bavarian consumers could thus lift the lid just long enough to take a few sips before closing their mug. From necessity comes invention, as they say!
The beer mug lid remained after the plague epidemic
It took several years for the Black Death to become less severe, but by then, consumers had become accustomed to the lid on their tankards. They had also realized that a lid helped keep the beer warmer .
The fact that the lid prevented harmful insects from drowning in their glass was also appreciated.
The tankard lid eventually went out of fashion
Over time, however, bars realized that putting lids on every mug came at a significant cost .
Beer lovers, for their part, began to complain that they couldn't measure for themselves whether the quantity of beer they were being served actually corresponded to the price charged. The transparency of the container ensured they wouldn't be ripped off about the contents!
The days of the stoneware beer mug with a lid were over by the 19th century, replaced by clear glass. The following video from our YouTube channel sums it all up perfectly:
Stoneware tankards with lids continued to be produced, but no longer for wealthy owners or collectors. These tankards became true works of art with magnificent designs and ornaments. Some of them can still sell for several thousand euros.
Today's beer mugs can be very diverse and varied. Glass tends to be less commonly used. The type of model that works very well in our country, for example:
As you will have understood from these lines, the beer mug has evolved over the years . The origin of the mug goes back a very long time!
The lid appeared for sanitary reasons , then was kept for practicality, and finally was replaced for budget and aesthetic reasons. Beer itself has also undergone quite a bit of evolution, but that's for another article!
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Our site offers more than 100 beer mugs different and all unique!
To discover all of our products, click on this link: Chopedebiere .
If you would like to read one of my other articles, I suggest you discover 18 tips for opening a bottle without a bottle opener or the one on the invention of the beer mug .
To see all my other blog posts, click on Chopedebiere Blog.
