Who Invented the Beer Mug?
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Beer is a popular drink enjoyed by many people around the world. It's one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverages. Beer has been around for centuries and has been brewed in many different forms and styles. But what about the glass of beer you're holding in your hand?
Beer is a beloved beverage that has been around for thousands of years, and it's no surprise that it's still so popular today. But where did the beer mug come from? The history of the beer mug is closely linked to the development of glassware and its evolution over time, but it goes back further than that.
From its beginnings as a crude vessel made from clay to its modern form as an intricately designed glass cup, we will explore how this magnificent vessel came to be.
Have you ever wondered who invented this amazing container? Come on, I'll take you on a journey through this fascinating story that began thousands of years ago!
The first beer mug was an ox horn
Man is known for using whatever he has at hand . Even before he could use tools to carve wood or shape certain materials, he quickly realized that the ancestor of our current cows could provide him with a very interesting material.
We are offering this horn for sale, if you are interested you can click directly on the photo!
Yes, the ox horn was perfect for holding liquid , and it didn't require much effort to be useful quickly. The invention of beer dates back to the time of the Sumerians 6,000 years ago, even before the Egyptians. It's a safe bet that the ox horn was one of the first cups used by humans. A drinking horn, quite simply.
We cannot really speak of a tankard at this time because a beer tankard has a handle that allows it to be held without having the container directly in the hand. The horn is nevertheless the ancestor of the tankard .
In a more modern version, still in horn, this is what it looks like with a handle:
We are offering this horn tankard for sale, if you are interested you can click directly on the photo!
The man makes his own beer mug from pottery or clay
A horn is nice, but in the meantime, man had developed knowledge of pottery, particularly thanks to clay, and of wood carving. The problem with wood is that it soaks up liquid, and if it remains wet, it ends up rotting, etc. The beer mug therefore had to evolve.
Now we know how to treat wood to avoid these problems. For your information, current wooden mugs are either treated with food-grade resin or have a stainless steel tank to overcome this defect.
We are offering this wooden mug for sale, if you are interested you can click directly on the photo!
So, in most cases, pottery won this battle. The aesthetics were not necessarily there, and the beer mug looked more like a jug .
Pottery, then ceramics, stoneware, and porcelain were the preferred materials for making beer mugs. Firing one or the other of these materials made the mug completely waterproof and allowed for decoration.
Metal as a material for making beer mugs
Yes, man made various utensils from metal, not just weapons. Metal had the enormous advantage over ceramics of being much more resistant , but it required special know-how. The history of the beer mug is linked to technical developments and, inevitably, to the history of man.
I should point out that even after the appearance of iron, bronze, silver or even gold beer mugs , other types of mugs still existed. It was more a question of how much money you could put into your favorite mug!
An inn served beer in wooden tankards. Those with more money used ceramic tankards . The wealthy owned metal tankards, made of the most precious metal their purse could afford!
Current metal mugs are made of stainless steel:
We offer this stainless steel mug , if you are interested you can click directly on the photo!
Pewter was also widely used to make beer mugs because it is one of the cheapest metals. It contributed greatly to the popularization of the metal beer mug .
The downside was that it was often mixed with lead, which caused an astronomical number of cases of lead poisoning . Unfortunately, it took doctors a long time to understand that lead was bad for food contact.
Dying because of the mug you use to drink your beer is really unfair!
The metal beer mug has a lid
Are you familiar with the expression: "Out of necessity comes invention"? It lends itself well to this story because it was during a major outbreak of bubonic plague that beer mugs were fitted with lids. This protected the beer from the unkind coughs of potential sufferers nearby, but also prevented insects from taking an unwanted dip.
Beer mugs with lids were invented in Germany, most often made of pewter, while the mugs themselves were made of stoneware. According to the belief of the time in the 14th century, insects were vectors for the spread of this disease, and a decree even made the addition of these lids mandatory.
I actually wrote a detailed article on the beer mug lid issue.
Here is a short one The following video is from our YouTube channel and it sums it all up perfectly:
The glass beer mug
It may seem strange to go from a material as strong as metal to glass, which can break much more easily. In fact, it is more of a necessity .
In times of war, metal objects could be melted down to make weapons, and the top priority in times of crisis was no longer making tankards. However, whatever happened, beer consumption did not drop, and an alternative material had to be found.
Glass was very economical to produce and allowed for much more creative uses than metal. After the First World War, glass remained the ideal material for everyday beer mugs.
The available metal was also used more for reconstruction than for "arts and crafts" after the war. Using glass beer mugs was therefore convenient for everyone!
The current beer mug
In our modern era, the beer mug still exists in various forms . If you go to a bar or pub, you'll usually get a pint, but some will have the decency to serve you a beer in a mug. It's a lot classier!
Globalization has taken its toll, and now you can find mugs of all kinds and in many different materials. Just look at the number of models we offer. We have to try to please everyone, and everyone has their own preferences. Here are a few of the hundred models we have.
1 L plastic beer mug :
Premium wooden beer mug :
Dragon Head Beer Mug :
Knight Beer Mug :
Medieval beer cup :
We offer all these beer mugs for sale , if you are interested you can click directly on their photo!
Personally, I have the immense advantage of being able to choose from our many references and I admit that I enjoy changing my tankard very regularly. I have several horns, wooden tankards, glass tankards, plastic tankards and of course several resin tankards with a stainless steel bowl.
I actually have more than twenty, but don't compare me to you because I'm lucky enough to live off my passion for beer!
The beer mug is part of our heritage
Beer mugs are an integral part of beer culture —and have been for centuries! From the simple clay mugs of ancient Babylon to the richly decorated steins of Germany, the beer mug has a long and fascinating history.
Beer mugs are more than just containers for our favorite cold beverage. They have a long and fascinating history dating back to ancient times. From the early use of clay or stone mugs by Sumerian brewers to today's modern designs, the beer mug has evolved over the centuries and played an important role in many cultures.
Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to the question of who exactly invented the beer mug, but what I am certain of is that he took great pleasure in enjoying his beer from the container it was made in. This pleasure has not changed for thousands of years, and every beer lover still attaches great importance to the container that holds his beer .
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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 want to read one of my other articles, I suggest you discover how to draw a beer mug .
To see all my other blog posts, click on Chopedebiere Blog.
