Why do beer steins have glass bottoms

Post a Question. Join FunTrivia for Free : Hourly trivia games, quizzes, community, and more! Newest Questions Post a Question Search All Questions Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims. Archived Questions Goto Qn. There is a story that glass bottoms were added to the tankard so that, as you finish your drink, you can see through the glass to notice if anyone was about to attack you in a boisterous tavern.

Older tankards were made from wood, ceramic or leather. Some tankards have hinged lids, but this is unusual. There was a health scare about pewter tankards at one time, as pewter contained lead that could poison the drinker. Fortunately, modern pewter tankards are lead-free. A tankard holds one pint of beer, though there are half-pint tankards.

Some tankards have pint markers about an inch below the top of the tankard. The liquid should come up to the pint marker, allowing the foam on top of the beer to reach the top of the glass.

Some drinkers say that the foam is not part of the pint measure, which is the reason for the pint marker being below the top. The traditional beer tankard is the glass dimple tankard, with its distinctive dimple pattern and large handle.

Some prefer a straight plain glass tankard. A stein is a litre or half litre vessel usually made from ceramic, though you can find steins made from glass, pewter and porcelain. Steins traditionally have a lid, which some say was put on them to prevent the Black Plague virus entering the beer.

The lid also prevents insects from flying into the liquid. In modern-day Germany, beer is often drunk in steins that do not have lids. Instead, a beer mat might be used to cover the stein when the drinker is not actively drinking. In Germany, steins are filled with light or lager type beers, whereas in Britain the glass tankard is traditionally filled with bitter, though any type of beer can be drunk in either a stein or a tankard.

In theory, the same beer drunk from a stein should taste the same as from a tankard. Some say that drinking from a ceramic stein affects the taste compared to a glass tankard, though opinions about this are subjective.

If you know someone who likes to drink beer, why not treat them to their own personalised engraved beer tankard? Whether it changes the taste or not, they will appreciate the stylish look of the tankard and how it feels when their fingers are wrapped through the handle and around the glass. Maybe this gift has some bearing on the tradition of recruitment as Reg wanted him to go with him? Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. The King's Shilling Ask Question. Asked 5 years, 5 months ago. Active 1 year, 4 months ago. Viewed 2k times. Improve this question. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. A recruiting sergeant recounted: …your last recourse was to get him drunk, and then slip a shilling in his pocket, get him home to your billet, and next morning swear he enlisted, bring all your party to prove it, get him persuaded to pass the doctor.

Why the expression To Take The King's Shilling: The expression 'to take the king's shilling', meant to sign up to join the army.

Improve this answer. Are these glass bottomed tankards where the term "beer goggles" originated? JasonK What's the meaning of the phrase 'Beer goggles'? Having your 'beer goggles' on means you are sexually attracted to someone, who you wouldn't normally find attractive, because you are drunk. What's the origin of the phrase 'Beer goggles'? The term 'beer goggles', which sounds to my mind like a British expression, is in fact American.

It emerged in the s and was popular amongst male university students. The maleness of the phrase as, although either sex could be more inclined to find potential sexual partners attractive.