A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. In recent centuries tankards were typically made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example glass, wood, pottery, or boiled leather. [1] A tankard may have a hinged lid, and tankards featuring glass bottoms are also fairly common. Tankards are shaped and used similarly to beer steins.
The word "tankard" originally meant any wooden vessel (13th century) and later came to mean a drinking vessel. [1] The earliest tankards were made of wooden staves, similar to a barrel, and did not have lids. A 2000-year-old wooden tankard of approximately four-pint capacity has been unearthed in Wales. [2] [3]
A late medieval example of a fine tankard milled from alder wood was recovered by underwater archaeologists excavating the wreck of the royal Danish-Norwegian flagship, Gribshunden. The ship sank in June 1495 while King Hans sailed from Copenhagen to Kalmar, Sweden, for a diplomatic summit. When excavated, the tankard's lid was still securely in place, and gas from the degradation of the medieval beverage was trapped inside. [4]
Metal tankards often come with a glass bottom. The legend is that the glass-bottomed tankard was developed as a way of refusing the King's shilling, i.e., conscription into the British Army or Navy. The drinker could see the coin in the bottom of the glass and refuse the drink, thereby avoiding conscription. However, this is likely a fable since the Navy could press by force, rendering deception unnecessary. [5]
A further story is that the glass bottom merely allowed the drinker to judge the clarity of their drink while forgoing the expense of a fragile pint glass. [6]
Glass bottoms are sometimes retrofitted to antique tankards, reducing their value and authenticity.
Covered tankards fell out of fashion in 19th century England resulting in a number of them being converted to other roles such as jugs. [7]
Metal and ceramic tankards are still manufactured but are regarded as specialty or novelty items. Modern metal tankards are often engraved to commemorate some occasion. Glass tankards—that is, straight-sided or inward-sloping glass vessels with strap handles —are still in everyday use.[ citation needed ]
In previous centuries, the pewter used to make tankards often contained lead, which exposed the drinker to medical effects, ranging from heavy metal poisoning to gout. [8] This effect was exacerbated in cider-drinking areas —such as Somerset— as the acidity of the cider leached the lead from the pewter more quickly.[ citation needed ] Clay tankards became prevalent in this area. Pewter is now widely lead-free.
A 1970s TV advertising campaign for Whitbread beer features a pub landlord spinning a tall tale to an American tourist, who suspiciously asks: "Are you really Lord Tankard?" [9] [ citation needed ]
In Season 3, Episode 3 of the sitcom Cheers, Frasier Crane says to his bartender friend Sam, “Well, I’ll have a tanker of your finest lager.”
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony, copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. In the past, it was an alloy of tin and lead, but most modern pewter, in order to prevent lead poisoning, is not made with lead. Pewter has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C (338–446 °F), depending on the exact mixture of metals. The word pewter is possibly a variation of "spelter", a term for zinc alloys.
A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in boiling or near-boiling water and serving the resulting infusion called tea. It is one of the core components of teaware.
A mug is a type of cup, a drinking vessel usually intended for hot drinks such as: coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cups such as teacups or coffee cups. Typically, a mug holds approximately 250–350 ml (8–12 US fl oz) of liquid. A mug-shaped vessel much larger than this tends to be called a tankard.
A beer tap is a valve, specifically a tap, for controlling the release of beer. While other kinds of tap may be called faucet, valve or spigot, the use of tap for beer is almost universal. The word was originally coined for the wooden valve in traditional barrels. Beer served from a tap is largely known as draught beer, though beer served from a cask is more commonly called cask ale, while beer from a keg may specifically be called keg beer. Beer taps can be also used to serve similar drinks like cider or long drinks.
A yard of ale or yard glass is a very tall beer glass used for drinking around 2+1⁄2 imperial pints (1.4 L) of beer, depending upon the diameter.
A keg is a small cask used for storing liquids. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. Nowadays a keg is normally constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on the inside. It is commonly used to store, transport, and serve beer. Other alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, carbonated or non-carbonated, may be housed in a keg as well. Carbonated drinks are generally kept under pressure in order to maintain carbon dioxide in solution, preventing the beverage from becoming flat.
A beer stein, or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American Vogue magazine that describes various types of steins stated: "And it is to this [i.e. German] nation that we owe Wagner's music and the apotheosis of the beer mug."
A flagon is a large leather, metal, glass, plastic or ceramic vessel, used for storing and pouring drink, whether this be water, ale, or another liquid. They are generally not intended to be drunk from directly, like a cup. A flagon is typically of about 2 imperial pints (1.1 L) in volume, and it has either a handle, or one or two rings at the neck. Sometimes the neck has a large flange at the top rather than rings. The neck itself may or may not be formed into one, two or three spouts. The name comes from the same origin as the word "flask".
Maß or Mass is the German word describing the amount of beer in a regulation mug, in modern times exactly 1 liter. Maß is also a common abbreviation for Maßkrug, the handled drinking vessel containing it, ubiquitous in Bavarian beer gardens and beer halls, and a staple of Oktoberfest. This vessel is often referred to as a beer mug by English speakers, and can be correctly called a beer stein only if it is made of stoneware and capable of holding a regulation Maß of beer.
Beer has been brewed in England for thousands of years. As a beer brewing country, it is known for top fermented cask beer which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.
Beer is a major part of German culture. According the Reinheitsgebot, only water, hops, yeast and malt are permitted as ingredients in its production. Beers not exclusively using barley-malt, such as wheat beer, must be top-fermented.
A pint glass is a form of drinkware made to hold either a British imperial pint of 20 imperial fluid ounces (568 ml) or an American pint of 16 US fluid ounces (473 ml). Other definitions also exist, see below. These glasses are typically used to serve beer, and also often for cider.
A porringer is a shallow bowl, between 4 and 6 inches (100–150 mm) in diameter, and 1+1⁄2 to 3 inches (38–76 mm) deep; the form originated in the medieval period in Europe and was made in wood, ceramic, pewter, cast iron and silver. They had flat, horizontal handles.
The precise purpose of porringers, or écuelles, as they are known in France, is in dispute; but it is thought that they were used to hold broth or gruel.
A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, ceramic, or glass, and plastic is now common.
Beer glassware comprise vessels, today usually made of glass, designed or commonly used for serving and drinking beer. Styles of beer glasses vary in accord with national or regional traditions; legal or customary requirements regarding serving measures and fill lines; such practicalities as breakage avoidance in washing, stacking or storage; commercial promotion by breweries; artistic or cultural expression in folk art or as novelty items or usage in drinking games; or to complement, to enhance, or to otherwise affect a particular type of beer's temperature, appearance and aroma, as in the case of its head. Drinking vessels intended for beer are made from a variety of materials other than glass, including pottery, pewter, and wood.
Sconcing is a tradition at Oxford University of demanding that a person drink a tankard of ale or some other alcoholic beverage as a penalty for some breach of etiquette. Originally the penalty would have been a simple monetary fine imposed for a more serious breach of discipline, and the word is known to have been used in this sense as early as 1617.
A schooner is a type of glass for serving drinks. In the United Kingdom it is the name for a large sherry glass. In Australia it is the name for a particular glass size, used for any type of beer.
A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about 100–250 millilitres (3–8 US fl oz). Cups may be made of pottery, glass, metal, wood, stone, polystyrene, plastic, lacquerware, or other materials. Normally, a cup is brought in contact with the mouth for drinking, distinguishing it from other tableware and drinkware forms such as jugs. They also most typically have handles, though a beaker has no handle or stem, and small bowl shapes are very common in Asia.
Gribshunden or Griffen, also known by several variant names including Gribshund, Gripshunden, Gripshund, Griff, and Griffone, was a Danish warship, the flagship of Hans (John), King of Denmark. Gribshunden sank in 1495 after an explosion while in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Ronneby in southeastern Sweden; the ship is one of the best-preserved wrecks yet discovered from the late medieval period.
