Bulk Beer Mugs, Beer Steins, & Tankards

Wholesale Glass Beer Mugs: What You Need to Know

At bars, restaurants, taverns, and pubs, wholesale steins are a familiar and welcome sight for customers seeking a frosty beer at the end of a long day. Mug styles are available to reinforce any ambiance, lending a relaxed air to the dining room with their informal design and easy-to-grip handles. Constructed with thick walls, handles, and bases, wholesale glass beer mugs withstand recurrent use in crowded and rowdy bar atmospheres by resisting chips and breakage. Many operators elect to purchase beer mugs in bulk, keeping a ready supply on hand for periods of increased demand, such as holidays, major sports games, and weekends packed with partygoers.

Common Questions About Glass Beer Mugs

What is a glass beer mug called?

Glass beer mugs are known as steins. Because steins were originally made of earthenware and ceramic, the name stein comes from a German word meaning "stone."

What's the difference between a beer mug, tankard, and stein?

The word "mug" typically refers to a ceramic drinking cup with a single handle designed for drinking hot beverages, such as coffee and tea. Over time, glass and ceramic handled beer glasses also became known as mugs, although it's not the word's original meaning.

Steins are a type of mug specifically designed for drinking beer, which is why many people also refer to them as "beer mugs." Wholesale steins can be made of glass, plastic, or ceramic and typically have thick, heavy bottoms with a single handle on one side. They're usually taller and larger than traditional mugs, meaning they can hold larger servings.

Tankards were invented several centuries ago and traditionally had hinged lids the drinker could operate one handed. Unlike steins, tankards weren't used exclusively for beer and could be constructed of wood, leather, pewter, ceramic, or glass.

Nowadays, the terms beer mug, stein, and tankard are often used interchangeably in reference to any handled beer drinking container, with or without a lid, made of glass, ceramic, plastic, or metal.

Are beer steins safe to drink from?

Not all beer steins are safe to drink out of. Because beer steins have been around for so long, older models can be made with pewter, ceramic, or paint that can leach traces of lead into beverages, rendering them unsafe to drink from. For this reason, most older steins and tankards are regarded as collector's items for display only.

Contemporary steins, including all the wholesale glass beer mugs found here, are perfectly safe to drink from. Most modern-day steins are made of glass or ceramic and manufactured in compliance with FDA low-lead requirements. To ensure product safety, it's important to order drinkware from a reputable commercial beer mug supplier who carries products that follow U.S. FDA guidelines.

What are the different types of bulk beer mugs?

There are dozens of bulk beer mug styles with many types of shapes and decorations. Some operators prefer to buy bulk beer mugs made of plastic, while others prefer the more traditional feel of glass beer mugs. No matter the material, a variety of options are available to complement any decor.

Paneled Mug (or 10-sided Tankard): This type of mug traditionally has ten flat sides, although it can be made with anywhere from 6 to 20 sides. Some styles are paneled just on the lower half, while others are paneled from bottom to top. One of the most popular options, these wholesale glass beer mugs have a trimmed down, utilitarian design that refracts light through flat planes and angled edges.

Jar Mug: Modeled after glass mason jars used for canning, jar mugs have a rustic, nostalgic appearance that blends well with country kitchens, pancake houses, fried chicken restaurants, and barbecue joints. Reminiscent of the American South, these mugs are often used to serve house-made tea and lemonade, as well as mixed drinks and beer.

Dimple Stein: The dimple stein, or dimpled pint, is a type of traditional pint glass found in British pubs throughout the 20^th century. It features a rounded design that's widest in the middle and covered with large, exterior dimples. These glass beer mugs are most at home in bars and restaurants featuring classic British ambiance and simple pub food.

Boot Mug: No beer mug collection is complete without a boot mug, colloquially known as "das boot." The origins of the tradition are hotly debated; however, people have been drinking beer out of footwear-shaped mugs for centuries. Boot mugs are typically used to serve German beers and add a unique touch of authenticity to the bar's atmosphere.

Oktoberfest Mug: Much like the dimple stein, these mugs have a dimpled exterior; however, their sides are straight and tall instead of short and round. Like the boot mug, these mugs are associated with biergarten drinking festivals, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and trinklieder (or drinking music). This mug style blends in well at themed restaurants and taverns of many kinds.

Flared Mug: Designed to imitate the shape of a pint glass, a flared mug features a wide mouth with a tapered interior. The sides can be curved or straight, but the mouth will always be wider than the base. Combining the best of both worlds, these mugs resemble a pint or pilsner glass with a heavy base and have a handle fixed to one side for ease of drinking.

Maritime Mug: Typically constructed with a short, flared base to resist tipping, maritime mugs feature distinctive rings designed to mimic the appearance of a beer barrel's hoops. These commercial beer mugs have an understated design that blends in well with many types of decor but is particularly at home in seafood restaurants.

How much beer is in a mug?

Commercial beer mugs come in many sizes, ranging from a lilliputian 8.5 ounces to a whopping 42 ounces in capacity. With so many size options, it's important to verify serving sizes and make customers aware of just how much alcohol they're actually drinking when they order a beer. A 42-ounce stein, for example, holds the equivalent of nearly four 12-ounce servings of beer.

Many bars and restaurants choose to stock bulk beer mugs in more than one size so customers can order their preferred beverage size when dining. When paired with a draft beer system, multiple mug sizes provide guests with a range of options to choose from, promoting beer sales.

Do beer steins keep beer colder than other glasses?

Compared to non-handled beer glasses, wholesale glass beer mugs have thicker sides, meaning increased insulation between the beverage contained therein and the surrounding ambient air. Because steins are also made with handles, the drinker's hands don't make direct contact with the receptacle's sides, so less warmth is transferred to the mug. Proponents of commercial beer mugs cite such factors to support the claim that handled beer mugs keep beverages cooler longer than non-handled glasses.

In a more practical vein, thick-walled glass beer mugs can be kept frozen, retaining a frosty temperature longer once they're filled with beer and served to a customer.

How do you make a frozen beer mug?

Frosty beer mugs keep beverages cold longer than room-temperature glasses and are a welcome addition at any eatery where ales, lagers, and porters are served. To save time and free up space in the freezer, many bars opt for a mug froster, a piece of equipment that chills glass beer mugs to a frosty temperature and can hold anywhere from a few dozen units to almost 300. The glass chiller's capacity depends on its size, so some bars are able to accommodate a larger glass chiller than others.

Fast-chill mug frosters utilize blasts of CO² to bring glasses and mugs down to a frozen temperature in seconds. This kind of glass chiller is typically much smaller and designed as a drop-in for countertops. Because of their size and design, these units can chill only one glass at a time.

Why are beer mugs so heavy?

Glass beer mugs have thick, heavy bases designed to offset the weight of the filled mug and prevent tipping. Most mugs also are constructed with thick sides designed to resist breaking and insulate the stein's contents from warmth; they also have an external handle for lifting and tipping the mug as the user drinks. Additionally, many commercial beer mugs have a generous capacity, with some able to hold several servings of beer in a single glass.

With all these characteristics, it's no wonder glass beer mugs are so heavy compared to ordinary drinking glasses. As a benefit to the operator, heavy mugs help provide the perception that the glass contains more product than it actually does, giving the illusion of better value for the money.