Pint glasses are primarily used to serve beer and come in two common sizes: 16 fluid ounces (an American pint) or 20 ounces (a British pint). The larger 20 ounce size is also convenient for serving beers that produce a large head of foam. The primary use of pint glasses is for serving beer, especially tap beers. The majority of beer styles can be appropriately served in a pint glass, although a special lager style glass is better suited for lager beers.
The most common design is conical, so the glasses can be stacked with about an inch of the rim sticking up from the glass below it to prevent sticking. Pint glasses occasionally have a line at the top to show where the actual liquid line should be, rather than just the foam measurement, although this is not common.
Conical pint glasses are the most common glass for beer in the U.K., and they are very common throughout the United States. A more traditional, but less common, shape is the handled pint mug, also called a jug or a dimple mug.
Pint glasses are traditionally made of glass, although they are available in plastic designs. Plastic designs have recently gained in popularity, although many patrons reject the feel and strongly prefer glass. The primary advantages to using plastic pints is that they are less expensive and cannot be used as a weapon in a bar fight. To counter this last argument, in the U.K., they are researching coatings that would ensure glasses do not break.
Although pint glasses are designed for beer, some mixed drink recipes work well, such as a Flaming Moe (or Flaming Homer), popularized by The Simpsons television show. This concoction mixes equal parts brandy, peppermint schnapps, sloe gin, blackberry liqueur, strawberry juice, and cough syrup. Ignite and drink if you dare!
Other uses for a pint glass include those where you are drop a shot glass into a glass of beer (such as a Car Bomb), then chug the entire contents. Customers can also use a pint glass to mix their own cocktails, if it is not available from the bartender. Finally, they can be used to create the complicated Backdraft, where Cointreau is ignited in the pint glass until warm, then poured into a snifter full of Sambuca, igniting it. Cinnamon is sprinkled on the flames, ignited, then the warm pint glass is used to cover the flames.
So as you see, there are other uses for a pint glass, but most people stick to beer.
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