Best Beer Glass With a Handle: Steins, Tankards and Mugs Worth Buying

A handle changes how a beer glass actually behaves in your hand, not just how it looks. I reach for a handled mug specifically for beers I want to stay cold longer, or for a session where I am holding the glass for a while. Here is what to actually buy, broken down by style, size and what you should be drinking out of each one, including picks straight from our own barware shop.

Why a Handle Is a Good Choice

The main job of a handle is thermal, not aesthetic. Wrap your palm around a plain glass and your body heat starts warming the beer within minutes, which matters more than people think for a pilsner or light lager where you want that first-pour crispness to last. A handle keeps your hand off the glass entirely. It also gives you a steadier grip for a heavier pour, which is part of why traditional German steins and English tankards both landed on the same solution independently, thick glass, a wide base, and a handle built to take the weight without slipping. If you want the full history and lidded-vs-unlidded breakdown, we cover that in depth in our beer stein buying guide, this article focuses more broadly on every handled shape, not just the German stein.

Handle Styles and Sizes, and What Goes In Them

The classic German glass stein, often with a hinged pewter lid, is sized for the beers it was built around: bocks, dunkels and marzen-style Oktoberfest beers brewed under the German Beer Purity Law, none of which need aggressive aroma-focusing glassware the way a hoppy IPA does. English-style dimpled tankards, like the Dimple Stein 20oz set in our own shop, run bigger and suit lower-carbonation bitters and milds that do not need much head retention. Spain and Southern Europe favor a taller, narrower handled glass, the Estrella Galicia glass being the most recognizable example, built for a light, highly carbonated lager served very cold. Japan takes a different approach again: brands like Toyo-Sasaki and Aderia make handled mugs sized almost exactly to a standard can, 350 to 430ml, meant for pouring one can at home rather than serving from a tap.

5 Handled Beer Mugs Worth Buying Right Now

We stock a full range of handled mugs in our own beer mugs shop category, here are five specific ones worth calling out by use case:

Small Handled Mugs, and Why You Might Want One

A smaller handled mug, 250 to 320ml, is not just a novelty size. It is the right call for a tasting flight where you are trying several beers and do not want a full pour of each, for a stronger beer like a bock or dunkel that you want to sip rather than gulp, or for a party where you are pouring root beer or a lighter drink for kids alongside the adult glasses. The handle still does its job at this size, keeping hands off the glass, it is just scaled down for a smaller pour.

Where to Buy a Beer Glass With a Handle

• Our own beer mugs shop category for the full range, including all five picks above, filterable by size, material and whether it comes as a single glass or a set.
• GermanSteins.com for an authentic German glass stein, including options with a traditional pewter lid, some available personalized with engraving.
• Barshopen and similar European barware importers for an official Estrella Galicia or other regional branded handled glass.
• MASU and Made In Japan UK for genuine Japanese handled mugs from brands like Toyo-Sasaki and Aderia.
• If you would rather put your own design on a handled mug instead of buying one premade, see our printed beer glasses guide for where to get that done, and our gifts for beer lovers guide for more barware gift ideas generally.

One more consideration before you buy: check what you are actually planning to drink out of it. A hoppy IPA or a delicate Kolsch loses more to a wide-mouthed handled mug than it gains, those styles are built for glassware shaped to hold aroma in. See our full beer glass types guide for a style-by-style breakdown if you are building out a full set rather than buying just one.

FAQs

Do beer glasses with handles actually make a difference?

Yes, in a real way. A handle keeps your palm off the glass, so the beer stays colder for longer, and it stops the glass warming up in your grip the way a straight pint glass does. It also matters for beers you want served cold and clean-tasting, like pilsners and light lagers, where warmth brings out unwanted flavors faster.

What size beer mug should I buy?

For everyday drinking, 350ml to 500ml (about 12 to 17oz) covers most beers comfortably, including a full can with room for a head. Go smaller, 250ml to 320ml, for tastings, stronger beers you want to sip slowly, or a party where you are pouring for a crowd. Go bigger, 32oz to 40oz, only for shared jugs or genuine novelty use.

Are handled beer glasses dishwasher safe?

Most glass ones are. Plain glass steins and tankards without hand-painted or delicate decoration typically go straight in the dishwasher. If a stein has a pewter lid, hand wash the lid separately since dishwasher heat and detergent can dull the metal over time.

What is the difference between a stein and a tankard?

A stein is the German term, traditionally a lidded mug, though many modern glass steins skip the lid, our full stein buying guide covers that history in more depth. A tankard usually refers to the English style, historically pewter or silver, now often a straight-sided or dimpled glass mug. Functionally today they mean nearly the same thing: a handled beer mug.

Why do some beer glasses not have handles?

Style-specific glassware like tulip, snifter or pilsner glasses is shaped to control aroma and head retention in ways a straight-sided handled mug cannot. Handled glasses trade some of that aroma-focusing shape for grip and insulation, which is why you will see a Belgian tripel in a stemmed tulip glass but rarely in a stein.

References

• GermanSteins.com, Glass Beer Stein with Pointed Pewter Lid
• Barshopen, Estrella Galicia Beer Glass 40cl
• MASU, Toyo-Sasaki Frosted Kumogiri Beer Glass