Nonic pint or tulip pint and the British pub glass explained

An imperial pint is 568 ml and the glass is built around it

The British pint is the imperial pint: 568 ml, or 20 imperial fluid ounces. A half pint is 284 ml. That is bigger than the 473 ml US pint and a good deal bigger than what many Indian bars call a pint, which can be anything from 300 to 500 ml depending on the menu. If the size matters to you, ask what the glass holds.

In Britain draught beer is sold in fixed measures, so the glass itself is the measure. Some glasses are brim measures, meaning 568 ml fills them to the very top. Others carry a printed line with space above it for the head. That one detail explains a lot of pub arguments about short measures and foam.

The nonic bulge stops chips and helps the stack

Nonic means "no nick". The bulge sits about 2 to 3 cm below the rim. When glasses knock together in a washer or on a bar top, the bulge takes the hit instead of the delicate lip. Fewer chipped rims means fewer glasses thrown away and fewer cut lips.

The bulge also stops glasses wedging together when stacked. It gives a wet hand something to grip. It is a working glass for a busy pub where hundreds of pints go through the glasswasher each night. Straight sides mean it suits almost any session beer without fuss.

The tulip pint traps a little more aroma and shows off a creamy head

The tulip pint swells out towards the top then narrows slightly at the lip. You most often see it with Irish stout, where the curve shows off the cascade of nitrogen bubbles settling into a tight white head. Our guide to the two part nitro pour explains why that head forms.

The gentle inward curve at the top holds the head together and keeps a little more aroma over the beer than a straight glass does. It is not a big effect on a 4% bitter. On a fruity pale ale you may notice it. For strong, aromatic beers a proper stemmed tulip glass does far more.

Other glasses you will meet in an old pub

Two more shapes turn up in British pubs:

• The dimpled mug. A heavy handled glass covered in dimples, popular for bitter in the mid twentieth century and now back in some pubs as a nostalgia piece.
• The conical pint. A straight tapered glass with no bulge. It stacks well but chips more easily, which is why many pubs moved to the nonic.

None of these is wrong. They were chosen for durability, stacking and price, with aroma a distant fourth. That is the honest history of most pub glassware.

What the glass changes in the beer

Shape changes three things you can taste. First, aroma: a glass that narrows at the top concentrates aroma, a straight or flared one lets it escape. Second, head: a curve that holds foam together gives a firmer, longer lasting head. Third, temperature: a thick heavy glass takes longer to chill and warms the beer faster when it comes out of the washer still warm.

That last point catches out bars in Indian summers. A nonic straight from a hot glasswasher can lift a 4 °C lager by a couple of degrees before the first sip. A rinse in cold water first helps. A clean glass matters even more. Our guide to signs of a badly kept pint shows what a dirty one does.

Cask ale and the sparkler argument

The glass is only half of a British pint. Cask ale, the traditional unfiltered beer that finishes conditioning in the pub cellar, is served at cellar temperature of about 11 to 13 °C with gentle natural carbonation. It is pulled up from the cellar by a hand pump rather than pushed by gas.

Many pubs in the north of England fit a sparkler to the hand pump nozzle. It is a small cap with fine holes that forces the beer through and knocks carbon dioxide out, giving a tight creamy head. Many drinkers in the south prefer the beer without one, with a looser head and a little more hop aroma left in the glass. Both camps use the same nonic or tulip pint. Both will tell you the other is wrong.

For a drinker in India, the lesson is that serving method changes a beer as much as the recipe does. The same beer on cask, keg and can can taste like three different beers.

Picking a pint glass at home

If you drink mostly session beers, a nonic is hard to beat: cheap, tough and honest. If you drink a lot of stout or hazy pale ale, a tulip pint is worth having for the head and a touch more aroma. Neither replaces a stemmed glass for an 8% Belgian ale or an imperial stout.

The gap most people never close is learning to notice what the glass is doing. Pour the same beer into a nonic and a tulip pint side by side, then smell each one before you sip. That small comparison is how a trained taster starts.

Tonight, pour one bottle of pale ale into two different glasses at the same temperature. Smell both, then taste both. Write down which one smells stronger and which head lasts longer.

Common questions

How many ml is a British pint?

An imperial pint is 568 ml, or 20 imperial fluid ounces. A half pint is 284 ml.

Why does a nonic glass have a bulge?

The bulge protects the rim from chipping when glasses knock together. It also stops stacked glasses sticking and gives a better grip.

Is a tulip pint the same as a tulip glass?

No. A tulip pint is a large pint glass with a gentle curve. A tulip glass is a smaller stemmed glass with a pronounced bowl, built for strong aromatic beers.

Is a pint in India the same as a British pint?

Not always. Indian bars use the word loosely and pour anything from about 300 to 500 ml, so check the menu or ask.