Beer began to be served in glass mugs at Oktoberfest in 1892.
The change was part of the festival’s transformation during the late 19th century. Earlier Oktoberfest service used other types of drinking vessels, but glass mugs helped standardize serving and made the beer visible to customers. The introduction came as the fair was becoming increasingly commercial, illuminated, and crowded.
The date sits among several important milestones. Electric lighting illuminated more than 400 booths and tents in 1880, the first bratwurst stalls appeared in 1881, and large beer halls began replacing smaller booths around 1900. These developments helped turn a royal-anniversary celebration into a major public festival.
A glass mug is not the same as the modern Maß merely because it is large. A Maß refers to a one-litre measure of beer, while today’s Oktoberfest Maß is typically a heavy glass mug with a handle. The six Munich breweries authorized to serve Oktoberfestbier now pour the festival’s beer into these standardized vessels.