Glassware
Nonic pint
The standard British pub glass. The bulge is a practical feature: it stops glasses sticking when stacked and protects the rim from chipping.
Shape
A straight-sided pint glass with a bulge a few centimetres below the rim, tapering slightly toward the base.
Typical capacity 568 ml.
Drawn to scale against the other glasses BeerHQ lists, so heights and widths can be compared between pages.
What it does
- Legal measure. A stamped glass guarantees a defined measure — in the UK, a pint, which is a legal serving quantity, not a design decision.
- Handling. Handle, weight or grip for practical service, particularly at large volumes.
- Holds head. The rim and wall angle support a standing head rather than letting it collapse.
The name is a contraction of "no nick" — the bulge exists to keep the rim from chipping in stacking and washing, not for any effect on the beer.
In the UK a pint is a legal measure, so a glass used for draught sale must be stamped and accurate. That is a regulatory constraint, not a design choice.
Styles served in it
- Ordinary bitter
The everyday British cask ale: low in strength, gently bitter, and built to be drunk in pints over a whole evening.
- Best bitter
A step up from ordinary bitter in strength and depth, with more malt body while staying firmly sessionable.
- Strong bitter
The strongest of the bitters, with pronounced malt richness, firm bitterness and noticeable fruit from warm fermentation.
- British golden ale
A modern British cask style: pale, crisp and citrus-hopped, developed to win drinkers back from lager.
- American pale ale
The beer that defined American craft brewing: clean pale malt under bright citrus and pine hop character, balanced rather than extreme.
- English pale ale
The bottled British pale ale tradition: biscuity malt, earthy and floral English hops, and a firm, dry, mineral finish.
- Blonde ale
A gentle, approachable pale ale with soft malt sweetness and restrained hopping — often a brewery’s entry-level beer.
- American amber ale
Caramel malt depth meeting American citrus hops — the maltier counterpart to American pale ale.
- Irish red ale
An easy-drinking malt-led ale with caramel sweetness and a distinctive dry, faintly roasty finish.
- Australian sparkling ale
A highly carbonated, bottle-conditioned Australian pale ale, fruity and dry, traditionally poured to rouse its yeast.
- English IPA
The original IPA: a strong, firmly bitter English pale ale with earthy, floral hop character and a dry, mineral finish.
- American IPA
The defining modern craft beer: intense citrus, tropical and resinous hop aroma over a lean malt base, finishing firmly bitter.
- Session IPA
IPA hop intensity at a strength you can drink several of — lean, dry and aromatic, with the malt kept minimal.
- Dark mild
A low-strength dark British ale, gently sweet and nutty, built for drinking in quantity after physical work.
- English brown ale
A malt-led brown ale with hazelnut and caramel character, moderate strength and a dry, clean finish.
- American brown ale
A brown ale with American hop character: chocolate and caramel malt met by citrus and pine.
- Scottish ale
Malt-forward Scottish ales with caramel depth and very restrained hopping, traditionally graded by shilling price.
- English porter
The original dark British beer: chocolate and light coffee over a nutty malt base, restrained rather than aggressive.
- American porter
A stronger, more assertive porter with deeper roast, firmer bitterness and often American hop character.
- Dry stout
Sharp roasted-barley bitterness over a light body and a very dry finish — much lighter to drink than its colour suggests.
- Irish extra stout
A stronger, fuller dry stout with more malt depth and body while keeping the sharp roasted-barley character.
- Sweet stout
A stout sweetened with lactose, giving chocolate and cream character over a full body and gentle roast.
- Oatmeal stout
A stout brewed with oats for a silky, full mouthfeel, balancing roast against smoothness rather than sweetness.
- Foreign extra stout
A strong export stout, more intense in roast and body than a dry stout, historically brewed to travel.
- Tropical stout
A strong, sweet, fruity stout brewed for tropical markets, with less roast bite than its Irish relatives.
- American stout
A bold, hop-forward stout combining strong espresso roast with American citrus and pine hop character.
- London brown ale
A low-strength, notably sweet dark brown ale from London, now largely extinct as a commercial style.
- California Common
Lager yeast fermented warm in the Californian manner, producing a clean amber beer with woody, minty hop character.
- Kentucky Common
A quick-turnaround dark American beer brewed largely from maize, often lightly soured, extinct since Prohibition.
- Alcohol-free IPA
An alcohol-free beer built around heavy dry hopping, since hop aroma is added after fermentation and survives the process intact.
- Alcohol-free stout
An alcohol-free dark beer where roasted grain does most of the work — one of the more successful conversions in the category.
- Low-alcohol bitter
A genuinely fermented British ale brewed at very low strength, keeping cask character without dealcoholisation.
Questions
Why do British pint glasses have a bulge near the top?
Practical durability. The bulge stops stacked glasses jamming together and keeps the fragile rim from knocking against surfaces. It also gives a slightly more secure grip. It has no meaningful effect on the beer.