Why Drinking Horns are Better than Beer Mugs and Beer Glasses

A friend of mine suggested that I try using a Viking drinking horn as a drinking vessel instead of my typical steel stein or beer mug. As being into Vikings is part of my heritage and having an old Viking drinking horn myself, I thought that it was a great idea and looked into the topic - Prior to working at AleHorn.

So then...

Why should beer or mead be drunk from authentic Viking beer horns...and not from beer mugs?

Not only is beer served in beer mugs, beer glasses, or beer steins, beer can also be drunk directly out of a traditional Viking drinking horn or mead cup made from 100% real bovine ox horn material. I've seen people using Viking drinking horns as every day glasses and they seemed to like it - a lot! Hence the reason I began working at AleHorn. It's really not about drinking from a horn, but having the fantasy feeling of drinking like a menacing Viking from the 790s.

Why beer is better drunk from beer horns than beer mugs or beer steins?

There are several reasons for this:

Usability - beer horns take on the shape and size of a typical beer mug, beer stein or beer glass but with the easy-grip handle of a drinking glass (made from only one piece of horn); however, taking it one step further you can have two variations of drinking horns in both tankards or traditional curved Viking drinking horns.

Taste - when taking hits out of a beer-drinking horn, beer touches your mouth all the time and beer tastes better than from mugs or beer steins because of the simple feeling of drinking it from an earthy product - Ox horns! It's honestly just a bad-ass experience as mentioned in this article.

Beer doesn't get warm as fast when drinking it out of beer horns

Because you have to tip the beer-drinking horn back to get all the beer out. With beer steins, especially lager beer mugs, beer gets warm really fast because your hand increases the warmth rate of the beer or mead within the mug

Drinking horn tankard vs Curved Viking horns - which beer horn should you buy?

There are several beer-drinking horns on the market and they all come in different shapes and sizes. It's important to know what type of beer drinking horn you want before getting one - for example, everyone who likes draft beer will be thrilled to drink from a large premium drinking horn.

If you like to be a little more flashy at parties or Ren Faires - it's cool to have a curved drinking horn with a leather strap holster on your hip. Then at home, the horn can be placed in a beautiful stand made from the same piece of horn.

Presentation - when having a party or gatherings with friends, drinking out of beer horns will help you create an enjoyable Viking atmosphere; Tons of people write in to us describing just how much fun they have with their custom engraved drinking horns at weddings, ren faires, beer events or even lugging one to the bar.

Mead horns are made for drinking mead from but you can also drink mead from a standard ox horn mug or curved horn.

Drinking horns come in a wide range of sizes from small mead-drinking horns for single mead drinkers, to shot horns and these whisky drinking cups to huge mead drinking horns that can go beyond 40 ounces!

The Shape of Drinking Horns:

These ox beer mugs are made out of one material - ox horn and combine several layers of horn. The mead drinking horn shape mainly depends on which part of the horn is used in production.

Price: mead cups can be bought for as little as $19 - where the curved Viking horns can be around $30-40 and beer tankards around $40-70. However, if you've ever wanted to try a custom engraved drinking horn look no further.

Where to buy Viking drinking horns?

Mead horns and Viking drinking horns can be found online, in drinking horn stores, and at Viking events but the easiest way to buy a drinking horn is online here.

Conclusion: Viking beer-drinking horns do cost more than beer glasses or beer mugs however drinking horns can be used for all kinds of drinks (not just mead or Viking beer) but also wine and hard liquors, however the single biggest plus to drinking from a horn is that you'll feel powerful - just like the Vikings.

Anything else?

Yes.

When choosing your drinking horn first think about how many people you want to drink with - when having parties or gatherings with friends you might be thinking about getting a big drinking horn for them as well.