How Big Is a Maß? Bavarian Beer Sizes in Ounces, Explained

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If you have only ever seen a photograph of an Oktoberfest table, the detail that never quite translates is scale: those are not pint glasses, they are not “big beers,” and the woman carrying ten of them at once is not showing off, she is just very good at her job. This page runs the actual numbers, in ounces, on the Maß and its smaller sibling, and points you to where you can buy the real glass at home. It is part of my Bavarian beer guide; for the difference between beer hall and beer garden pricing, see beer hall or beer garden.

The Maß, in ounces

A Maß is a one-liter measure of beer, and one liter converts to 33.8 U.S. fluid ounces. Both Oktoberfest’s own pricing and the Hirschgarten beer garden’s menu quote beer by the liter, which is the clearest confirmation that the liter, not some smaller “standard glass,” is the unit Bavarian beer culture actually runs on¹². For comparison, a standard American pint is 16 fluid ounces; a Maß holds a little more than two of them in a single glass, served at once, by a waitress carrying several at a time rather than one at a time.

The Halbe: the half-size option

Not every pour is a full liter. A Halbe is half a Maß, a half-liter, or 16.9 fluid ounces. It is not an Oktoberfest-tent option — the big tents pour Maß only — but it shows up on everyday beer garden menus. At the Königlicher Hirschgarten, a half-liter of Augustiner Lager is priced at €4.40, against €8.80 for the full liter, and the brewery’s other beers follow the same per-liter logic: Augustiner Edelstoff Export at €9.00 a liter, Tegernseer Spezial Export at €9.40, and König Ludwig’s dark and wheat-beer variants at €10.80².

Ounces, side by side

Numbers help more than photographs here. A liter and a U.S. fluid ounce do not line up on a clean ratio, so it is worth seeing the actual sizes next to each other:

A Maß, in other words, is a little more than two full American pints, served in one glass, at one price, and drunk over one sitting rather than two separate pours.

Why the price moves even though the size does not

The Maß itself never gets smaller or larger depending on where you order it, but its price swings a lot depending on the address. The City of Munich does not set beer prices anywhere, including at Oktoberfest, but it does review the tent prices “to ensure they are reasonable,” using the city’s own downtown prices as the benchmark. As of the 2026 review, those downtown Munich prices ran €7.70 to €13.40 per liter, below the Oktoberfest tent range of €14.80 to €15.90, and above the everyday beer-garden prices this page found at the Hirschgarten, €8.80 to €10.80 per liter depending on the beer¹². The size of the glass is the one constant across all three price bands.

What a Maß costs in 2026

Source: Oktoberfest tent and Weinzelt prices, oktoberfest.de¹; Hirschgarten prices, hirschgarten.de².

Why the Weinzelt costs more

Kuffler’s Weinzelt is the one Oktoberfest tent that pours only wheat beer rather than the standard Festbier the other tents serve, and its Maß is priced at €18.40 in 2026, well above the €14.80–€15.90 range everywhere else¹. The size served is identical, a full liter, so the premium sits entirely in the beer itself and the tent’s own pricing, not in a larger pour. If you are budgeting a night at Oktoberfest by the Maß rather than by the tent, knowing which tents pour Festbier and which pour wheat beer changes the math more than most visitors expect.

Resi says The size never changes between a beer hall, a beer garden and an Oktoberfest tent. It is always a liter for a Maß, whether the beer inside it is one you would order or not. What changes is the price, and an Oktoberfest tent during the festival itself charges roughly 70 to 80 percent more per liter than an everyday beer garden does. You are not buying more beer at the Wiesn. You are buying the tent. For what it is worth, I never finished a Maß of actual beer in my life; my order was always a Radler, half beer and half lemon soda, and even at half strength a full liter is still a serious commitment for one afternoon.

Bringing the size home

If you want a Maßkrug for your own table rather than a souvenir shot glass, buy one sized to the real thing. A Hofbräuhaus München dimpled glass beer stein, sold in the US, is listed at 1-liter capacity, about 33.8 fluid ounces, matching the size actually poured in Munich rather than a smaller “festival mug” novelty size, and a Paulaner München dimpled beer glass is sold in the same 1-liter size³⁴. I checked both Amazon listings on September 24, 2026, and while the capacity is stated clearly on each product page, the price was not available in the page content I could load for either, so I am not quoting one here; check the current listing before you buy.

Resi says Between the two, I would buy the Hofbräuhaus stein first, simply because the dimpled glass is the shape I actually associate with a proper Maß, and a Paulaner glass is a fine second stein once you know you will use it more than once a year. Either one is a real liter, which is the only thing that actually matters here.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many ounces are in a Maß?

33.8 U.S. fluid ounces, since a Maß is defined as one liter.

Is a Maß always exactly one liter?

Yes, at Oktoberfest and in the beer gardens and halls checked for this page, beer is priced and served by the liter, confirming the Maß as a one-liter standard rather than a rounded approximation.

What is a Halbe?

A half-liter pour, 16.9 fluid ounces, sold on everyday beer garden menus rather than in the Oktoberfest tents, which pour Maß only.

How much does a Maß cost at Oktoberfest in 2026?

Between €14.80 and €15.90 depending on the tent, or €18.40 at the wheat-beer-only Weinzelt.

How much beer is served in Maß-sized pours at Oktoberfest each year?

Between six and seven million liters, all poured by the Maß.

Can I buy an authentic 1-liter Maßkrug in the US?

Yes. Branded 1-liter dimpled glass steins, sized to match the real Maß, about 33.8 fl oz, are sold on Amazon under brands including Hofbräuhaus München and Paulaner.

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