If you ordered a pint and got 500mL in a UK pub then the pub is breaking the
law.
If you got slightly under a pint (a little over 500ml) then you are entitled
to a top up.
This has been gone over before.
Why is it back again?
From: Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]>
Subject: [USMA:33254] What is a pint?
Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 12:42:16 +1000
on 2005-06-18 22.15, Daniel at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Why would there be a need to ban the pint? What is wrong with allowing
a
> pub to sell other sizes? Is someone afraid they may start selling
litres
> and if one does others may follow? Would you buy a litre of beer if a
pub
> started offering it?
Dear Daniel, Bill, and All,
As you know I am intrigued by this issue. I simply don't understand how
people in England tolerate a method of selling beer where they order a
'pint' (of 568.3 millilitres) but only receive about 500 millilitres of
actual beer in their glass after you allow for the froth. They then insist
that this 500 mL of beer should be called a pint. Odd!
In my collection of measuring devices I have a very old half-pint glass
labelled '11' meaning 11 Imperial ounces (312.5 millilitres). This glass
allowed an extra ounce for the froth. However this was gradually downsized
to 10 fluid ounces (284 mL) that actually provides you with about 250 mL of
beer.
As the pint loses its position as a government supported unit it will
gradually be used just as a descriptive word meaning a container that holds
about 500 mL. There is already moves being made to do this in Australia.
Here is a poster from our local beer and wine shop together with, in the
foreground, a four-pack of Guinness beer and a Guinness promotional glass.
If you buy two of the four-packs you get a free 500 mL glass. See second
pic
for details of the free glass.
The 'pint' cans are clearly labelled 440 mL and the contents of one can
neatly fit into a 500 mL glass. I have included my old half-pint glass and
you can just see the number 11 -- for 11 ounces. I included this to
indicate
that downsizing is not a new 'metric' phenomenon but has been used by
devious traders for years -- but sadly it will continue for as long as
people tolerate overly complex measuring methods over the simplicity and
clarity of the metric system.
Guinness beer is not available in any size where you could -- as the poster
says: 'Enjoy your pub pint at home'. The Guinness company does not sell
beer
in Australia in pint lots (either UK or USA) or in convenient fractions of
pint lots. Presumably to 'Enjoy your pub pint at home' you have to own a
sufficiently large glass that will hold 1.29 times the 440 mL can.
Cheers (seems even more appropriate today),
Pat Naughtin ASM (NSAA), LCAMS (USMA)*
PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed my glass of Guinness last night in the full
knowledge that I was drinking a 440 mL 'pint' in a 500 mL glass!
Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter,
'Metrication matters'. You can subscribe by going to
http://www.metricationmatters.com and clicking on 'Newsletter'.
* Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the
Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual for writers,
editors and printers', he is an Accredited Speaking Member (ASM) with the
National Speakers Association of Australia, and a Lifetime Certified
Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric
Association.
This email and its attachments are for the sole use of the addressee and
may
contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. This
email and its attachments are subject to copyright and should not be partly
or wholly reproduced without the consent of the copyright owner. Any
unauthorised use of disclosure of this email or its attachments is
prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please immediately delete
it
from your system and notify the sender by return email.
