Pat, The information came from Wikipedia. Filling a 570 mL glass with only 95 % liquid is referenced to in a footnote which leads to the following page:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35183&SESSION=891 DEFINITION OF A PINT OF BEER 20.02.2008 Younger-Ross, Richard That this House expresses concern at the continued practice of defining a pint of beer and lager as only 95 per cent. liquid; notes that this costs consumers over £400 million annually; supports the call from the Campaign for Real Ale that a `pint' should be a `pint'; and calls upon the Government to legislate for a pint to be defined as 100 per cent. liquid. Of course it states that it is a "continued practice" to define a 570 mL pint as 95 % liquid, so it isn't a law nor is it absolute. It is possible in some pubs to get less liquid and more froth. The only way to know for sure is to measure it and see. But such an activity may spoil your pleasant evening out with friends. Nor does it appear to be an actual law to require the staff to "top up" your glass, but a courtesy established by the British Beer & Pub association. The above "definition of a pint" statement doesn't demand a 100 % fill just states a concern and calls upon the government to legislate a 100 % fill. I can't say if since 2008-02-20 if they did or didn't pass such a law. So even if it may not be a legal requirement for the pub to give you the full 570 mL of liquid, the chances are pretty high that anti-metric types, especially a certain poster to this forum, does and will make a scene so as to claim he got a real 570 mL pint and not a metric 500 mL pint. Why else go to a pub if not to make a nuisance of yourself shouting pint, pint all night and giving yourself the warm and fuzzies. The pub for sure in this case becomes an imperial oasis in a metric sea. I have a 1 L beer mug (ein maß) from das Hofbräuhaus München and the 1 L mark is 22 mm down from the rim. The mouth opening is 82 mm. This would be a volume of 57 mL. Thus if the liquid is filled to the 1 L mark it will hold an additional 57 mL of froth, which works out to about 95 % liquid. So just from this one glass sample I can see where the 95 % is built in. If CE marked 570 mL glasses are marked the same way then they have a built in 5 % for froth. The glasses in this link don't actually have a mark but a step in the glass at the 570 level; http://www.cater4you.co.uk/acatalog/Disposable-Pint-Half-Pint-Plastic-Glasses.html This link shows a 570 mL glass and advertises it is marked but the type of mark is not visible in the picture. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Senator-Pint-Glass-Activator-marked/dp/B002L630SA This may interest you: http://wapedia.mobi/en/Beer_in_Australia I just find it pleasant though that British pint glasses are not 568 mL as one would expect, but 570 mL, a round amount in metric and a corrupted amount in imperial. ________________________________ From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Sat, July 10, 2010 3:33:59 AM Subject: [USMA:48152] Re: When is a nation metric? Dear Anthony, I disagree with your statement: If you as a customer did not get the full 570 mL, then it is your own fault if you did not ask. When I go to a pub in England I do so to spend a pleasant evening with my friends. I do not go to the pub with the idea of fighting innocent bar staff about a corrupted measuring method that is not in the control of the publican or their staff. Secondly, I like to have a 'head' on top of my beer. It is my custom to estimate the volume of this froth and from my estimates in England the froth is usually about 70 millilitres, leaving me with about 500 millilitres of actual liquid beer. (I have not been aware, nor have I observed, the 'practice of defining a pint of beer and lager as only 95 per cent liquid.') These two considerations force me into a position where – sadly and somewhat begrudgingly – I go along with the stupid status quo that exists in all the English pubs that I have visited. By the way, the word pint derives from the Latin pincta that means paint. Pincta referred in Roman times to the paint mark on the side of the beer mug that indicated the level of the liquid beer inside; presumably the Roman soldiers checked this with their finger inside the mug. This mark on the outside of the glass is required by law in Germany where the mark is often at the 500 mL liquid level. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe. On 2010/07/09, at 23:47 , Anthony O'conner wrote: Pat, > >This may not be entirely true. From Wikipedia: > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pint_glass > >Despite this emphasis on accurately measured glasses, there is a practice of >defining a pint of beer and lager as only 95 per cent liquid.[5] It is common >for drinkers to be served less than a full pint of liquid[6] — either because >too much of the glass is taken up by a foamy "head", or simply because the >customer has been sold a short measure. This allows publicans to sell more >pints >of beer than the stated capacity of the cask or keg and hence save money. This >practice may have consciously increased since the removal of a duty allowance >on Ullage (wastage). To counter this the British Beer and Pub Association have >issued guidelines for bar staff to respect a customer who asks for a 'top up' >to >a full pint.[7] > >If you take a pint glass as holding 570 mL, then 95 % of 570 is about 540 mL. >If someone only received 500 mL (may be some pubs do only give that amount - >short measure) that would be really cheating. As noted though, each patron >has >the right to ask for a top up and the pub has to oblige. If you as a customer >did not get the full 570 mL, then it is your own fault if you did not ask. > >I also find it interesting that pint glasses aren't really true pints. A UK >pint is 568 mL, but the glasses are designed for 570 mL and are advertised as >such. This may have something to do with pint glasses now being made in >metric >countries. Just like the Chinese producing wood products in 1220 mm x 2440 mm >instead of 1219.2 x 2438.4, glass makers in metric countries will produce to a >rounded metric value, usually to the nearest 5 or 10 mm or mL. Whereas >anti-metric types harp on precise non-metric equivalents, the people in metric >countries have no problem producing the product to a rounded metric amount. > >http://www.polysafe.com.au/570mL%20Pint%20Glass.html > > >http://beerpintglass.com/1-x-570ml-1-pint-tooheys-new-etched-glass-beer-stein/ > >Now it would be interesting to find out if the stamped pint mark is placed at >568 mL or 570 mL on the glass or is the difference covered up in the tolerance? > > > ________________________________ From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> >To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> >Cc: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> >Sent: Thu, July 8, 2010 11:03:31 PM >Subject: [USMA:48119] When is a nation metric? > > >On 2010/07/09, at 02:36 , [email protected] wrote: > >In other words, how fully metric a country is, from completely metric with no >old units ever used by anyone, to essentially old units only with only a bit >of >metric used. The indication would be useful if it sensed what the average >person does and says in conversation, as it is assumed that scientists and >others behind the scenes use metric. In that regard the USA would be quite to >one side. >> >>Carleton Dear Carleton and All, It seems to me that all attempts at development of measuring methods have always contained a large drive toward honesty. Examples include all of the Biblical references to measurement, the Magna Carta, John Wilkins 'univeral measure' that became the metric system, Thomas Jefferson's decimal measures report to Congress in 1790, the French 'decimal metric system' of 1790 (later than Jefferson), and the CGPM International System of Units (SI) in 1960. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/docs/MetricationTimeline.pdf and search for any of the above words. And, at the same time as these moves toward honesty were taking place, there were also resistance to any better measuring methods by those who, for whatever reasons, favored or support dishonesty. Examples include 'pints' of beer in the UK served in portions of 500 millilitres with a head of froth to fit into a nominal pint glass if filled to the brim, oil purportedly measured in 'barrels' that never existed to make it difficult to compare crude oil prices to be compared with pump prices, shoe sizes, bra sizes, clothing sizes of all kinds, etc. etc. etc. etc. Overall there are people who support honesty who also support the metric system. And there are those who support dishonesty! I suppose that a nation is truly metric when all transactions are transparently honest. Cheers, Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, seehttp://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter to subscribe. > >
