I recently toured Ireland and Scotland and noticed that the pint poured there seemed to not only be a larger amount of liquid but also fit into the glasses a little better. I purchased two Guinness Pint glasses from one of the pubs in Ireland and decided to check out my theory when I was back home.
I found that the pint glasses in Europe hold more than a pint, in fact they hold a pint of beer leaving the perfect amount of room for head. American Pint glasses are a pint when poured to the brim of the glass.
Further research led me to this website, http://thebeergauge.com/. It seems others have been angered by this and have done some investigating......
Taken from thebeerguage.com :
"As it turns out, the majority of the volume in a standard US pint glass is in the relatively small height in the top part of the glass. In fact, if a beer is poured to within about 1/2 inch from the top, 13% of the beer is GONE. If the beer is poured to about one inch from the top of the glass, an astonishing 25% of the beer is missing from your pint."
*Updated Info*
Lets say your local bar pours an american pint where 15% of the beer is missing due to headspace. Every 6.66 beers you drink you will have been missing 1 entire beer.
So technically.....you order 7 beers, and you've really only drank 6 beers. But you still pay for that 7.
Each keg that is supposed to serve 120 pints actually ends up serving 145. At $7 a pint the bar ends up making $175.00 more than they really should be making if they were pouring fairly.
Does this piss anyone else off as much as it does me? I know we are all home-brewers but still, knowing that all those people out there on any given night are missing a good portion of each brew really bothers me!
Last edited by Lunarpancake; 12-07-2009 at 04:21 PM.
Well, you have the imperial pint, and the plain ol' pint. Then, you have folks that don't care to be jerked around, and those who pay to have such done to them.
There is a small, grass roots, real pint movement going on in the U.S. Join it.
TL
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Oh, wait until you hear this my friend...
The next time you go to a draft serving establishment and order a beer, I want you to take a close look at the bottom of the "pint" you receive. A 16oz pint glass is the exact same exterior dimension as a 14oz glasss. The only way you can tell the difference is in the thickness of the bottom of the glass.
Thats right: Probably more than 50% of the places you frequent are serving you 10 or 11oz of beer with 3oz of head.
Now you are prepared to be sufficiently pissed.
I actually had one of my customers ask me if there was a 12oz glass the same size as a pint because he was too chicken**** to take a price adjustment but was perfectly fine with straight up ripping his guests off.
With regard to the head poured, I have sent more than one glass back to the bartender to have to get the rest of my beer.
There's a very cool organization in Portland that certifies& recognizes 16oz pints in pubs. The name escapes me but what a great idea.
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Originally Posted by Red Clay
Last night, as I cleaned out four carboys, two corney kegs and lots of lines, my 12 year old daughter noted: "Dad, it looks like brewing beer is mostly about washing dishes."
In England a Pub can be fined heavily if they do not sever you a perfect pint, and that is in both size and temp. I was at a Pub that an inspector walked in, asked for 3 pints and after they were pored he showed his badge, took the temps of the beers and made sure they were all the correct size. It was awesome to see someone keeping the Pubs honest.
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In England a Pub can be fined heavily if they do not sever you a perfect pint, and that is in both size and temp. I was at a Pub that an inspector walked in, asked for 3 pints and after they were pored he showed his badge, took the temps of the beers and made sure they were all the correct size. It was awesome to see someone keeping the Pubs honest.
Well, you have the imperial pint, and the plain ol' pint. Then, you have folks that don't care to be jerked around, and those who pay to have such done to them.
There is a small, grass roots, real pint movement going on in the U.S. Join it.
TL
Good! The mandatory "Pint line" on English glasses that denotes the exact pint and leaves room for a separate head was put into law by public demand. Getting a whole bunch of people pissed off about this kind of rip off really works!
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Last edited by Laughing_Gnome_Invisible; 12-06-2009 at 06:15 PM.
The difference between the size of an American pint and a UK/Irish pint is the difference between an American Fluid Ounce and an Imperial Fluid Ounce. Both American and Imperial pints are 16 fl oz, but because of the different ounce you get a much smaller 16oz beer in the states. An American pint is 473ml and the UK one is 568ml.
The head thing is true too, in the UK/Ireland the head shouldn't be below the pint mark on the glass, whereas in the states its often the top of the head there with air space above. American's like a frothier, more carbonated beer though, so there's a much thicker head on American beers. I think this is because the BMC beers are a central European style, and in central Europe they like super thick head on their beers.
A European pint is something else entirely, if you're on the continent and ask for a pint they'll give you a metric pint, which is 500ml. On the continent the standard beer size is different everywhere... 250ml in Spain, 330ml in France, 200ml in Cologne in Germany, 1 liter in Munich, 410ml (Italian Pint) in Italy etc... In most of those places they will still give you a 500ml "pint" if you ask for it specifically. The volume mark is ALWAYS on the glass though, everywhere in Europe, so its easy to check.
All of this stuff has to do with the huge array of measurement systems around the world before the metric system evened it out in most places. Its only us Anglophone countries that keep using the old system.
Last edited by justflow1983; 12-06-2009 at 02:35 PM.
Reason: spelling
Justflow, it still does not change the fact that in the US, they are selling pints (16oz) that are 12 oz at best!
You know... I am surprised I have never thought of this. I always think the pint is the better value, as you get 4 oz more. I had to do a measurement to check:
16oz is on the left, 12 oz (450 ml) is on the right. I now want a full pint.
What is the organization lobbying for this? I will join. I cannot believe I never realized this!
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I wasn't defending the sleazy underfilled beers. I hate seeing those underfilled small pints every time I'm home in the states, especially when someone hands me one full of what passes for Guiness over there.
Its easier in Europe to get stuff like that standardized. If you passed a law in the states about it being required to have a line on the glass that you fill to, imagine what nutjob is going to start screaming about "big government" taking over their freedom to pour crappy pints.
American "Pint" vs European PINT!
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