Nostrildamus
Well-Known Member
Alright, a post on another one of the forums here got me thinking about my biggest gripe when it comes to drinking in establishments around Vancouver, British Columbia. Maybe you can relate or have similar stories, if so please as therapy to my beer drinking pysche, provide them below.
Here's my gripe:
Here in the most expensive city in Canada it seems as though the word pint (UK = .568 litre or US = .473 litre) is a subjective term. Countless bars and restaurants in the Greater Vancouver Area have taken to calling 0.4 litre vessels, otherwise known as glasses, pints. There is an absolute and utter refusal to except the fact that the word pint denotes a legal measurement. This of course has led to confrontation on several occasions when I have been drinking in such establishments. One such story derived from myself and two friends going to a restaurant for lunch in the expensive Kitsilano area of Vancouver. We sat down and my friends noticed that on the chalk board above the bar there was scrawled, "Pints of Stella $4.50". Certainly a decent price for an import so both my friends ordered while I obstained on this occasion. The drinks came and I quickly noticed that the "pints" were served in the Stella Artois 0,4 litre glasses (the comma being the European version of the period). I called the waitress back and told her nicely that my friends ordered pints and that she brought them glasses. She looked at me dumbfounded and said, "Those are pints!"
I turned the glass so that the line (which the untouched beer level was below) and 0,4 were facing her and said, "No, you see right there it says these are 0.4 of a litre and a pint is 0.473 or just over half a litre so these are glasses."
Still stunned she looks at the glasses, looks back me, back at the glasses and says, "Well, that's what we call pints!"
I then started to get a little hot under the collar and said, "No. A pint is a legal measure and whether you were indicating US or Imperial pints on your chalk board there these are neither and you need to go get my friends pints or charge them less."
The server then walked away totally confused and walked up to the bartender and told him the story. He stood there shaking his head and I could see he was pissed off. There was a moments inaction and then he said something to the server. She went and retrieved a wet rag and wiped off the chalk board and rewrote it "Glasses of Stella $4.50". I later walked up to the bartender and questioned him about the "pint" confusion and he said that that was the standard serving size in Kitsilano and are what he referred to as a "Kitsilano Pint". I told him that it was pretty cheap and a bit dis-honest and tipped him and the server one cent and walked out.
On that day, I started The Banned List and refuse to return to establishments which continue this practice.
And that ladies and gentlemen is why I home brew and drink real pints for $0.60 or less!!! Praise be to the Home Brew Gods! Fight the power brothers and sisters.
Here's my gripe:
Here in the most expensive city in Canada it seems as though the word pint (UK = .568 litre or US = .473 litre) is a subjective term. Countless bars and restaurants in the Greater Vancouver Area have taken to calling 0.4 litre vessels, otherwise known as glasses, pints. There is an absolute and utter refusal to except the fact that the word pint denotes a legal measurement. This of course has led to confrontation on several occasions when I have been drinking in such establishments. One such story derived from myself and two friends going to a restaurant for lunch in the expensive Kitsilano area of Vancouver. We sat down and my friends noticed that on the chalk board above the bar there was scrawled, "Pints of Stella $4.50". Certainly a decent price for an import so both my friends ordered while I obstained on this occasion. The drinks came and I quickly noticed that the "pints" were served in the Stella Artois 0,4 litre glasses (the comma being the European version of the period). I called the waitress back and told her nicely that my friends ordered pints and that she brought them glasses. She looked at me dumbfounded and said, "Those are pints!"
I turned the glass so that the line (which the untouched beer level was below) and 0,4 were facing her and said, "No, you see right there it says these are 0.4 of a litre and a pint is 0.473 or just over half a litre so these are glasses."
Still stunned she looks at the glasses, looks back me, back at the glasses and says, "Well, that's what we call pints!"
I then started to get a little hot under the collar and said, "No. A pint is a legal measure and whether you were indicating US or Imperial pints on your chalk board there these are neither and you need to go get my friends pints or charge them less."
The server then walked away totally confused and walked up to the bartender and told him the story. He stood there shaking his head and I could see he was pissed off. There was a moments inaction and then he said something to the server. She went and retrieved a wet rag and wiped off the chalk board and rewrote it "Glasses of Stella $4.50". I later walked up to the bartender and questioned him about the "pint" confusion and he said that that was the standard serving size in Kitsilano and are what he referred to as a "Kitsilano Pint". I told him that it was pretty cheap and a bit dis-honest and tipped him and the server one cent and walked out.
On that day, I started The Banned List and refuse to return to establishments which continue this practice.
And that ladies and gentlemen is why I home brew and drink real pints for $0.60 or less!!! Praise be to the Home Brew Gods! Fight the power brothers and sisters.
