I'll Have SOME Beer Please

It's been a low level discussion for a number of years now amongst the beer geeks that glasses in New Zealand are getting smaller whilst the prices are going up.

This, of course, wouldn't be a problem if glasses were labelled with what they hold or bars explicitly stated what we're getting. We'd all accept it or throw our toys of the cot, but at least we'd know what was going on.

The "pint".

In New Zealand for as long as anyone can remember a "pint" has rarely, if ever, been an actual pint. It's been accepted that, "It's the New Zealand way, whatcha gonna do eh?"

It wasn't a problem when an "NZ pint" was the same wherever you went, whatever it actually was (just never an actual pint ;). It was the glass you got your beer in, the same size from one bar to another. All good.

It's not the same level playing field anymore, the glasses are all different sizes, noticeable in their shrinking size and yet still labelled, "pint".

The other day I was with a self labelled beer geek when I asked him, "What size do you think this is?", "Who knows Mike, it's been happening for a few years now, smaller glasses designed to look bigger, larger solid bottoms, we're just getting ripped off."

I took to the socials with the following photos asking, "How much do you think this glass holds?"

 

Answers:

• 750ml
• 355 or 375ml? 400 tops. But I don't think they're getting smaller, it's been like that for ages.
• Nearly not enough.
• 400ml at the most?
• I seem to remember a pint was 600ml
• I am going to guess 475ml ... also could be a Melbourne schooner which is 425ml
• A pint in NZ has always been 568ml.

A very well respected beer geek said

They look like a 473ml / US pint to me, fairly common in "craft beer" circles. (But there are some smaller sizes in the same shape from that manufacturer...)

And an NZ brewery said

425ml or less. Glassware seems to be shrinking.

So how much of the most excellent Rat Rod beer had I drunk? Anything between 355mL to 475mL but most likely 425mL.

The point isn't the actual number, as The Post reported back in 2012:

In New Zealand, there is no longer any legal requirement for beer to be served in standard measures: in pubs, the largest size of glass, which is referred to as a pint, varies, but usually contains 425 ml.

But that's not my beef, it's the ever changing use of the word "pint" to cover up what we're actually being served. Isn't this the government's responsibility to set a standard and everyone then just abides by it, seems not and hasn't been for yonks!

Like I've said, if everyone used an "NZ Pint" for whatever amount that is fine, we're clever people and we'd get used to it, in fact we all did. The world has changed though and I think it's time for us to say to all bars

Tell us what we're getting

And hey, if it's the standard 425mL everywhere I'll shut the fuck up.

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For reference (Wikipedia: Pint):

An Imperial pint (the glasses you get in UK bars):

Imperial pint 20 imp fl oz ≈ 568 mL Used in the UK and Ireland.

An American pint (the glasses you ge-- well, you understand):

US liquid pint 16 US fl oz ≈ 473 mL Used in the United States

Australia is interesting, they have a commonly understood meaning to "pint'

Australian pint 570 mL. Based on the imperial pint rounded to a metric value

 

In South Australia, ordering "a pint of beer" results in 425 mL (15 fl oz) being served. Customers must specifically request "an Imperial pint of beer" to get 570 mL (20 fl oz). Australians from other states often contest the size of their beers in Adelaide.

Here in NZ we have "standard drink" sizes which isn't a serving suggestion but for health and measurement reasons: