A demand for value, or overthinking a visit to a pub
As enthusiastic consumers of good beer, and value-driven (I am the author of Houston Dining on the Cheap, to give one example), the issue of beer pours, specifically less-than-full beer pours, was one of much discussion for both my brother and I over the years. Longtime patrons of The Ginger Man in Houston, one of the very first, and, truly, still “one of the best beer-bars in America,” a title accorded to it by the late great beer writer Michael Jackson, we often scratched our heads at the level of beer in our glasses which was, ostensibly, a pint. Too often the level of beer fell far short of the rim in what was a pint glass. “A Ginger Man pint” became a catch-phrase for a short pour. Later, I occasionally met up with my brother and his wife and friends at another very casual beer bar with an expansive patio in their gentrifying neighborhood. The very indifferent pours from their bartenders seemed to make the Ginger Man look generous, and that establishment’s name crept into our vocabulary in an unflattering way.
Pint sizes have made sporadic news in the recent years; Häagen-Dazs trying to downsize the measure, but, first in The Wall Street Journal in June, 2008, then on NPR in October of that year, both concerning a disgruntled pub-goer in Portland, Oregon, Jeff Alworth, who was publicizing small “pints” in his hometown. His actions actually resulted in a state law passed in May, 2009 regulating the size of pint glasses. That some establishments are selling extra thick-bottomed glasses that contain only 14 ounces rather than 16 ounces, the problem in Portland, is not much of an issue in my city of Houston. Proper use of American pint glasses seemed problematic enough.
Initially, this piece was going to be a short exposé of sorts on the short pours at popular local pubs, centered on the thought of fairness; you pay for an advertised pint, and you should receive that. I had purchased a plastic measuring vessel that I hoped was not too obtrusive and surreptitiously began to measure a few pints at local beer bars. Then, I had a conversation about the topic with a friend, Bill Marchbank, a Brit and former owner of a traditionally operated English pub in Houston . It turns out that the size of pours is a serious matter to most British beer drinkers and a potentially sensitive subject involving the tax authorities, metric system, fluid mechanics, sparklers, biochemistry, EU mandarins, state alcoholic regulatory bodies, blue-faced Scots, the US Customary System, and other arcanum. I’m exaggerating, but it is less of a simple consumer fairness issue than it seemed from the outset.
Most beers dispensed on draft in this country are served in what are described as 16-ounce “pint glasses,” also called “shakers” or “mixers” because these are used to prepare cocktails. Most American beer drinkers don’t pay much attention to size of the beer vessel, or even the amount of beer in it. Those local bar-goers that really care about the level of the pour, or more accurately the alcoholic effect per dollar are typically young, those without much in the way of funds, but also many older beer drinkers, equally serious in the stupefying effects of beer, with the similar pecuniary attitudes. Confirmed with several Houston-area British-born pub-goers and publicans, this older group of post-collegiate age imbibers, quite often English ex-pats, is termed “cheapskates.” That term might be unfair, as these Brits matured with fully poured glasses, especially if they were from southern England.
The traditional beers from southern England are ales, which are meant to be served at a warmer temperature, and so, typically arrive with less of a head than the cold-loving lagers, the most common type of beer here. These are unusual among the well-crafted beers of the world, most of which will retain a head for a while after pouring. Furthermore, these southern English ales are also less carbonated than other beers and dispensed in a way that reduces the foam on top, the head. So, these can be served all the way to the top of the glass, which contains twenty British ounces. This is the Imperial pint. These beers are not flat, though they may appear so to many American and German tourists.
In northern England and Scotland, their styles of ales are meant to be served with a head. In fact, these brewers often ask pubs to install sparklers, attachments to taps, which help aerate the beer when poured to increase the size of the head. Beers are still mandated to be 20 ounces, but the glasses are larger and sport a line at or above which the beer should settle. A similar line is used in northern European countries, though for the half-liter.
In addition to the UK there are draft beer pouring regulations in the traditional beer drinking countries of Germany, the Czech Republic and Ireland. The other great beer making country, Belgium, though small and the home of the EU bureaucracy, is sufficiently idiosyncratic and diverse in its beers that nearly every beer has its own glass coming in a variety of sizes. In Germany and the Czech Republic, the bastions of lager beer, the mandated size for most beers is a half-liter. In Bavaria, home of the stereotypical fat and happy German, beers are also often served in one-liter mugs. In the Czech Republic, pivo, which translates to “beer,” refers to the standard half-liter size. An adjective has to be added to order another size, malé pivo or “small beer,” one-third of a liter, which seems solely for elderly women and small children.
Proper pours are a big deal in these European countries. In October 2008, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a longstanding British advocacy for brewing and pub traditions, asserted: “Pints of beer are regularly served up to 10% short because the Government will not legislate to give beer drinkers the same rights as other consumers…. If you buy a pint of milk you can expect to receive a full pint of milk.” The average bloke has long been guaranteed a fair amount of beer for a fair price, “the British working man’s pint.” This, a fully poured beer is, in some sense, part of the social support system in the UK. Though the dreaded metric system for draft beer was stayed, another issue concerning pints that caused consternation in some circles was the transition from historic crown symbol that accompanied the pour line on many glasses to the mark “CE,” which is the abbreviation for “European Conformity,” in French, no less.
Pints and half-liter glasses have not been traditionally part of the American beer culture. Most beer drinkers in this country have come to know a “pint of beer” as just the style of glass rather than a specific amount. “A pint” has far less meaning here than in the UK and Ireland. Glasses, pint-sized glasses, are a relatively new phenomenon, just since the mid-1980s as multi-tap bars began to appear, serving both European beers and those from the nascent domestic microbreweries. Until that time, and still for most American beer drinkers, beer is consumed in 12-ounce bottles or cans, and on draft in glass sizes that were once rarely more than 12 ounces. When quality draft beer became more important in this country, my belief is that the common 16-ounce mixer glasses became the glasses for beers here, taking a cue from British and Irish pubs. Plus, 16 ounces is an American pint, after all.
In actuality here, a pint usually is not a pint. The glasses advertised as 16 ounces can barely hold 16 ounces of liquid. Testing a half-dozen of the same type of pint glasses that are used in bars throughout Houston, I was only able to measure 16 ounces of water in two of them. Most measures were about 15½ ounces, fully filled. At most bars this translates to typically 13½ or, if lucky, 14½ ounces of beer. The term “pint” in reference to these pours is a misnomer. I don’t believe this issue of a short pour is necessarily one of deviousness by bars (it’s certainly good business sense, though). Beer will necessarily spill when moving a beer poured near the top. It's not the waitress' fault (though quite often the beer is overly short-poured by a harried or uncaring bartender), it's the physics of the carrying the beer to the customer. It is far less of an issue in the UK, with its absence of a waitstaff for beers at pubs, as the beer is placed on the bar directly from the bartender.
When ordering a beer served in an Imperial pint glass in US, you are likely receiving about 19 ounces, American. Interjecting some math might be helpful. It is important to know that American fluid ounces and British ounces are not the same measurement. This stems from the fact that the British recalibrated their standard measurements in 1824, well after our Revolutionary War, and we just retained the previous, also British, system of measurements. So, an American fluid ounce works out to be 29.57 milliliters, while the British one is 28.41 milliliters. Also, a British pint is 20 ounces, 20 British ounces; an American pint is 16 ounces, 16 American ounces. The British pint is referred to as the Imperial pint, especially when it comes to beer. Crunching the numbers, the Imperial pint contains 19.2 American ounces.
The aforementioned laws and tradition require beers to be poured to certain stated amounts in the beer drinking countries in Europe, which do not exist here. Especially in the UK, until fairly recently beer was consumed nearly entirely in pubs on draft from casks or kegs making the pour that more important. Another aspect concerning the beer size is that utilizing Imperial pint glasses can be more expensive in this country. According to Michael Holliday, the British owner of The King’s Head and Richmond Arms, two pubs in Houston, the 20-ounce Imperial pint glasses have to be shipped from the UK, increasing the bar’s cost. Not surprisingly, only four Houston area bars utilize the 20-ounce Imperial pint glasses. Probably because of its hyper-sensitive British clientele, each does a good job regulating the size of the pour, especially when ordering at the bar, and avoiding the issue of waitress transport.
Though the article’s focus did change, in the end I measured over twenty glasses of beer in nine different beer bars (actual research, albeit involving alcoholic consumption). For those serving beers in the typical “16-ounce” pint glass, the average size of a pour was 13.8 ounces. The difference is 5.2 ounces between the servings. This 5.2 ounce addition is almost 40% more beer, something worth noting. So, unless you go to one of those bars that hew closely to the pouring traditions of the British Isles, when you are ordering a beer, you are just ordering a beer rather than a pint.
Pint sizes have made sporadic news in the recent years; Häagen-Dazs trying to downsize the measure, but, first in The Wall Street Journal in June, 2008, then on NPR in October of that year, both concerning a disgruntled pub-goer in Portland, Oregon, Jeff Alworth, who was publicizing small “pints” in his hometown. His actions actually resulted in a state law passed in May, 2009 regulating the size of pint glasses. That some establishments are selling extra thick-bottomed glasses that contain only 14 ounces rather than 16 ounces, the problem in Portland, is not much of an issue in my city of Houston. Proper use of American pint glasses seemed problematic enough.
Initially, this piece was going to be a short exposé of sorts on the short pours at popular local pubs, centered on the thought of fairness; you pay for an advertised pint, and you should receive that. I had purchased a plastic measuring vessel that I hoped was not too obtrusive and surreptitiously began to measure a few pints at local beer bars. Then, I had a conversation about the topic with a friend, Bill Marchbank, a Brit and former owner of a traditionally operated English pub in Houston . It turns out that the size of pours is a serious matter to most British beer drinkers and a potentially sensitive subject involving the tax authorities, metric system, fluid mechanics, sparklers, biochemistry, EU mandarins, state alcoholic regulatory bodies, blue-faced Scots, the US Customary System, and other arcanum. I’m exaggerating, but it is less of a simple consumer fairness issue than it seemed from the outset.
Most beers dispensed on draft in this country are served in what are described as 16-ounce “pint glasses,” also called “shakers” or “mixers” because these are used to prepare cocktails. Most American beer drinkers don’t pay much attention to size of the beer vessel, or even the amount of beer in it. Those local bar-goers that really care about the level of the pour, or more accurately the alcoholic effect per dollar are typically young, those without much in the way of funds, but also many older beer drinkers, equally serious in the stupefying effects of beer, with the similar pecuniary attitudes. Confirmed with several Houston-area British-born pub-goers and publicans, this older group of post-collegiate age imbibers, quite often English ex-pats, is termed “cheapskates.” That term might be unfair, as these Brits matured with fully poured glasses, especially if they were from southern England.
The traditional beers from southern England are ales, which are meant to be served at a warmer temperature, and so, typically arrive with less of a head than the cold-loving lagers, the most common type of beer here. These are unusual among the well-crafted beers of the world, most of which will retain a head for a while after pouring. Furthermore, these southern English ales are also less carbonated than other beers and dispensed in a way that reduces the foam on top, the head. So, these can be served all the way to the top of the glass, which contains twenty British ounces. This is the Imperial pint. These beers are not flat, though they may appear so to many American and German tourists.
In northern England and Scotland, their styles of ales are meant to be served with a head. In fact, these brewers often ask pubs to install sparklers, attachments to taps, which help aerate the beer when poured to increase the size of the head. Beers are still mandated to be 20 ounces, but the glasses are larger and sport a line at or above which the beer should settle. A similar line is used in northern European countries, though for the half-liter.
In addition to the UK there are draft beer pouring regulations in the traditional beer drinking countries of Germany, the Czech Republic and Ireland. The other great beer making country, Belgium, though small and the home of the EU bureaucracy, is sufficiently idiosyncratic and diverse in its beers that nearly every beer has its own glass coming in a variety of sizes. In Germany and the Czech Republic, the bastions of lager beer, the mandated size for most beers is a half-liter. In Bavaria, home of the stereotypical fat and happy German, beers are also often served in one-liter mugs. In the Czech Republic, pivo, which translates to “beer,” refers to the standard half-liter size. An adjective has to be added to order another size, malé pivo or “small beer,” one-third of a liter, which seems solely for elderly women and small children.
Proper pours are a big deal in these European countries. In October 2008, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a longstanding British advocacy for brewing and pub traditions, asserted: “Pints of beer are regularly served up to 10% short because the Government will not legislate to give beer drinkers the same rights as other consumers…. If you buy a pint of milk you can expect to receive a full pint of milk.” The average bloke has long been guaranteed a fair amount of beer for a fair price, “the British working man’s pint.” This, a fully poured beer is, in some sense, part of the social support system in the UK. Though the dreaded metric system for draft beer was stayed, another issue concerning pints that caused consternation in some circles was the transition from historic crown symbol that accompanied the pour line on many glasses to the mark “CE,” which is the abbreviation for “European Conformity,” in French, no less.
Pints and half-liter glasses have not been traditionally part of the American beer culture. Most beer drinkers in this country have come to know a “pint of beer” as just the style of glass rather than a specific amount. “A pint” has far less meaning here than in the UK and Ireland. Glasses, pint-sized glasses, are a relatively new phenomenon, just since the mid-1980s as multi-tap bars began to appear, serving both European beers and those from the nascent domestic microbreweries. Until that time, and still for most American beer drinkers, beer is consumed in 12-ounce bottles or cans, and on draft in glass sizes that were once rarely more than 12 ounces. When quality draft beer became more important in this country, my belief is that the common 16-ounce mixer glasses became the glasses for beers here, taking a cue from British and Irish pubs. Plus, 16 ounces is an American pint, after all.
In actuality here, a pint usually is not a pint. The glasses advertised as 16 ounces can barely hold 16 ounces of liquid. Testing a half-dozen of the same type of pint glasses that are used in bars throughout Houston, I was only able to measure 16 ounces of water in two of them. Most measures were about 15½ ounces, fully filled. At most bars this translates to typically 13½ or, if lucky, 14½ ounces of beer. The term “pint” in reference to these pours is a misnomer. I don’t believe this issue of a short pour is necessarily one of deviousness by bars (it’s certainly good business sense, though). Beer will necessarily spill when moving a beer poured near the top. It's not the waitress' fault (though quite often the beer is overly short-poured by a harried or uncaring bartender), it's the physics of the carrying the beer to the customer. It is far less of an issue in the UK, with its absence of a waitstaff for beers at pubs, as the beer is placed on the bar directly from the bartender.
When ordering a beer served in an Imperial pint glass in US, you are likely receiving about 19 ounces, American. Interjecting some math might be helpful. It is important to know that American fluid ounces and British ounces are not the same measurement. This stems from the fact that the British recalibrated their standard measurements in 1824, well after our Revolutionary War, and we just retained the previous, also British, system of measurements. So, an American fluid ounce works out to be 29.57 milliliters, while the British one is 28.41 milliliters. Also, a British pint is 20 ounces, 20 British ounces; an American pint is 16 ounces, 16 American ounces. The British pint is referred to as the Imperial pint, especially when it comes to beer. Crunching the numbers, the Imperial pint contains 19.2 American ounces.
The aforementioned laws and tradition require beers to be poured to certain stated amounts in the beer drinking countries in Europe, which do not exist here. Especially in the UK, until fairly recently beer was consumed nearly entirely in pubs on draft from casks or kegs making the pour that more important. Another aspect concerning the beer size is that utilizing Imperial pint glasses can be more expensive in this country. According to Michael Holliday, the British owner of The King’s Head and Richmond Arms, two pubs in Houston, the 20-ounce Imperial pint glasses have to be shipped from the UK, increasing the bar’s cost. Not surprisingly, only four Houston area bars utilize the 20-ounce Imperial pint glasses. Probably because of its hyper-sensitive British clientele, each does a good job regulating the size of the pour, especially when ordering at the bar, and avoiding the issue of waitress transport.
Though the article’s focus did change, in the end I measured over twenty glasses of beer in nine different beer bars (actual research, albeit involving alcoholic consumption). For those serving beers in the typical “16-ounce” pint glass, the average size of a pour was 13.8 ounces. The difference is 5.2 ounces between the servings. This 5.2 ounce addition is almost 40% more beer, something worth noting. So, unless you go to one of those bars that hew closely to the pouring traditions of the British Isles, when you are ordering a beer, you are just ordering a beer rather than a pint.
