Pint rights – official MSE blog discussion

GingerTim

[Deleted User] said:

"...you're entitled to a full pint of liquid plus head..."

My goodness. That's an exceptional deal.

I think I must be going into the wrong sort of pub.

Reminds me of the (probably apocryphal) story about Rodney Marsh and Alf Ramsey, with Ramsey telling Marsh at half time of an England game: 'if you don't work hard I'm going to pull you off at half time.' Marsh allegedly replied, 'Christ, at Man City all we get is a cup of tea and an orange.'

jimbo6977

oldagetraveller1 said:

Do pubs still have those glasses with a line etched into them below the rim? Also etched into the glass was "1 pint to line" which accounted for the head on the beer.

I was in a pub, years ago, where someone was handed a pint glass in which there wasn't a full pint because of the head. He asked "Can you fit a double Scotch in there?" Reply, "Yes, I think so." "Then will you kindly top it up with beer instead."

Lined glasses do exist BUT the experience of a close relative who used to run a beer festival suggests that the average punter does not understand them. When served a full liquid pint in a 600+ml glass lined at 568ml (1pt), a large number of people (~50%) reacted by requesting a top up.

DullGreyGuy

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

..

Aren't they actually serving 500ml though? It's only "short" if they are telling you it's a pint.

I don't think they can legally sell you a 500ml draft beer.

The laws were changed a while back because lots of craft beer places sell 1/3 and 2/3 pint options which they previously weren't allowed to but agree that I dont think 500ml of draft is allowed. 

Anyone know why volumes are prescribed? Read an article a while back and one of the "advantages of Brexit" was stated that the law could be changed to allow 500ml bottles of wine to be sold again (the article claimed they used to exist and were popular). Fully understand that the volume should match the amount claimed but dont understand why the law would dictate the measures available. 

oldagetraveller1 said:

Do pubs still have those glasses with a line etched into them below the rim? Also etched into the glass was "1 pint to line" which accounted for the head on the beer.

Certainly in our neck of the woods they are very rare, they will be properly etched to say they are a pint glass but lack any kind of marker to where the pint is. 

Erdinger is one of the worst, though a great beer, as the pump has a photo like below on it but seriously doubt thats a full pint... the local that used to sell it probably did half that head size but still felt like a short pint but no way of checking as there are no markers

MattMattMattUK

jimbo6977 said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

Do pubs still have those glasses with a line etched into them below the rim? Also etched into the glass was "1 pint to line" which accounted for the head on the beer.

I was in a pub, years ago, where someone was handed a pint glass in which there wasn't a full pint because of the head. He asked "Can you fit a double Scotch in there?" Reply, "Yes, I think so." "Then will you kindly top it up with beer instead."

Lined glasses do exist BUT the experience of a close relative who used to run a beer festival suggests that the average punter does not understand them. When served a full liquid pint in a 600+ml glass lined at 568ml (1pt), a large number of people (~50%) reacted by requesting a top up.

I used to manage a pub many moons ago and that was my experience a well, older people or northerners in particular seemed to get very agitated about a pint not being full to the top of the glass when all the glasses were oversized. 

These days nearly every branded beer glass is an oversized glass, yet a lot of people do not seem to understand that. I have at times seen some people get quite aggressive in their demands for an oversized pint glass to be filled to overflowing. 

MattMattMattUK

DullGreyGuy said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

..

Aren't they actually serving 500ml though? It's only "short" if they are telling you it's a pint.

I don't think they can legally sell you a 500ml draft beer.

The laws were changed a while back because lots of craft beer places sell 1/3 and 2/3 pint options which they previously weren't allowed to but agree that I dont think 500ml of draft is allowed. 

Anyone know why volumes are prescribed? Read an article a while back and one of the "advantages of Brexit" was stated that the law could be changed to allow 500ml bottles of wine to be sold again (the article claimed they used to exist and were popular). Fully understand that the volume should match the amount claimed but dont understand why the law would dictate the measures available. 

oldagetraveller1 said:

Do pubs still have those glasses with a line etched into them below the rim? Also etched into the glass was "1 pint to line" which accounted for the head on the beer.

Certainly in our neck of the woods they are very rare, they will be properly etched to say they are a pint glass but lack any kind of marker to where the pint is. 

Erdinger is one of the worst, though a great beer, as the pump has a photo like below on it but seriously doubt thats a full pint... the local that used to sell it probably did half that head size but still felt like a short pint but no way of checking as there are no markers

The line on an Erdinger glass is about 3cm from the top, but even that image looks like it could be a short pint. 

DullGreyGuy

MattMattMattUK said:

DullGreyGuy said:

HillStreetBlues said:

user1977 said:

..

Aren't they actually serving 500ml though? It's only "short" if they are telling you it's a pint.

I don't think they can legally sell you a 500ml draft beer.

The laws were changed a while back because lots of craft beer places sell 1/3 and 2/3 pint options which they previously weren't allowed to but agree that I dont think 500ml of draft is allowed. 

Anyone know why volumes are prescribed? Read an article a while back and one of the "advantages of Brexit" was stated that the law could be changed to allow 500ml bottles of wine to be sold again (the article claimed they used to exist and were popular). Fully understand that the volume should match the amount claimed but dont understand why the law would dictate the measures available. 

oldagetraveller1 said:

Do pubs still have those glasses with a line etched into them below the rim? Also etched into the glass was "1 pint to line" which accounted for the head on the beer.

Certainly in our neck of the woods they are very rare, they will be properly etched to say they are a pint glass but lack any kind of marker to where the pint is. 

Erdinger is one of the worst, though a great beer, as the pump has a photo like below on it but seriously doubt thats a full pint... the local that used to sell it probably did half that head size but still felt like a short pint but no way of checking as there are no markers

The line on an Erdinger glass is about 3cm from the top, but even that image looks like it could be a short pint. 

They've unfortunately stopped selling Erdinger recently but their glasses certainly had no line on them as looked carefully as had seen other of their staff point to a picture very similar to the above as justification that it is how its supposed to be; they were more generous to me so no major argument but would still rather a line.

Many moons ago went to a place that had a "metered" tap where pouring a pint was a 1 button affair but they used pint glasses with a line on them and they were always short but they claimed the glass was wrong and there was no top up mechanism on the pump. 

HillStreetBlues

DullGreyGuy said:

The laws were changed a while back because lots of craft beer places sell 1/3 and 2/3 pint options which they previously weren't allowed to but agree that I dont think 500ml of draft is allowed. 

Anyone know why volumes are prescribed? Read an article a while back and one of the "advantages of Brexit" was stated that the law could be changed to allow 500ml bottles of wine to be sold again (the article claimed they used to exist and were popular). Fully understand that the volume should match the amount claimed but dont understand why the law would dictate the measures available. 

I believe limiting it to certain volumes was suppose to help people keep a track of what they drunk.
Champers use to be sold in pints, but this was against EU weight and measure rules so came to a stop.
Also different rules for different wines, still wine can't be sold in 200ml  sparkling wine 500ml
New rules are coming in from 1st Sep under The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) (Amendment) Regulations 2024