New Bill Would Ensure All Pints of Beer Are Really 16-Ounces

[onehandle]

Last edited Tue Oct 8, 2013, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Time

On edit: This is not the U.S. House, but the Michigan House.



Two Michigan representatives are raising their glasses to a bill that would make it an “offense” to serve or advertise a pint that contains fewer than 16 ounces of beer, The Detroit Free-Press reports.

The proposal, sponsored by Rep. David Knezek (D-Dearborn Heights) and Rep. Brandon Dillon (D-Grand Rapids), would amend the state Liquor Control Act to ensure customers are getting the most bang for their buck, while local bar owners argued that they don’t want to replace all of their pint-style glasses, many of which come in 12-ounce or “thick-bottomed” 14-ounce sizes.

The Michigan proposal is just the latest in the movement for state-regulated pint standards, nicknamed “honest pints.” For context, the approximately 20-ounce “Imperial Pint” is the government-regulated standard in the U.K., and those glasses have been specially marked, the Wall Street Journal reported. Stateside, Oregon beer blogger Jeff Alworth has been one of the major advocates, co-founding the “Honest Pint Project” in 2007, where he has catalogued pubs nationwide that serve fuller pints on his website and has lobbied the Oregon state legislature to pass 16-ounce standards — though the bill did fail to pass in the state senate.

The amount of head or foam may reduce the amount of beer in glasses. Last month, right before the start of Oktoberfest in Munich, tent officials cautioned workers to avoid underserving revelers, after The Local reported that pours at last year’s festival contained too much head, and many Steins had 0.8 liters of beer instead of a full liter.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/10/07/new-bill-would-ensure-all-pints-of-beer-are-really-16-ounces

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I'd like to see this in all 50 states.

[liberal N proud]

1. We can regulate this (and we should) but health care is off limits.

[knitter4democracy]

2. Oh, sure. They spend time on this but can't fund the schools.

They pass laws requiring us to make the kids say the Pledge every day but then pass laws to close entire districts and saddle nearby districts with the properties and students without extra help. Don't even get me started on how worthless and worse than that Lansing is.

[hobbit709]

3. If it's sold as a pint it had better be a pint.

I don't want .9 of a gallon of gas either.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. The vast majority of so-called "pint" glasses used in US bars are just shy of 14oz

[HuckleB]

13. Not here in the Northwest.

Bars get called out for it in the papers. Most bars now serve Imperial Pints, anyways.

[rhett o rick]

15. It's hard to get less than 16 oz in the Pacific NW. But the beer is so good

you will want more anywayz. Best beer in the world.

[Aristus]

17. Plus, on the distilled side, we're 'free pour'.

A shot is whatever the bartender says a shot is.

A good bartender pours big shots; and gets big tips in return...

I love Washington State!

[pipoman]

5. I guess we can see what is on these lawmaker's minds..

[Marie Marie]

6. Really?? This gets their attention?

[surrealAmerican]

7. Anything less than 16 oz is just false advertising.

They should still be allowed to sell 12 or 14 oz beers, so long as they don't call it a pint.

[SDjack]

8. Hold the price, but go for 20 oz = 1 pint. nt

[Demeter]

9. Meals on Wheels, Food Stamps and Medicaid may be cut

but we in Michigan have our priorities!

[azurnoir]

10. does that include the foam?

or is this really just all foam?

[Buzz Lightyears]

11. False advertisement is bad

Kudos.

[longship]

12. In the UK it's at least 20 ounces.

At least in the days of Imperial measure, one-fourth larger than US measure.

In the UK, you really got a pint. Not sure of it after they went metric.

[Maynar]

14. This.

Here in the Great White North, some pubs go out of their way to point out they pour 20 oz. I show my appreciation accordingly.

[longship]

16. I am a big fan of bitter, and of course, IPA.

The latter brewed for export. Both have a nice hoppy tingle to them. Please serve at room temp. And don't spare the head.

Idiot Yanks don't know how to drink brew. And I'm a bloody Yank myself. But too many here think ice cold bubbly water is beer. They are so wrong.

A pint of Bitter? Yummy! Here's to ya, mate.

[zipplewrath]

28. 80F

'Round here, "room temp" is gonna be close to 80F. You can drink it at that if ya please. I'll take mine a might closer to 45F thank ya very much. Heck, even in the UK they're gonna sell 'em at "cellar temp" which'll be a bit closer to 60F.

[longship]

29. Well, when I said room temp, I kinda meant the room in the cellar where you keep your beer.

How's that for a walk back?

I stand corrected. You are indeed correct. I should have used different terminology. I certainly do not like tepid beer.

[zipplewrath]

31. Plastic ice cubes

I've found water filled plastic ice cubes that I can use with red wine because it is so warm down here. People are shocked when I "chill" my red wine, but it's supposed to be served at 60F, not 80F. I'll put a bottle of red in a wine chiller because by the time it is in a glass for long, it is quite warm.

[longship]

32. Yup, tepid wine isn't that good either.

I keep my wine in the basement, too. It's pretty much the same temp down there all year.


And skäl!

[zipplewrath]

33. Higher alcohol

This is especially true these days. 30+ years ago when I was a stock boy in a winery, "strong" wines were 12% alcohol. "Fortified" wines were around 16%. These days I see red wines coming off the shelf at 14.5%. You let that get up to 80F and all you're gonna smell/taste is the alcohol.

[Maynar]

35. More IPA than bitter, for me

And I like me some malt over hops, but hey- what makes the world go round?

Cheers longship.

[Historic NY]

18. I have some of the old glasses and the clearly have a marked line on them...

our local brewery here in NY now serves an Imperial pint......they won't draw them for higher ABC

[sir pball]

20. I think full pints of high-alcohol beer are illegal in NY

Many summers ago when I was in college on Long Island, we had an excellent brewpub that turned out a 12% winter white...the first one I ordered was a wee 12oz glass, when I asked the bartender about it she said the law prohibited full pints of something that strong.

Not to say that once you're a trusted regular they won't pour you fulls; my current local joint has gotten me in trouble with the lady more than once..

[msanthrope]

22. We have a craft brew place here that will not sell certain beers in glasses larger than 12oz, but

they clearly mark it. These tend to be the beers brewed at 7% and higher.

[grantcart]

19. This has to be Boehner's number one priority.

[Nye Bevan]

21. FINALLY. A "good news" thread! (nt)

[karynnj]

23. Why not insist that they simply label it correctly?

If a bar uses 14 oz glasses - sell 14 oz drinks. There is nothing sacred about it being 16 oz - unless you are selling it as a pint in the US. However, a pint in the UK is 20 oz - something I learned from a British cookbook that included the OZ measurement in parenthesis.

As long as people know what they are buying when they order it, why is this a problem?

[onehandle]

24. It's for when they call it a pint, and it's not a pint.

Here in PA, most decent pubs will label their pours.

Regular gravity beers are 16 ounces.
High gravity beers are either 10 or 12 ounces.

I'd like to see a national law that requires the alcohol content, and the size of the pour, be listed on the menu.

[yellowcanine]

25. A "half-gallon" of ice cream was 1.75 qts for years and now it is 1.5 qts.

[happyslug]

26. How will this affect DUI cases????

If someone is use to drinking a 12 oz glass of beer and passing a DUI test, but after drinking an 16 oz glass of beer and failing the test, can he sue the bar?

I live in Western PA, we order a Shot and Beer, no one orders a "Pint" it is a "Beer". Same with Wine, no one orders a "Pint" of wine, but "wine". I have NEVER been in a bar that says they served "Pints" or any other measure of drink.

Remember a "Cup" in the US, is only 8 ounces, thus unless you ask for a pint, you get a cup (And if you ask for a pint, most bar tenders will either ask you will you take a cup OR ignore the request and give you a cup anyway, cup of 8 ounces with room for 4 volume ounces of form.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_(unit)

[Faux pas]

27. I'm more interested in 1 pound cans of

food being 16 oz.

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. To confuse things more: a US fluid ounce is about 4% bigger than an Imperial one

The imperial gallon was originally defined as the volume occupied by 10 pounds avoirdupois of water at a temperature of 62 degrees Fahrenheit; the definition was later revised, expressing the same volume as 4.54609 litres, making the imperial fluid ounce 28.4130625 mL. The US gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches, making the US fluid ounce 29.5735295625 mL, or about 4% larger than the imperial unit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_ounce

Thus, a US pint is 473ml, while an Imperial one is 568ml - 20% bigger, and not (as the 20/16 figures would make you think) 25% bigger.

[KamaAina]

34. So Detroiters can get an honest pint

to wash down the sorrow of these same people sending in Kevyn Orr to finish them off.