Ethics: The "Cheater Pint" of Beer - Oregon's "Honest Pint" Legislation

Comment

Comment by Paul Paz on April 9, 2009 at 9:43am

Another link:
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/units/volume/volume.floz.en.html

I hear ya' Deb!

Being in the rank 'n file of the organizational chart... fill it to the top edge!
:-)
Paul

Comment by Deb Scott on April 9, 2009 at 9:02am

Paul, your right about beer imports to the US converted to ounces, but instead of 16oz, the bottles are typically 16.5 oz due to the conversion from metric (or something like that). Steve is obviously better at conversions that me. Don't ask me if it's in wet - dry or imperial!

Many fine belgiums I find are in 500ml.

Comment by Steve Paterson on April 8, 2009 at 9:28pm

The pint is the name of a unit of liquid measurement in some countries. The pint is the same as 1⁄8 of a gallon. Because the imperial system and the American system use different gallons, their pints are different also.

The imperial pint is still used to measure amounts of beer in the countries of the old British Empire. It is usually not used today for anything else. It is divided into 20 fluid ounces.

The United States is the only other country to use pints. In the American system there are two different pints. There is a wet pint and a dry pint. Six U.S. wet pints are about five imperial pints. The U.S. wet pint is divided into 16 fluid ounces.

1 imperial pint = 20 imperial fluid ounces (fl. oz.)
= 0.56826125 litres (exactly)
≈ 568 ml
≈ 1.20 U.S. wet pints
≈ 1.03 U.S. dry pints
1 U.S. wet pint = 16 U.S. fl. oz.
= 0.473176473 litres (exactly)
≈ 473 ml
≈ 0.83 imperial pints
≈ 0.86 U.S. dry pints
1 U.S. dry pint = 0.5506104713575 litres (exactly)
≈ 551 ml
≈ 0.97 imperial pints
≈ 1.16 U.S. wet pints

Retrieved from "http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pint"

Comment by Paul Paz on April 8, 2009 at 7:19pm

Hi Deb..
Yea... the bill has no penalty proposals and only offers a "sticker" acknowledging the "Honest Pint" pour by the business. That is an interesting thought of the differences in bottle measurements verses glass portions. Although most beer bottles (many from outside the USA) still list the ingredients in ounces.
Paul

Comment by Deb Scott on April 8, 2009 at 1:06pm

I think changes came more with the conversion of the alcohol beverage industry to metric rather than gallonage. Glassware in the U.S. is not measured the same as the bottle. My guess is operators are costing by the oz. anyway. Looking at the bill, it looks more like a promo thing than really protecting consumers.

In retail stores, it is standard practice to call a 375ml bottle a pint (0.7925 of a pint) and a 200ml (0.4227 of a pint) is called a half pint.

I' think it is more of a crime to get the wrong style of glass for the type of beer I'm drinking.

Comment by Paul Paz on April 7, 2009 at 6:13am

Well said, David. We're on the same page.
Paul

Comment by David Curtis on April 7, 2009 at 4:41am

Paul,
I agree, service to the customer includes truth and honesty and it starts with the menu. Let's be honest, the restaurant industry gets into these regulatory pickles because we have difficulty with the whole full disclosure thing. We want people to come in and have a good time and not worry about all that silly nutrional information (can you say calories and fat content). At Ted's every restaurant has a book with complete nutrional and ingredient information on every item we sell available to any guest to review. While it would be nice to put all that on a menu, it is over 40 pages in small type and would probably be a deterrent to ordering.
I am with you Paul, be proud of your menu and offerings and don't try to "sneak one by" in the name of a few more cents of profitability. The resultant negative backlash when discovered (and you will be discovered) is not worth it, just charge more for the correct portion to make the right profit or find other places to cut costs (its that old balance thing again).

Comment by Paul Paz on April 6, 2009 at 10:13am

Thanks David...
But this specific practice doesn't help keep the wolves at bay on the issue. Deception is not a good way to build credibility.
Paul

Comment by David Curtis on April 6, 2009 at 5:29am

The only thing surprising about your post is how long it has taken the government to step into the role of policing the portion size. Of course, if I wanted to entice customers away from my competitors, I would just advertise my restaurant as the home of the "full" or "real" pint. Finally, this all assumes that the average consumer knows that a pint is 16oz. A spot survey would probably surprise you.
This will be just the next thing in a long line of legislative attempts at controlling the industry (see Trans Fat, Menu labeling, et al). It also won't be the last thing.

Comment by Steve Paterson on April 5, 2009 at 10:33am

It's been happening with seafood for years....catfish as grouper etc.
Some restaurants have Prime Beef on their menu..but it's choice or lower.
This is the first time I've seen short pours addressed. I hate it when my draught beer has 4 inches of froth.