Previously, I posted about pint sizes in British Columbia. Although this is a major issue for beer drinkers here, we’re not the only people who are getting ripped off when it comes to the size of our pints. Many people have been trying to solve this problem. Of the solutions I have seen so far, some are successful, others… not so much.

The Beer Gauge

The Consumerist recently posted this article about The Beer Gauge (via Wall Street Journal Blogs). Although the beer gauge does what it’s meant to do, it also implies that there should be no head on the beer with the glass filled to the top. Lets face it, thats not going to happen. Beer needs to have head in order for us to have the full experience. Additionally, servers everywhere would be spilling over filled glasses. Not exactly an ideal solution, and because of this I have to give the device a pass.

The Vinyl Tape Measure

This past weekend during the Gastown Cask Carouse one of the members of my group used a vinyl tape measure to check if a pint was full. Although he did this jokingly, it got me thinking – people probably use this as a way of measuring the fullness of a pint. That said, it’s not a very useful solution if the glasses do not hold more than a perfect pint for the reasons stated above. Also, watching people trying to do calculations in their head to see if their pint is right might get interesting after a couple. Seeing as you can measure from the bottom and not the top of the glass I consider this a step above the beer gauge solution, however still a failure.

The Lined Pint Glass

In the United Kingdom, draught beer must be sold in Imperial measure. United Kingdom law requires certain steps be taken to ensure that a pint of beer is indeed a pint. Various systems have been put in place for this, with the most logical of these being the lined pint glass. These glasses have a line near the top, to which the beer should be poured, with the head forming above it. Although hardly any bars use these pint glasses, CAMRA has been actively encouraging them to do so. This is the only real way you can be assured you have a proper pint of beer.

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