An American walks into a pub in London and orders a pint. It looks similar, but, given the amount of the golden-brown, oddly warm liquid sloshing around in the glass vessel, it almost seems to be a little too much.
How Big Is a Pint?
This is because a pint in the United Kingdom is bigger than a pint in the United States. The UK pint is 20 fluid ounces, while the US pint fills up 16 fl oz. However, this translation is not that simple, as fluid ounces do not equal one another across the Atlantic. Here is the breakdown of volume between the two countries:
- The British Imperial fluid ounce is equal to 28.413 milliliters, while the US Customary fluid ounce is 29.573 ml.
- The British Imperial pint is 568.261 ml (20 fluid ounces), while the US Customary pint is 473.176 ml (16 fl oz).
- The British Imperial quart is 1.13 liters (40 fl oz), while the US Customary quart is 0.94 L (32 fl oz).
- The British Imperial gallon is 4.54 L (160 fl oz), while the US Customary gallon is 3.78 L (128 fl oz).
Background of English Units
At the root of this divide is the difference in measurement systems. While the American system of measurement often is referred to as the Imperial System, this usage is erroneous. The US, ever since the formative years of the New World-nation, has used the US Customary System. The Imperial System, alternatively, was established in 1824 for Great Britain and its colonies. Even today, decades after officially switching to SI (metric) units, volume in the UK is measured in British Imperial units.
Both these systems, however, derived from English units. English units were in use until the early 1800s, and they saw a vast range of influences due to the frenzied history of the British Isles. This historical precedence spanned a millennium, so, to keep things short: the Celtic Britons lived in modern-day Britain, and they were at war with Roman invaders for the first few centuries AD. After the Romans left, the Celts were invaded and displaced by the Anglo-Saxons, who were dominated by the Normans.
This resulted in a plethora of units of measurement. Many Anglo-Saxon units had some basis in the people’s agricultural past. For example, 3 barleycorns equaled 1 ynce (inch), and an acre was considered a field the size a farmer could plow in a single day. The foot, obviously having a connection to the length of the human appendage, was in use, but it had various conflicting specifications.
The Norman kings brought Roman measurements to Britain, specifically the 12-inch foot and the mile, which was defined originally as the length of 1000 paces of a Roman legion. If you’d like to read more about this background, please refer to our article on the History of the US Customary System.
Differences Between US Customary and Imperial Units
By the time of the American Revolution, English units were diverse but active. However, the newly-independent American Colonies experienced influences not only from the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans, and the Romans, but also from past colonists from Holland, France, and Spain. This necessitated the birth of the US Customary System in the united colonies. Decades later, in 1824, Great Britain established the Imperial System.
This initiated the divide between the two systems of measurement. Nonetheless, US Customary and Imperial units were, and still remain, mostly the same. However, an American fluid ounce was defined originally as the volume occupied by an ounce of wine, while the Imperial fluid ounce was defined as the volume occupied by an ounce of water. This made the US Customary fluid ounce a little larger, since alcohol is less dense than water.
Furthermore, the Mendenhall Order of 1893 defined the US units in terms of metric units, removing any direct relationship between US Customary and Imperial volume units of the same name.
Other than volume, there are a few variations between US Customary and Imperial units. Dry volume, for example, is measured differently than liquid volume in both systems. An Imperial bushel is equal to 36.369 liters, while a US dry bushel is equal to 35.239 L.
In addition, the hundredweight varies between the US Customary and Imperial Systems. Since a ton is always equal to 20 hundredweight, the British Imperial ton is 2240 pounds (long ton) and the US ton is 2000 lbs (short ton).
I’ll drink to that!
.. next Brits should learn to like
COLD BEER!! … way more refreshing.
I am English and I can categorically state that the vast majority of English people drink their beer just as cold as Americans.
There are some “Real Ale’s” that are served at room temp but they are not common and tend to be only sold in a few select pubs (who also serve the more common cold served beers).
Please stop with the “all English beer is served cold, all English food is bland and tasteless and all English people have bad teeth” hogwash.
I ordered a pint of beer in a pub in Inverness Scotland in the summer of 1984. They brought me a large glass mug or stein of beer which was good-tasting, cold, but not ice cold, and noticeably bigger than an American pint. (I looked it up later and it was about 19.2 American fluid ounces.) In the USA when I order a pint of beer they bring me 16 American fluid ounces of ice-cold beer.
You call it ‘beer’ but American beer is really lager. Different thing. Each to his own. I was a lager drinker until I discovered real ale. (I can still force it down if it’s all there is!)
The difference is very slight between ale and lager. Both are beer. One is top fermented in warmer conditions (ale) and lager use bottom-fermenting yeasts that need the liquid they’re fermenting to be cold and still for a longer time. I’ll say it again, both are considering styles of beer, so both are beers. You’re just being pedantic.
As for American beer, we brew many different styles of beer, from lagers to Porters to Hefeweizens and Stouts. It’s all fricking beer! American beer is also really good, though I’d stay away from the beer that uses inferior grains for beer (rice & corn) like Budweiser or Coors. We have thousands of breweries all over the United States, as quality beer has made a huge comeback in over the past 30 or 40 years.
My first attempt at home brewing was a kit for an amber ale. Through inexperience and lack of attention (think I left the barrel in too cool an environment) the resultant brew was generally agreed by those within my circle to be one of the finest lagers they’d ever tasted. Go figure. Subsequent attempts just produced average middling home brews not worth the effort. Gave up.
The good thing is that you don’t have to!
Wait so your trying to tell me that Weissbier (wheat beer) is not beer? The Germans at Oktoberfest and here in Minnesota and Wisconsin would be sehr beleidigt (Very offended). Prost!
“Stein” is a misnomer – someone thought it was the German way to describe a beer mug, but it’s just short for “Steingut” which in English is stoneware (pottery). The litre glass you’ll find in a Biergarten is a Masskrug, while a smaller glass is often just a Bierkrug. Some establishments serve beer in stoneware mugs, but they’re nothing like the ornate OTT ones you’ll find in tourist shops. British draught beer comes in a glass or mug, known by some as a “straight” and “handle” respectively. The dimpled mug is also known as a jug.
Wait so your trying to tell me that Weissbier (wheat beer, also know as Ale) is not beer? The Germans at Oktoberfest and here in Minnesota and Wisconsin would be sehr beleidigt (Very offended). Prost!
This is NOT true. Real ales are available in most pubs now. Many of said pubs also serve food which is very good. The old stereotypes of the UK are out of date, as you say. Lager is served chilled and is usually ok but bland. Keg beers are also served cold but are not good compared to real ale. The Americans are really latching on to good beer with many ‘micro breweries’ selling craft ales. More power to them.
Surely you mean “all English beer is served warm” ? The jury is out on the bad teeth but many Americans have equally bad teeth. Dental care is very expensive in the US. If you have no insurance, you’re stuck.
Although I support your premise regarding food and teeth, you clearly are not an authority on the noble pint. Real Ale is by no means “only sold in a few select pubs” and last years CAMRA Good Beer Guide lists over 1000 pages of pubs serving the best “Real Ale”. Perhaps you are referring to Lager which is “cold fermented” and is now very popular with younger drinkers but is inherently European.
I’d have to say that the majority of UK’PUBS have at least half a dozen beers on tap and most have more. There will be one or two LOCAL brews including an ARTISAN brew tthough I have difficulty in deciding exactly what an ARTISAN brew really is! Some of these are quite frankly bloody awful. Where I come from the Local Brewery is HARVEYS of LEWES and they produce a whole range of Prize winning ales, lagersa and beers including a Nationally recognised BITTER. There will also be a range of LAGERS local, national and internationa. In your average UK pub if you had a pint of all the ales beers and lagers available really would ‘Feel Like Dancing’.
‘allo, Colin – wos you imbibin’ of a warm barley wine when you asked not to be accused of quaffin’ cold suds? Cos I think you got a bit mixed up there.
I’m ex-pat Brit, and believe cold water is for refreshment, whereas hop-infused ales are drunk for their pleasurable flavour, which chilling at deep-space temperatures renders undetectable. Would you keep a good Shiraz, Merlot, Cab Sauv in the fridge? Then treat good, carefully-crafted ales with the same consideration and respect as you would a worthwhile wine.
Not nearly as tasty though. The American 1/2 pint is more or less equal to the French ‘demi’ (half) which is the common word for a glass of beer measuring 250ml, which is 1/4 of a litre. It has stuck over the centuries. It was half a ‘chopine’ which was a French measure equal to one US pint.The French influence in the USA is much stronger than most folk realise. See ‘fluid ounce’ above. Volume of water or volume of wine. Who influenced that, d’you think?
Learn about the differences in beer you mug!
Bitter and darker beers need to be drunk unchilled (just like red wine) to get the best of their flavours & aromas.
I believe we used to keep beers in the cellar. Below ground temperatures tend to be 12c or thereabouts. You do get a much better flavour release at that point.
Well over here is BEER so therefore it’s cold, but some of our ALE cannot be freezing cold, Ale is like a fine wine, if it’s cold it shocks the taste and will not taste good, Ale is usually like 55 degrees, BEER can be freezing cold, like lagers etc, and when I see Guiness over here in a cooler UGH not the way to drink it and spoils the taste and ruins the head, yep I’m from UK and also used to pull the Pints before the metric system came in the best way for beer, just thought I’d mention Cheers dear!!!!!!
yeah coz Brits actually microwave their beer before serving!
Our beer is cold, and it’s proper beer too. American beer is like water. You clearly have never been yo the UK.
British like ice cold lagers the same as anyone else but for an ale or bitter it’s 12 C. If you drink ales and stouts too cold it kills the taste.
As regards weights and measures we use SI system invented by France except we still buy pints.
Americans have some great American hopped British styled IPAs but they also have the worst beer in the world Belgian owned Budscheiser. We do not use arcane units like Fahrenheit
One reason for ice cold beer is that when it is a little warmer it tastes awful! The cold numbs your taste buds
This is true. Once tried to drink room temp Budweiser (US type) Disgusting.
Not if the beer is good. I like my beer cold, but not so cold you can’t taste all of the flavors. Some Belgian beers need to be served a little warmer so you can taste the cardamom and other spices they might add. Some of the stouts taster better served a little less cold. No beer should be so cold it’s almost freezing. If you need it so cold that it blunts the taste, then beer probably isn’t for you.
British have ales and bitters to be drunk at 12c and lager for a hot afternoon in half pints (so it doesn’t get warm-the Aussies do this too with their stubby holders) Americans are starting to do American hops IPA (British origin) but unfortunately they have Budscheiser too.
As an American living in London for 45 years, I’ve witnessed British resistance to the metric system generally, and it is both comical and infuriating! Weather reports give temperatures in Centigrade/Celsius but wind speeds in mph. Road signs still indicate distance in miles and yards. Dry goods may be labelled in grams, but are often the metric equivalents of pounds/ounces, e.g. 454 grams of flour, equal to 1 pound, rather than a logical 500 grams. Schoolchildren have been taught the metric system over the imperial system, so they can’t relate to feet, inches or pounds (pints only because of beer bought in pubs). But I can’t point a finger, as I’ve never gotten used to metric temperatures. I only remember that 16C = 61F, and 28C = 82F, useful for ordinary life as opposed to measuring the temperature of the Sun! But I must disagree with the author when it comes to liquids. It’s actually far more common to see metric measurements. For example, gasoline and diesel are sold by the litre, and milk, cream, soft drinks, fruit juice, fresh soups, wine, cider, etc. are measured in metric volumes. Britain thus proves its reputation for eccentricity, and long may it live!
The little Englanders don’t want to let go of the Empire mentality.
Says the French skunk!
What an utterly stupid ignorant thing to say. If yo men that some us dont want to let go of a unique, hard fought for history that let the UK and latterly the US (which is essentially a carbon copy) the world most of the good things it has, then that is correct and we are idiots if did so.
Plus the fact give me a pint of real ale in a 300 year old pub over industrial lager any day.
The US has caught on now though and they do some wonderful ales. I do prefer UK quantity though.
There are always exceptions to the rules of course. I think the US has pretty much adopted the liter/litre for engine displacement even for domestic brands. Also, for the places where micro-brewing is popular in the US, I’ve seen a choice of 16 or 20 fl oz glasses. 20 fl oz US is actually larger than a UK pint. In the UK there is a difference between beer and ale, I’d say all ale is beer, but not all beer is ale. Ale is a living product with the yeast still alive in the cask. Beers and lagers tend to be pasteurized (to extend shelf life) and are shipped in kegs not casks, most needing to be carbonated to add the fizz. Keg beer/lager is pressure fed to the tap, real ale is hand pumped. In the UK, most lager, beer and ale is stored in the cellar all at the same temperature. The lager and (some beer) is then additionally chilled just before it reaches the tap. Ale is not additionally chilled.
There is a lot of content in this article, but nothing that answers the actual question posed by the title. Why is the pint bigger?
It explains the small difference in fluid ounce size, but not the 20% difference in pint sizes.
The BRITISH (never refer places such as Inverness as ‘England’) pint is bigger.
(It’s confusing for North-Americans because generally the English use the words England and Britain interchangeably but the Scots and Welsh, leaving aside the highly contentious Northern Ireland issue, most definitely do not.)
The reason being that although British ( true Imperial) fluid ounces are 96% the size of U. S. fluid ounces, there are (British) 20 fluid ounces in a British pint and only (U. S.) 16 fluid ounces in a U. S. pint.
Hence: 1 British pint = 0.96×1.25= 1.2 U. S. pints
The British pint is larger than a US pint simply because they are two different units, each defined independently of each other.
Note that there are two different-sized defined fluid ounces, one for each of the British usage and the US usage, which makes things even more confusing.
…and then there’s the thorny issue of the (now more common) ‘metric pint’. Beer, ale and cider is now sold predominantly in 500ml (1/2 litre) cans and bottles which is less than the traditional UK pint (568ml).
I came here looking for the explanation of why the US uses 16 rather than 20 fl oz to the pint. Then it occurred to me: 16 oz to the pound or 16 fl oz to the pint is more convenient if you have cause for trade reasons to divide the base unit by multiples of 2.
The British pint is larger than a US pint simply because they are two different units, each defined independently of each other.
Note that there are two different-sized defined fluid ounces, one for each of the British usage and the US usage, which makes things even more confusing.
The Uk fluid ounce is based on an ounce of water and the US fluid ounce is defined as an ounce of wine. Since wine is less dense than water 9due to the alcohol), the US fluid ounce is a larger volume than the UK fluid ounce.
The us gallon is defined by an old British ‘Wine gallon” which is 231cubic inches and based on a fluid ounce being an ounce by weight of wine, the UK gallon is defined somewhat later as exactly 10 pounds of distilled water.
Strictly speaking the US measures are more historical, and rather like the word Autumn ( a fancy french name for Fall), the americans stuck with older british definitions. So when Brits bang on about correct Imperial measures, they just mean the more recent definitions from the 1820’s as opposed to earlier definitions from the late 1700’s. I personally find that nothing beats a full Uk pint. It seems just the right size and of course because the Brits are sticklers for weights and measures, a landlord can only serve 5% of the pint as froth and a client has a right to have it topped up with almost no froth. To this day weights and measures people go around checking these things. Brits find themselves bewildered and irritated in places like Belgium and Germany when a bar person ambles over with 6 pints of completely differently poured beers all with enormous amounts of beer/froth.