On beer sizing at restaurants, generally...
 

You know how when you go to a restaurant and order a beer, they ask you if you want a tall or a short? And yet, upon being questioned, the waitperson or bartender is typically unable to describe in any relevant detail what the volumetric difference is between the two sizes. I've long suspected that this formed the basis for some kind of scam, so I decided to run an experiment.

A friend and I ordered two beers; one tall, one short, as well as a glass of water. After consuming the beers, I used the glass of water to fill the "short" beer glass nearly to the top:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1436878394

The water in that glass was then transferred into the "tall" glass:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1436878378


Don't order the "tall" beer.

Never order the tall. Ask how many fluid ounces are in each. If they don't know, have them find someone who does.
Some places don't scam you though, the talls are actually 22oz and smalls are 16os.
Mathematically it's sometimes better to order pints instead too.

I do however hate when I get a beer in a brandy glass. I never understood this, regardless of the beer.
-Yes, I realize this beer is 18%ABV triple Russian imperial stout. I want 16 ounces of it, not 6.

<p>I have also ran in to instances&nbsp;where buying by the pint is cheaper than buying a pitcher/tower.</p>

Fuckin' Joe Perez.

This is an amazing topic. That tall pilsner glass should measure 14oz. Whenever I go to a bar, I ask for a pint glass. It blows my mind (and just shows the ignorance of American society) when a bartender selects the appropriate glass and says " this?" I've had to explain to several bartenders that "it's called a pint glass because a pint is 16oz."

What if the water had no ice? :likecat:

What if my car didn't have a turbo charger? Would it still displace the same volume?

MT's own consumer advocate :likecat:.

I read that there was a shitstorm in England a couple years ago about adopting the US pint over the Imperial(19.2 oz) pint - some pretty lame reasoning involving "standardization" and/or "responsibility. A lot of American places are serving 14-oz "pints."

An extra 20 "pints" per keg.

do what I do:
order sampler.
drink 16oz.
pretend it's 4 beers.

:giggle: I KEED, you guys are obviously awake this morning.

What restaurant is this Joe?

Even when the tall is a little cheaper than the short (in terms of oz/$), I almost always order the small. I would rather drink 3 small cold beers than one tall beer that started cold and ended up close to room temperature. Even if that means shelling out an extra $1.
YMMV

Old news JP

I probably should have recorded that information, but I actually don't remember. 'Twas a steakhouse sort of place, not a name I'd heard of before. And I'm sure that there's some variation from one restaurant to the next as well. I've certainly been to a few in which it was obvious that the "large" was in fact larger than the "small," however these seem to be the exception.

Next time I'm out for dinner, I'll bring a graduated cylinder.

Not directly related, but this is a point where you and I differ greatly in opinion. I always request that my beer be served in a room temperature glass, and if it's poured unreasonably cold, will often deliberately let it sit for a while to reach a more reasonable temperature.

When beer is too cold, you simply can't taste it. So much of the aroma is just lost.

I wish I had friends that weren't on the internet.

I had drinks on Sunday at a bar where the options were a 16oz or a 34oz, described as such. :party:

<p></p><p>The local mexican place we go does the same thing. Even with their margaritas. They have a nice table with ounces on one axis and brand of tequila on the other.</p>

Real pints are 20 oz.

--Ian

Yeah, the flared top on that "tall" glass can actually hold a surprising amount of liquid. Pi R squared and all that.

--Ian

This effect is particularly notable when drinking a martini.

Pie are round.

There is a reason the Germans require all commercial establishments to serve beer in glasses marked with the volume.

It is because they are German.

You drink too slowly.

He's also wrongly prioritizing cold beer.

I like cold beer. I don't care that some of the flavor is lost. I like what I like because I like it.

:dealwithit:

It's a matter of preference, of course.

Personally, I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I do, I actually like ice in it, which is something that many people find absurd.

I've just never been fond of alcoholic beverages served too cold. I do like my Martinis straight up, but no brown spirit shall have touched ice on its way to my glass, be it rum, scotch, bourbon or tequila. It dulls the flavor, no matter what the people who advocate adding a splash of water to their whiskey claim.

Have you ever tried warm Kirkland lite? It tastes like vomit. Cold Kirkland lite on the other hand just tastes like warm keystone.

So it still tastes like vomit?

*rimshot*

<p>But less so. Keystone has a more watery taste. Maybe like if you vomited after drinking too much water. Where is mostly clear with some chunks.</p><p>Warm Kirkland is like one of those horribly full vomits, like you just had a giant burrito, and then drank too much tequila vomits. The kind with texture.</p>

these made me :laugh:

I have not.

I have also not licked the sweat off of a camel's balls, nor do I plan to try it.

That having been said, I feel it necessary to illustrate that there is a distinction between warm beer, beer served at the proper temperature, and freezing beer.



Warm beer, that served at or near room temperature, is fairly unpalatable. I doubt that very many people would espouse serving beer at this temperature.




Freezing beer (that chilled down into the 30s and served in a frozen mug) isn't particularly appealing to me. A bit of beer history is in order here:

Prior to the prohibition of alcohol in the US, there existed a great many small breweries, producing a wide variety of beers which were mostly native to the various European nations from which the first and second-generation immigrants who made them hailed. This spanned everything from the light-bodied Pilsners of Bavaria, to the bitters and brown ales of northern England, to the wonderful golden ales of Belgium all the way to the dark porters originally native to London.

After the passage of the 18th Amendment which enacted prohibition, the vast majority of these breweries went out of business, with a few converting over to the production of non-alcoholic beverages. During this time, much knowledge and experience in beermaking was lost, with many brewers actually electing to emigrate from the US.

Subsequent to the repeal of prohibition, a great demand for beer existed, coupled with an almost nonexistant supply. Those individuals and companies still able to do so quickly re-started beer production, but elected to focus principally on the production of pilsner lagers, as this style of beer is relatively inexpensive and efficient to produce quickly. The pilsner, during the 1940s, came to define "American" beer, and is the style produced almost exclusively by the major-label macrobreweries of today.

Americans in the mid to late 1930s were obviously thirsty for a drink and not especially picky about what they were being served, and so little demand existed for what, by that time, would have been considered "exotic" beer styles; those which we today identify as craft beer. And it was during this time that the practice of serving beer chilled down to nearly the freezing point became fashionable, a technique developed in no small part because it slightly dulled the flavor of the beer, masking the more bitter aromatics and making cheap beer more palatable to drink.



Beer served at the proper temperature is another matter entirely. Perhaps incidentally, beers rich in flavor and aromatics seem best when served at the upper 40s to mid 50s, a temperature setting rarely found on conventional refrigerators but easily accommodated by dedicated beverage coolers, and one which is commonly referred to as "cellar temperature" by both beer and wine snobs alike, as it reflects the temperature range commonly experienced in the cool underground cellars which were commonplace in both the New England region of the US as well as the northern countries of Europe prior to the advent of commercial refrigeration.



Now, I'm not totally against the idea of drinking cheap beer cold. If I'm out mowing the lawn or working on the car, chances are that I'll have either a light wheat beer or an American-style lager by my side. And for these beers served under these circumstances, chilling into the 30s is entirely acceptable. The conditions dictate the beer, so to speak.

Just don't serve me a Belgian abbey ale in a frozen mug.



Prost.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1436973627

<p>I want to go drinking with Joe P.</p>

Contributing to the delinquency of a kitten!

--Ian

OK, now we can agree.

Cold is a relative term. I was thinking you were one of the people that enjoy room temperature beer (damn Brits).
One of my friends in college had an old beverage fridge (the little ones that go under a bar) that he kept around 38F. Was a good temperature for most everything.

I also found this temperature guide online:
Serving Beer - The Beer Temple
Can't say I agree with it, but it is inline with what you are saying.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1436977325

While I wouldn't offer it to guests this way, it is often how I drink my beer. It sits outside the fridge due to space constraints, and I rarely remember to stick some in to cool. Therefore, when I want some, it's either wait or drink as is.

My dad buys nice beers to share and then insists on pouring them into frozen mugs. Kills me.

I have been known to place (empty) frozen glasses given betwixt my thighs in order to raise my ire while warming the glass.

On beer sizing at restaurants, generally...
 

Y8s likes sizes.

On beer sizing at restaurants, generally...
 

Y8s likes his beer

Brain took a better and LESS FUCKING GIGANTIC one where you can see the beer was above the 0.5L line.

On beer sizing at restaurants, generally...
 

Here I'll try again.