This really was an idle moment, prompted by a Twitter discussion about the meaning of various words for beer measures. Self-explanatory, I hope, and comments and suggestions very welcome.
| l | ml | fl oz US | pt UK | fl oz UK | Measure | Use |
| 0.029574 | 29.57353 | 1 | 0.052042 | 1.040843 | 1 US fl oz | Sample measure at Great American Beer Festival and other US beer festivals |
| 0.1 | 100 | 3.381402 | 0.175975 | 3.519508 | 10 cl | Sample measure at Zythos beer festival (Belgium) and some other mainland European festivals |
| 0.142065 | 142.0653 | 4.803799 | 0.25 | 5 | 1/4 Imp pint, gill | Archaic Imperial fluid measure, not legal for draught beer in UK |
| 0.147868 | 147.8676 | 5 | 0.260211 | 5.204214 | 5 US fl oz | Small measure used for strong beers in US specialist bars |
| 0.15 | 150 | 5.072103 | 0.263963 | 5.279262 | 15 cl | Sample measure at many Belgian and Dutch beer festivals |
| 0.18942 | 189.4204 | 6.405066 | 0.333333 | 6.666667 | 1/3 Imp pint, nip | Smallest legal measure for draught beer in UK, historically also used for bottled strong beers |
| 0.2 | 200 | 6.762805 | 0.351951 | 7.039017 | 20 cl, fluitje (NL), Stänge (Köln), Seven (Aus) | Smallest customary draught beer measure in Germany, Netherlands, Australia, other countries |
| 0.236588 | 236.5882 | 8 | 0.416337 | 8.326743 | 1/2 US pint, cup | Small customary draught beer measure in US |
| 0.25 | 250 | 8.453506 | 0.439939 | 8.798771 | 25 cl, 1/4 litre, pintje (NL/BE) | Usual measure for everyday draught beer in Netherlands, Belgium and some other countries, also for everyday bottled beer in Belgium |
| 0.284131 | 284.1306 | 9.607599 | 0.5 | 10 | 1/2 Imp pint | Most common small measure for draught beer in UK, legal measure including multiples, occasionally used for bottles, also found in Ireland, formerly for cans in Canada |
| 0.285 | 285 | 9.636996 | 0.50153 | 10.0306 | Middy, half (Aus) | Standardised Australian metric equivalent of Imp half-pint for draught beer |
| 0.3 | 300 | 10.14421 | 0.527926 | 10.55852 | 30 cl | Typical bottle size for everyday bottled beer in Netherlands, common draught measure in some countries including New Zealand |
| 0.33 | 330 | 11.15863 | 0.580719 | 11.61438 | 33 cl, 33’er (NL/BE), ≈ 1/3 litre | Usual measure for draught and packaged speciality beer in Belgium, NL, France, also common for packaged speciality beer in many other countries incl UK, Ireland |
| 0.354882 | 354.8824 | 12 | 0.624506 | 12.49011 | 12 oz | Standard small beer bottle and can size in US and Canada, also sometimes used for draught measures |
| 0.375 | 375 | 12.68026 | 0.659908 | 13.19816 | 37.5 cl, 1/2 wine bottle, stubby (Aus) | Small bottle size for Belgian lambic and other beers from Belgium and elsewhere in wired cork bottles; also standard small bottle size in Australia |
| 0.378841 | 378.8408 | 12.81013 | 0.666667 | 13.33333 | 2/3 Imp pint, schooner (UK) | Recently legalised measure for draught beer in UK, often used for ‘craft’ beers |
| 0.4 | 400 | 13.52561 | 0.703902 | 14.07803 | 40 cl | Canned and draught beer in France, also draught in Germany and elsewhere |
| 0.425 | 425 | 14.37096 | 0.747896 | 14.95791 | Schooner (Aus) | Common Australian draught beer measure |
| 0.44 | 440 | 14.87817 | 0.774292 | 15.48584 | 44 cl | Mainstream canned beers in UK and some other countries, sometimes also used for craft beer |
| 0.473176 | 473.1765 | 16 | 0.832674 | 16.65349 | US pint | Customary draught measure in US, also used for some canned beers |
| 0.5 | 500 | 16.90701 | 0.879877 | 17.59754 | 1/2 litre | Standard bottle size in Germany, Czech Republic, UK, Ireland, also used in many other places, customary draught measure in many parts of Germany, Austria, Czech Republic. |
| 0.568261 | 568.2612 | 19.2152 | 1 | 20 | Imp pint, chopine (Can) | Customary (and legal) draught measure in UK and Ireland, occasionally used for bottles, also sometimes used in US and Canada |
| 0.57 | 570 | 19.27399 | 1.00306 | 20.0612 | Pint (Aus) | Standardised Australian metric equivalent of Imp pint for draught beer |
| 0.650618 | 650.6177 | 22 | 1.144927 | 22.89854 | 22 fl oz, bomber | Large bottle size common in US particularly among craft brewers, also can |
| 0.75 | 750 | 25.36052 | 1.319816 | 26.39631 | 75 cl, 3/4 litre, wine bottle, long neck (Aus) | Large bottle size for many Belgian speciality beers and others from elsewhere, especially when in wired cork bottles; common large bottle size in Australia |
| 0.946353 | 946.3529 | 32 | 1.665349 | 33.30697 | Howler | Customary smaller measure for take-home draught beer in US and elsewhere |
| 1 | 1000 | 33.81402 | 1.759754 | 35.19508 | 1 litre, Maß | Large draught measure in Germany and some other countries, particularly associated with München Oktoberfest, also for take-home draught beer and some packaged beer |
| 1.136522 | 1136.522 | 38.43039 | 2 | 40 | Quart, 2 Imp pt, pinte (Can) | Former common UK/Irish measure for draught and bottled beer, still used for takeaway “hopper” cartons, still customary measure in Canada |
| 1.892706 | 1892.706 | 64 | 3.330697 | 66.61394 | Growler | Customary measure for take-home draught beer in US and elsewhere |
| 2 | 2000 | 67.62805 | 3.519508 | 70.39017 | Metric growler | Common measure for take-home draught beer in Germany, also used in US and elsewhere |
| 2.273045 | 2273.045 | 76.86079 | 4 | 80 | 1/2 Imp gallon | Relatively common size of container for takeaway draught beer in UK |
| 3 | 3000 | 101.4421 | 5.279262 | 105.5852 | Jeroboam | Large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 3.785412 | 3785.412 | 128 | 6.661394 | 133.2279 | US gallon | Large size container for takeaway draught beer in US and basis of other bulk measures |
| 4.5 | 4500 | 152.1631 | 7.918894 | 158.3779 | Rehoboam | Large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 4.54609 | 4546.09 | 153.7216 | 8 | 160 | Imp gallon | Large size container for takeaway draught beer in UK and basis of other bulk measures |
| 5 | 5000 | 169.0701 | 8.798771 | 175.9754 | Minikeg, minicask | Measure for pre-packaged take-home draught beer particularly popular in Germany, also elsewhere in Europe |
| 6 | 6000 | 202.8841 | 10.55852 | 211.1705 | Methuselah | Very large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 9 | 9000 | 304.3262 | 15.83779 | 316.7557 | Salmanazar | Very large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 10 | 10000 | 338.1402 | 17.59754 | 351.9508 | 10 l, minipin (UK) | Small size of draught beer keg intenationally, also used for keykeg and bag-in-box |
| 12 | 12000 | 405.7683 | 21.11705 | 422.341 | Balthazar | Very large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 15 | 15000 | 507.2103 | 26.39631 | 527.9262 | Nebucadnezzar | Very large champagne-style bottle occasionally used for beer, especially in Belgium |
| 18.92706 | 18927.06 | 640 | 33.30697 | 666.1394 | 5 US gal, Cornelius keg | Slimline keg devised for soft drinks though in wide use internationally by home brewers and occasionally craft brewers |
| 19.55796 | 19557.96 | 661.3333 | 34.4172 | 688.3441 | 5 1/6 US gal, sixth barrel | Common small size of draught beer keg in US |
| 20 | 20000 | 676.2805 | 35.19508 | 703.9017 | 20 l, polypin (UK) | Common size of draught beer keg internationally, also used for keykeg and bag-in-box |
| 20.4574 | 20457.4 | 691.7471 | 36 | 720 | 4.5 Imp gal, pin | Smallest size of draught beer cask in UK |
| 29.33694 | 29336.94 | 992 | 51.6258 | 1032.516 | 7 3/4 US gal, pony | Common size of draught beer keg in US |
| 30 | 30000 | 1014.421 | 52.79262 | 1055.852 | 30 l | Most common size of draught beer keg internationally |
| 40.91481 | 40914.81 | 1383.494 | 72 | 1440 | 9 Imp gal, firkin | Most common size of draught beer cask in UK |
| 50 | 50000 | 1690.701 | 87.98771 | 1759.754 | 50 l | Large size of draught beer keg internationally |
| 58.67388 | 58673.88 | 1984 | 103.2516 | 2065.032 | 15 1/2 US gal, half barrel | Large size of draught beer keg in US |
| 81.82961 | 81829.61 | 2766.988 | 144 | 2880 | 18 Imp gal, kilderkin | Large size of draught beer cask in UK |
| 100 | 100000 | 3381.402 | 175.9754 | 3519.508 | Hectolitre (hl) | Standard international brewers’ bulk measure, rare as an actual container |
| 117.3478 | 117347.8 | 3968 | 206.5032 | 4130.064 | 31 US gal, US barrel | Standard US brewers’ bulk measure, now rare as an actual container |
| 163.6592 | 163659.2 | 5533.977 | 288 | 5760 | 36 Imp gal, Imp barrel | Standard UK brewers’ bulk measure, now rare as an actual container |
| 245.4888 | 245488.8 | 8300.965 | 432 | 8640 | 54 Imp gal, hogshead | Traditional UK bulk beer container, now obsolete |
| 490.9777 | 490977.7 | 16601.93 | 864 | 17280 | 108 Imp gal, butt | Traditional UK bulk beer container, now obsolete |
| 981.9554 | 981955.4 | 33203.86 | 1728 | 34560 | 216 Imp gal, tun | Traditional UK bulk beer container, now obsolete |
…and a British Brewers’ Barrel is?
I always need to know how many Brewers Barrels there are when an overseas brewery measures brew length in Hectoliters.
I can never work it out.
It’s on the list, fourth from the bottom, as an Imperial barrel. 163.6592 l, so 1.64 hl approx. Actually not far off the equivalence of miles to km (1 mile = 1.609344 km).
I understand that Batham’s still fill some of their beer into hogsheads, so not entirely obsolete.
Great information here! It can be hard to eyeball just how much you’ve drank when you travel to new places with different measurements, so its helpful to have the numbers! Thanks for compiling this! Very helpful!
Can’t see the “Rake Full” measure on there so it’s obviously not an exhaustive list 🙂