They say…

Des de Moor
Best beer and travel writing award 2015, 2011 -- British Guild of Beer Writers Awards
Accredited Beer Sommelier
Writer of "Probably the best book about beer in London" - Londonist
"A necessity if you're a beer geek travelling to London town" - Beer Advocate
"A joy to read" - Roger Protz
"Very authoritative" - Tim Webb.
"One of the top beer writers in the UK" - Mark Dredge.
"A beer guru" - Popbitch.
Des de Moor

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The ultimate beer measures table

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
0.1 100 3.381402 0.175975 3.519508 10 cl Sample measure at Zythos beer festival (Belgium) and some other mainland European
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
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
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
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
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 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, Most common size of draught beer 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 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

5 comments to The ultimate beer measures table

  • tankard

    …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.

  • Des

    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).

  • Barm

    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!

  • David Long

    Can’t see the “Rake Full” measure on there so it’s obviously not an exhaustive list 🙂

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