Beer drinkers howl as some chains use smaller glasses

[Racerbvd]

Screw everything else, this is a real crime!!!!

Beer drinkers howl as some chains use smaller glasses
By Nancy Keates
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
06/10/2008

Four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline may be a cause for outrage. But it pales next to the fury provoked by $5-a-pint beer.

Beer prices at bars and restaurants have risen over the last few months, as prices of hops and barley have skyrocketed and retail business has slowed alongside the economy.

Some restaurants have replaced 16-ounce pint glasses with 14 ouncers — a type of glassware one bartender called a "falsie."

And customers are complaining that bartenders are increasingly putting less than 16 ounces of beer in a pint glass, filling up the extra space with foam.
Two of the world's biggest glassware makers, Libbey and Cardinal International, say orders of smaller beer glasses have risen over the last year.

Restaurateurs "want more of a perceived value," said Mike Schuster, Libbey's marketing manager for glassware in the U.S.

Glasses with a thicker bottom or a thicker shaft help create the perception. "You can increase the thickness of the bottom part but still retain the overall profile," he said.

Dedicated beer drinkers are fighting back, with extra vigilance about exactly how much beer they get for their buck. They are protesting "cheater pints" and "profit pours" by outing alleged offenders on Web discussion boards and plugging bars that maintain 16-ounce pints, in hopes peer pressure will prevail. And they are spreading the word about how to spot the smaller glass (the bottom is thicker).

Jason Alstrom, who founded the magazine BeerAdvocate last year, calls it the "Less for More" phenomenon. "It's happening everywhere," he says. He is urging readers and users of his website, www.beeradvocate.com, to "raise a fist and refuse to pay" when served a skimpy pint.

Evidence of short-pouring is hard to nail down, but there are signs the practice is common. Romano's Macaroni Grill, a national chain, uses the thick-bottomed 14 ouncers in at least some of its locations; a Romano's bartender in Portland, Ore., volunteered the nickname "falsies." (A corporate spokesman for Romano's declined to comment.)

Jeff Alworth, a Portland, Ore., beer blogger, university researcher and a founder of the Honest Pint Project, has been testing suspected short-pouring bars, in some cases measuring his beer-glass capacity by the men's room sink. His group collected more than 400 names in two weeks for an online petition urging state regulators to enforce a 16-ounce rule.

Some restaurants make no apology for reducing their beer-glass size.

The Hooters chain serves draft beer in 14-ounce glasses at franchised locations in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, and 16-ounce glasses in other states. "We can get 20 more beers out of a keg that way," said Archie Gleason, director of marketing for the franchisee, RMD Corp.

The shape of the glass apparently can distort bar patrons' perception of how much beer they have been served. The British Medical Journal published a 2005 study that concluded restaurants and bars might increase profitability and reduce waste by switching to taller, narrower glasses and cups — without sacrificing customer satisfaction. If people think they are getting more, they will be willing to pay more but won't necessarily drink more, the independent study concluded.

In the U.K., the Imperial Pint (equivalent to 19.2 U.S. ounces) has been a government-regulated standard for several centuries. The standard requires use of official pint glasses — with the word "Pint" and the European "CE" marking — etched onto each glass. The glasses actually hold more than an Imperial Pint, so there's room for the foam.

But the regulations haven't quieted debate. In England, a group called Campaign for Real Ale has been alleging for years that bars pinch pence by pouring short. In March, the British government energized the movement by slapping a new tax on alcohol. About 23,000 people have signed a petition in favor of government regulation of the size of the foam head on a pint of beer.

Pubs that don't scrimp are undercut by pubs that do, said Nick Laver-Vincent, who owns The Royal Oak in Big Bury, England, and who signed the petition. "It is cutthroat," he said.

Beer drinkers feeling shortchanged can take immediate action: They can ask for a "top-off" after the foam on the profit pour settles. That's what George Collentine did when he was served a beer with almost 2 inches of foam at an Italian restaurant this month. "I just waited," said the 38-year-old chemical-company manager from Danbury, Conn. The bartender gave it to him.

[cgarr]

You want to really see a war started, they tried changing the tampon box count!!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

One more reason to homebrew. . .

Cripes if you have to skimp on beer, you've got a problem. $30 worth of supplies makes 5 gallons worth. I'll be SUPER conservative and say all factors considered for a local brewery (ingredients, labor, equipment, etc.) it takes $100 to brew a 5 gallon batch. In reality it's probably way less than that because they're buying in bulk, but for sake of argument let's say it's $100.

5 gallons = 640 ounces. 640/16 (standard beer mug/pint) = 40 pints.

In order to break even you only need to charge $100/40 = $2.50 a pint. And you know most bars are charging considerably more than that.

If you reduce to 14 ounce servings it becomes 640/14 = 45 "pint" servings. At the same $2.50 per, you're only making an additional $12.50 off every 5-gallon batch.

Point is, they're being incredibly cheap. It's like marking up soda. The stuff is pure profit. Anyone skimping there deserves to lose my business.

[Mule]

Originally Posted by cgarr

You want to really see a war started, they tried changing the tampon box count!!

Just shorten the strings!

[Tobra]

those cheeky bastards

[BlueSkyJaunte]

a thicker bottom or a thicker shaft help create the perception

Funny, I get spam about this all the time.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

a thicker bottom or a thicker shaft help create the perception

Funny, I get spam about this all the time.

[cgarr]

Just bring your own mug

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by cgarr

Just bring your own mug

In a few places, I do have my own mug

One more reason to homebrew. . .

Cripes if you have to skimp on beer, you've got a problem. $30 worth of supplies makes 5 gallons worth. I'll be SUPER conservative and say all factors considered for a local brewery (ingredients, labor, equipment, etc.) it takes $100 to brew a 5 gallon batch. In reality it's probably way less than that because they're buying in bulk, but for sake of argument let's say it's $100.

5 gallons = 640 ounces. 640/16 (standard beer mug/pint) = 40 pints.

In order to break even you only need to charge $100/40 = $2.50 a pint. And you know most bars are charging considerably more than that.

If you reduce to 14 ounce servings it becomes 640/14 = 45 "pint" servings. At the same $2.50 per, you're only making an additional $12.50 off every 5-gallon batch.

Point is, they're being incredibly cheap. It's like marking up soda. The stuff is pure profit. Anyone skimping there deserves to lose my business.

I've been wanting to take that up for a long time, have a brew kit, just not the time

The cost of draft beer is very cheap, Bud is about .07 cents per 12 ounce serving, I have the cost list somewhere from when I was thinking about buying a bar a few years back. Sure prices have gone up, but not by that much, sure there is the over head, but volume takes care of most of that.

[legion]

I call shenanigans!

Everyone get their brooms...

[berettafan]

for some beers i'd RATHER have a smaller glass; filled 2x's. stays colder and the fizz keeps longer. i don't get giant beer glasses for cold beers. Or better yet give me the bottle and a glass. fill it 1/2 way, then refill when empty. won't work for unfiltered wheats i suppose but otherwise should be fine.

portion control is one of the secrets to making a buck in the biz.

and while we're on beer am i the only person that thinks guiness (here) tasts like water?

[berettafan]

and may i say that's what you get for eating at a chain!

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by berettafan

and while we're on beer am i the only person that thinks guiness (here) tasts like water?

True, not water, but just crap. Just not a fan of the stouts at all. Give me a nice ale and I'll be happy all night.

[mschuep]

They should jack up prices on the bottled beer, that is where their profit margins are slimmer...tap beer is cheap and turns them a huge profit already, without the 2oz skimp...

[berettafan]

well it just looks SO dark and thick but when you drink it.....water.

have enjoyed some dark stuff but generally enjoy pilsners and some wheats. Presidente, Stella Artois, Kulmbacher Edelweiss, stuff like that.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by berettafan

and while we're on beer am i the only person that thinks guiness (here) tasts like water?

I have the opposite opinion. In the UK and Ireland the beer alcohol content-either by weight or volume- seems very low. The taste of Guiness is normal, unless you order the "Ice" keg now popular.

Beer alcohol by brand if your interested:
http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/calories.php

John_AZ

[berettafan]

Interesting. I mentioned 'here' because i have read that the Guinness served abroad is entirely different AND served warmish as opposed to the super cold recommended on the last can i had.

[djmcmath]

I happen to like Guinness, actually. Maybe it's just something I've gotten used to; I've been drinking it for years. It's definitely better in Ireland, but it's not bad here, imho.

And shorting people for beer is ok, as long as you don't charge the same price for it. I can't imagine that saving 2oz on a glass of beer would offset the costs of buying and discarding a whole new batch of cups, as well as the cost of lost popularity.

Dan

[WolfeMacleod]

No comments on smaller food packages yet? Hasn't anyone noticed yet that things that used to be 6 ounces are now 4.5 ounces? Cat food, for example?
Or that many used-to-be 16 ounce hot dog packs are now 12 ounces? Smaller yogurt, smaller everything.

They call it "downsizing" while charging us more. Food companies say "The customers wanted it smaller"

article about it
http://www.lisleuth.com/BackIssues/1-86.htm

[berettafan]

i remember this coming to light with laundry detergent for whatever reason.

Dan is guinness in Ireland a different beer or just 'more' of what domestic guinness is?