Beer language
What to ask for, and where
Beer measures are local, legally defined and mutually incompatible, and the same word can mean two very different volumes two states apart.
Why this matters to beer
The measure is not neutral: it is chosen to suit the beer. A 0.2 litre Kölsch glass exists because the beer fades, a litre Maß exists because Helles is built to be drunk slowly outdoors, and a British pint exists as a legal measure that shaped British beer strength around it.
Measures are law, not custom
In many countries the quantity of draught beer you may be sold is legally defined and the glass is stamped to prove it. That is why a British pint is exactly 568 ml and why short measure is a legal complaint rather than a matter of opinion, and it is why a German Maß has a fill line that means something.
The corollary is that measures do not travel. A US pint is 473 ml, about 17% smaller than an imperial pint, which makes cross-market comparisons of price and of alcohol content quietly misleading unless you convert.
The Australian problem
Australia is the sharpest example of local drift. A schooner is 425 ml in New South Wales, Queensland and most other states, and 285 ml in South Australia — where the 425 ml serve is called a pint. A pot in Victoria and Queensland is a middy in New South Wales and Western Australia, both around 285 ml.
So an order that is correct in Sydney gets you a noticeably different drink in Adelaide, using the same word. There is no national standard and no sign of one.
A short guide by country
In Britain and Ireland, a pint or a half. In Germany, most commonly 0.3 or 0.5 litres, with a litre Maß at festivals and in beer gardens, a 0.2 litre Stange in Cologne and a 0.25 litre Becher in Düsseldorf. In the Czech Republic, velké (0.5 l) or malé (0.3 l). In Belgium, whatever glass the beer comes in — the glass is chosen by the beer, not by you.
The Rhineland is the one place where you may not need to order at all: in a Cologne or Düsseldorf brewery house a Köbes replaces your glass as it empties until you put your beer mat on top of it.
What to ask for, and where
- PintUnited Kingdom and Ireland · 568 ml
- A legally defined imperial measure. The standard serve for draught beer. Watch out: A US pint is 473 ml — about 17% smaller — so prices and alcohol totals do not compare directly.
- PintUnited States · 473 ml
- The standard American draught serve. Watch out: Not a legally stamped measure in most states, so a "pint" glass may hold less than a pint once head is included.
- SchoonerAustralia, most states · 425 ml
- The common larger draught measure. Watch out: In South Australia a schooner is 285 ml and the 425 ml serve is called a pint. The same word, two very different drinks.
- MiddyNew South Wales and Western Australia · 285 ml
- The smaller standard draught measure. Watch out: Called a pot in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.
- PotVictoria, Queensland and Tasmania · 285 ml
- The smaller standard draught measure — the same volume as a middy elsewhere.
- MaßBavaria · 1000 ml
- One litre, in a stamped handled glass. The beer-garden and festival measure; filled, the glass weighs over two kilograms.
- SeidelGermany and Austria
- A handled glass or mug, generally around a third to a half litre. Regional and not a fixed national measure.
- StangeCologne · 200 ml
- The straight cylinder Kölsch is served in. Literally a rod. Small because the beer fades quickly.
- BecherDüsseldorf · 250 ml
- The slightly squatter cylinder Altbier is served in.
- Velké / maléCzech Republic
- Large and small — a half litre and a third of a litre respectively.
- Draught / draftBritain and Ireland / United States
- Beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. The two spellings are the same word. Watch out: In Britain "draught" on a can or bottle usually signals a nitrogen widget rather than anything drawn from a cask.
The legal position
Every statement below names the jurisdictions it applies to and the date BeerHQ last checked it. A legal claim without a jurisdiction is not a simplified claim — it is a false one, and alcohol law differs more between countries than almost any other kind.
Draught beer and cider must be sold in specified quantities — a third, a half, two thirds of a pint or multiples of a half pint — and served in stamped or otherwise verified glassware.
What it changed. The pint as a fixed unit is part of why British beer settled at strengths drinkable in multiples of it, and the two-third measure was introduced partly to make stronger beers practical to sell on draught.
Structural — this holds for years rather than budgets.
Questions
What is a schooner?
In most of Australia, 425 ml — the standard larger draught measure. In South Australia it is 285 ml, and what everywhere else calls a schooner is called a pint there. The word is also used in some other countries for various sizes, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
How big is a pint of beer?
It depends which pint. An imperial pint, used in the UK and Ireland, is 568 ml and is a legally defined measure served in stamped glassware. A US pint is 473 ml. The difference is about 17%, which matters for both price comparisons and alcohol totals.
Where this plays out
- United Kingdom
The country that kept a live, unfiltered, unpressurised beer as an everyday format, and built an entire social institution — the pub — around the fact that somebody has to look after it.
- Germany
Not one beer culture but a dozen regional ones that happen to share a country, held together by an unusually strong local brewing economy and an ingredient tradition that is far younger and far less uniform than the marketing suggests.
- Australia
A lager country with a pub culture inherited from Britain, an unusually strong claim on hop growing, and a serving vocabulary that changes at every state border.
- Czechia
The country that treats pouring beer as a trained skill, where an ordinary neighbourhood bar is expected to keep its lager properly and customers notice when it does not.
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Connected
What this is about: Stange · Stein · Nonic pint · Köbes service
Last reviewed 2026-08-29.