Brit Gov’t Drinks Measures Cause Brew-Ha-Ha

Posted by Baylen on Aug. 14, 2008

skitched-20080814-131141.jpgIt’s alright to stop off at your local for a pint, but not for a half-litre, even though they’re pretty much the same thing. That according to English law. And that regulatory idiocy might cost restaurant owner Nic Davison a fine of £2,000.

Mr Davison, an accountant, and his partner Dr Krystyna Ciuraj, a GP, opened their Polish restaurant in Doncaster in May.

Kuchnia Polska instantly became a hit with locals as well as the Polish community.

But last week trading standards officers from Doncaster council served an infringement notice on the business – because it was serving drinks in the wrong size of glass.

This was because the Polish brewer providing Zywiec beer also supplied the glasses, which come in ’small’ and ‘large’ – 0.3 and 0.5 litre sizes.

But under 1988 Weights and Measures legislation, draught beer and cider may only be sold in pints. Serving them in litres, or fractions of litres, is illegal – even through half a litre is almost the same as one pint.

Officers told the couple they had 28 days to change all of their glassware, or face prosecution. The notice came despite there being no complaints from customers.

Mr Davison said: ‘This is nonsensical.

[...]

‘Local people love Polish beer – it’s very good.

‘It just shows the law is stupid.

‘I love Poland and I speak Polish, but the European Community is corrupt as hell and a waste of time.’

Last year Brussels said it would give up its fight to make Britain drop imperial measurements, meaning the Government did not have to bring in laws making it illegal for traders to use pounds and ounces.

But the law on pints remains.

Mr Davison enlisted the help of the Metric Martyrs, which was set up to support Sunderland market trader Steve Thoburn who was convicted in 2001 for selling bananas by the pound.

Spokesman Neil Herron said he was backing the bid to save the litre in this case because it shows that the law is ridiculous.

‘Yet again we have officials who have failed to exercise any common sense,’ he said.

Restaurant website here. More on the Polish beer controversy from the Daily Mail. Learn about the whole English measurement brew-ha-ha from the Metric Martyrs’ Movement. Crispy on EU regulatory food nightmares here.

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  • Jessica Lee
    I have to stand up for the British system as in US bars you have no idea what you are getting and bars routinely sell "pints" that are not. I wish ABC's would enforce adhering to advertized glass size more than policing underaged drinking, which I completely support. I routinely remove "pint" glasses from DC bars, take them home and pour a beer into them. They are typically 12 oz, sometimes less, and never more. I think that ATF should investigate this.

    The metric system: an abomination because its measurements are either too small or too large to be useful and easily understood. (I also believe that a factor in Carter losing to Reagan was the former's support of going metric. Children of the 70s will remember the puzzling miles/km conversion stickers on the dashboard.)

    Too small example: the milliliter. There are 750 of them in a bottle of booze. Try to envision a milliliter, or 1/750th of a bottle. Then try to envision 20 of them in a recipe. The gram presents a similar problem, though some of us might be more familiar with that measurement.

    Too large example: the meter. A one foot difference in a person's height is huge in reality but is a barely inperceptible 0.30 of a meter.
  • joe
    the thing i don't understand is that britain is a metric country - everything is metric, so why does this law still refer to pints?
  • joe
    and jessica, are you over 80 or just American? NOBODY uses the british system anymore.

    case in point:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Metric_syste...

    Enjoy who you're associated with.
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