This is something that really gets my goat.

Why can't the various states agree on a set of measures for something as fundamental as drinking beer?

Last Friday I go into a pub and order a schooner, not really sure if he knew what I was talking about... he hands me this tiny little pitiful excuse for a beer! So then I asked him to turn it into a pint. But a pint feels bigger than a normal beer.

So off to the internet I go, and get this page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pint

The pint glass in pubs in Australia (which is so called) remains closer to the standard Imperial pint, at 570 ml. A pint of beer in Australia or New Zealand is 570 ml, except in South Australia where a pint is 425 ml and 570 ml is called an imperial pint.

Now compare it to this:

New South Wales: Glass 200 ml; Middie 285 ml; Schooner 425 ml.
Victoria: Glass 200 ml; Pot 285 ml.
Tasmania: Seven - 200 ml; Ten - 285 ml; Pint 425 ml.
Queensland: Glass 200 ml; Pot 285 ml; Schooner 425ml.
South Australia: Pony 142 ml; Butcher 200 ml; Schooner 285 ml; Pint - 425 ml.
Western Australia: Bobby - 200 ml; Glass - 285 ml; Pot - 425 ml.
Northern Territory: Six - 200 ml; Seven 285 ml; Handle 425 ml.

WTF? I just want a schooner dammit! 425 ml. The way god intended beer to be drunk. You cockroaches don't know how lucky you've got it.

nebbian said...
Western Australia: Bobby - 200 ml; Glass - 285 ml; Pot - 425 ml.

This must be a different Western Australia to the one I live in.

In WA it is Middies or Pints.

nebbian said...

Tasmania: Seven - 200 ml; Ten - 285 ml; Pint 425 ml.

Nope... A pint is a pint in Tassie - 570 ml... You can biy schooners in some trendy watering holes in Tassie too...

My experience in WA - mid/small = 285 ml, pint/large = 570 ml... Must admit, after a few I still (sometimes) ask for a 10 ounce, and this is met with a stange look in all places but Tas

just order a jug! unless you're alone net nerds.

nebbian said...


WTF? I just want a schooner dammit! 425 ml. The way god intended beer to be drunk. You cockroaches don't know how lucky you've got it.

I am one cockroach who appreciates how lucky I am. I can buy a schooner for $3.25 at my local RSL club. A schooner is the right size for a beer. You don't have to skull it down for it to still be cold at the end. Two schooners is the right amount of beer to feel great. Your appetite increases and going to the pub or club becomes a eating and drinking experience.

The pubs in Perth disappointed me. You either bought tiny little glasses of beer that were not satisfying or you bought big pints. One pint isn't enough and two pints is too much unless you plan to get drunk! Plus they cost about $9 or $10 each. I guess if I was smart I could have bought a big glass then a little glass of beer.

Many people complain about pokies. However you compare the dingy little RSL halls in WA to the RSL and other registered clubs in NSW. They are great places to have a meal, some drink, watch a show and are family friendly. There is nothing in WA like them.

I went into a pub interstate, Canberra I think, and asked for a pint and he said "a pint of what, Milk?"

easty said...

Yep, first time in a Vic pub, conversation with barman goes:
- "I'll have a 10 thanks"
- "sorry, 10 what"
- "no, just 1"
- "1 what?"
- "1 10"
- "what?"
- "I'd like 1 10 ounce please"
-"what? a 10 ounce what?"
- "a 10 ounce beer" (pointing to wanted item in glass rack"
- "oh, you'd like a pot"
- (thinking a pot must be a jug) "nah, just a 10 ounce thanks"
- "that's a pot" (holding one up)
- "just fill the bloody thing with beer and give it to me"

Ha-ha......that's just our local barman's sense of humour.....we just love to take the p*ss out of you foreigners!

I remember going to Adelaide when I was 18 and asking for a "pot", and got a "pint" (deaf barmaid, I'm guessing)...anyways, I thought my hand had shrunk!

Lately the 'pint' has become very popular in Vic. it's always been just pots, and glasses (or thimbles), but the likes of Coopers, Guinness, and Kilkenny has brought in the bigun's! Not complaining mind...

People still drink out of middies and schooners? Seems to be pints all the way in WA.

Was it Rosy O'Gradies that started pints in WA? Can anybody remember the year?

It seemed to go from either a "glass" or a "middy" to the new defacto pint but can't remember when?

When in Adelaide last I asked for a pot and got something completely different.

why don't you just drink cans??

easty said...

Yep, first time in a Vic pub, conversation with barman goes:
- "I'll have a 10 thanks"
- "sorry, 10 what"
- "no, just 1"
- "1 what?"
- "1 10"
- "what?"
- "I'd like 1 10 ounce please"
-"what? a 10 ounce what?"
- "a 10 ounce beer" (pointing to wanted item in glass rack"
- "oh, you'd like a pot"
- (thinking a pot must be a jug) "nah, just a 10 ounce thanks"
- "that's a pot" (holding one up)
- "just fill the bloody thing with beer and give it to me"

LMAO