Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand, but
440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Tastes the same mind you.......

But why?

Dave

"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Tastes the same mind you.......

But why?


Soft drinks have been 330ml (~1/3 litre) for ages. Maybe as simple as the
next size up?

How about 440ml = fill a half litre glass, with room for a head?

In .uk,
David Lang wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

Often thought the same myself. Maybe it's related to an _American_ fluid
measure?

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 00:02:08 +0100,it is alleged that "SmileyFace"
spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

In .uk,
David Lang wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

Often thought the same myself. Maybe it's related to an _American_ fluid
measure?


None that I can see, it's 0.93 US pints roughly, and doesn't really
add up to anything, odd.

--
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
- Albert Einstein

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 22:45:05 GMT, "PC Paul" wrote:

"David Lang" wrote in message
o.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Tastes the same mind you.......

But why?


Soft drinks have been 330ml (~1/3 litre) for ages. Maybe as simple as the
next size up?

How about 440ml = fill a half litre glass, with room for a head?


It's all a fiddle with metrication.

--
Frank Erskine
Eschew Zrgevp

Hi SF
Often thought the same myself. Maybe it's related to an _American_ fluid
measure?

I thought that, but no! A mystery! Time for another beer!

Dave

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 22:39:09 UTC, "David Lang"
wrote:

Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand, but
440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Can't find anything....but it is 88 metric teaspoons!

Wonder if it's a fraction of a pitcher - we had a restaurant that used
to sell beer in pitchers (until Weights and Measures stopped them).

"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Tastes the same mind you.......

But why?

My guess is that it was chosen to minimise material waste when making the
cans. Tennants appear to have been making 440ml cans as early as 1955, when
they were made as traditional tin cans - a tube of tinplated steel for the
body with circular ends joined to it by rolling the edges. Allowing for the
edge rolls, the height of a can would suggest it was originally made from a
6 inch wide roll of tinplate, while the ends would be about the right size
to have been punched out of a 3 inch wide roll.

Colin Bignell

"David Lang" wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

You will think that I am slightly sad for having noticed
this, but on pondering the 13.5% extra free offer on some
beer cans, I realised that:
440ml + 13.6% = 500ml (0.5 litre)
500ml + 13.6% = 568ml (1 pint)

I can't believe this is a coincidence.
Al

In article ,
SmileyFace wrote:
In .uk,
David Lang wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

Often thought the same myself. Maybe it's related to an _American_ fluid
measure?

American fluid ounces are the same as over here - One ounce of pure water
weighs one ounce avoirdupois.

The USians put 16 of these into a pint, so a US pint weighs 1lb, while
we put 20 into a pint. (So a UK gallon of water weighs 10lbs)

It all goes downhill from there.

Gordon

In article ,
Al Reynolds wrote:

You will think that I am slightly sad for having noticed
this, but on pondering the 13.5% extra free offer on some
beer cans, I realised that:
440ml + 13.6% = 500ml (0.5 litre)
500ml + 13.6% = 568ml (1 pint)

I can't believe this is a coincidence.

Didn't they used to do the old quietly_reducing_the_size
trick with chocolate bars as well?

--
Tony Williams.

"Al Reynolds" wrote in message
...
"David Lang" wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

You will think that I am slightly sad for having noticed
this, but on pondering the 13.5% extra free offer on some
beer cans, I realised that:
440ml + 13.6% = 500ml (0.5 litre)
500ml + 13.6% = 568ml (1 pint)

I can't believe this is a coincidence.

It is a remarkable piece of forward planning if it is not a coincidence.
Tennent's lager appeared in 440ml cans in 1955 but 500ml cans marked as
13.5% extra don't seem to have been used before 1989, about a year after
they introduced the 500ml can.

Colin Bignell

I should imagine 440ml can sizes is something to do with striking a balance
of getting as much product in as light-weight and as cheap a can as
possible. 450ml would probably make the can unstable...or something.

Maybe standard supermarket shelves are better suited to that can size too.

"nightjar .uk.com" wrote:
It is a remarkable piece of forward planning if it is not a coincidence.

Yep it's definitely either a remarkable piece of forward
planning or a remarkable coincidence.

Decimalisation was first planned in 1849 (introduction
of the Florin) but didn't take place until 1971. I imagine
it was definitely "in the offing" by 1955, so maybe Tennent's
were anticipating everyone drinking out of half-litre glasses
and decided that 440ml would leave enough room for the
head? All guesswork really!

Al

Al Reynolds wrote;

You will think that I am slightly sad for having noticed
this, but on pondering the 13.5% extra free offer on some
beer cans, I realised that:
440ml + 13.6% = 500ml (0.5 litre)
500ml + 13.6% = 568ml (1 pint)

I can't believe this is a coincidence.

Neither can I. But why 13:5% extra free? Another odd figure! Why not 10%
or 15%?

The plot thickens.................

Dave

"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...

Al Reynolds wrote;

You will think that I am slightly sad for having noticed
this, but on pondering the 13.5% extra free offer on some
beer cans, I realised that:
440ml + 13.6% = 500ml (0.5 litre)
500ml + 13.6% = 568ml (1 pint)

I can't believe this is a coincidence.

Neither can I. But why 13:5% extra free? Another odd figure! Why not
10% or 15%?

The plot thickens.................


Once the production lines are set up for 440ml and 500ml cans then giving
13.6% extra is the obvious choice. Doesn't explain why 440ml in the first
place though...

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but
440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

It's not far off an Aussie schooner. Did Australians invent tinned beer?

Christian.

On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm (yes, very small, plus with a head!). So tin = 2 glasses

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but
440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

It's not far off an Aussie schooner. Did Australians invent tinned beer?

Christian.



Off the top of my head i'd say...

The "official" birthday of the beer can is January 24, 1935. That's the
day cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale first went on sale
in Richmond, VA.
But the beer can really made its debut some 14 months earlier - just before
the repeal of Prohibition. American Can Company had engineered a workable
beer can. All that was needed was a brewer willing to take the pioneering
plunge. The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, NJ signed on the
dotted line in November 1933.

The "official" birthday of the beer can is January 24, 1935. That's the
day cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale first went on
sale
in Richmond, VA.

OK, but I bet US sizes did not include the 440ml. Even their cans today are
in US measures. Who introduced the metric 440ml can?

Christian.

In article ,
nightjar nightjar@insert my surname here.uk.com wrote:
My guess is that it was chosen to minimise material waste when making
the cans. Tennants appear to have been making 440ml cans as early as
1955, when they were made as traditional tin cans - a tube of tinplated
steel for the body with circular ends joined to it by rolling the
edges. Allowing for the edge rolls, the height of a can would suggest
it was originally made from a 6 inch wide roll of tinplate, while the
ends would be about the right size to have been punched out of a 3 inch
wide roll.

Nice bit of lateral thinking, Colin. ;-)

--
*I can see your point, but I still think you're full of ****.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"David Lang" wrote in
.uk:

Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can
understand, but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

Don't start me!

I bloody LOATHE the 440 size. 500 makes 2 nice civilised glasses in
whatever size they make that size of glass in. But they do, and sell them
in Woolies.
(No , it's not the medication, *I* know what I'm going on about innit!)

But 440 is a useless rubbishy green meany size.

I was told the reason supermarkets like 440s is that 500 is a popular size
for smuggling, so the marts can _look_ honest.... Har, har.

Well the folks what smuggle obviously know what's best, why waste your time
stuffing the trannie with a manky size of can?

Oh, dear, I TOLD you not to get me going.

mike

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
. net...
The "official" birthday of the beer can is January 24, 1935. That's the
day cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale first went on
sale
in Richmond, VA.

OK, but I bet US sizes did not include the 440ml. Even their cans today
are
in US measures. Who introduced the metric 440ml can?

Christian.



Blimey, now you're asking.

I'll see if I can rise to that challenge.

On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm (yes, very
small, plus with a head!). So tin = 2 glasses

The draught I've had in Europe has always been nominally 250ml, 500ml or
even 1000ml. It is also invariably overfilled well above the line.

Christian.

Gordon Henderson wrote:


American fluid ounces are the same as over here - One ounce of pure water
weighs one ounce avoirdupois.

The USians put 16 of these into a pint, so a US pint weighs 1lb, while
we put 20 into a pint. (So a UK gallon of water weighs 10lbs)


US fluid ounces are NOT exactly the same as Imperial fluid ounces.

1 US fluid oz = 1.04084 Imperial fluid ounces

1 Imp fluid oz = 0.96076 US fluid ounce

Close, but not quite the same.

Sheila

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 06:42:08 +0000 (UTC), (Gordon
Henderson) wrote:

In article ,
SmileyFace wrote:
In .uk,
David Lang wrote:
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

Often thought the same myself. Maybe it's related to an _American_ fluid
measure?

American fluid ounces are the same as over here - One ounce of pure water
weighs one ounce avoirdupois.

No, Imperial and American fluid ounces are not the same.

The USians put 16 of these into a pint, so a US pint weighs 1lb, while
we put 20 into a pint. (So a UK gallon of water weighs 10lbs)

However, that gives you a conversion factor from our gallons to theirs of
5/4, whereas in reality it is as near as makes no difference to 6/5. A US
fluid ounce is a greater volume, so their pints and gallons are not as small
as you think.

--
Sweet Helen, Make me immortal with a kiss!

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 08:27:54 +0100, "nightjar" nightjar@insert my
surname here.uk.com wrote:


It is a remarkable piece of forward planning if it is not a coincidence.
Tennent's lager appeared in 440ml cans in 1955 but 500ml cans marked as
13.5% extra don't seem to have been used before 1989, about a year after
they introduced the 500ml can.

hmm, pictures Colin's extensive 'Beer can's though the ages'
collection ;-)

T i m

I acutually sent 1 can of a 6 pack of Special Brew back because a
couple of the others tasted 'off'.

The letter went " .. I have been drinking Special Brew for many years
... " .. you can imagine the imagary in the minds of the customer
services staff .. sending a voucher back to "The Arches, Railway
Cuttings .. " ;-)

How about the old party sevens?

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 10:33:37 +0100, WoodYouLike
wrote:
[color=blue][i]

nightjar Wrote:
"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

l

On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm

Is that the height of the glass?

:-)
--
Frank Erskine

Tony Williams wrote:


Didn't they used to do the old quietly_reducing_the_size
trick with chocolate bars as well?


They definitely did with Wagon Wheels.

In article . com,
johnty wrote:
How about the old party sevens?

Probably the worst beer in the world...

--
*The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"WoodYouLike" wrote in message
...[color=blue][i]

nightjar Wrote:
"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

l

On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm (yes, very
small, plus with a head!). So tin = 2 glasses

The sizes I've seen marked on French beer glasses are 25cl, 33cl and 0.5l.

Colin Bignell

"T i m" wrote in message
...
....
hmm, pictures Colin's extensive 'Beer can's though the ages'
collection ;-)...

Sadly enough, someone seems to have one

http://www.cannyscot.com/

Colin Bignell

mike ring wrote:
"David Lang" wrote in
.uk:


Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can
understand, but 440 ml doesn't convert to anything!


Don't start me!

I bloody LOATHE the 440 size. 500 makes 2 nice civilised glasses in
whatever size they make that size of glass in. But they do, and sell them
in Woolies.
(No , it's not the medication, *I* know what I'm going on about innit!)


'Water' glasses tend to be half a pint.

OK, further off topic, but I sense this is the right group...

Anyone know where you can get the 1000ml (yes!) cans of Cains
Formidable Ale south of Manchester? My nearest ASDA used to stock
one or two cans most of the time, but hasn't for a couple of years.

In message , WoodYouLike
writes[color=blue][i]

nightjar Wrote:
"David Lang" wrote in message
.uk...
Hi All

Why is beer sold in 440 ml cans?

l

On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm (yes, very
small, plus with a head!). So tin = 2 glasses


Err, sorry, but that's a total load of ********


--
geoff

In message , Christian
McArdle writes
On mainland Europe the contents of a glass of beer is 220mm (yes, very
small, plus with a head!). So tin = 2 glasses

The draught I've had in Europe has always been nominally 250ml, 500ml or
even 1000ml. It is also invariably overfilled well above the line.

Europe's a big and diverse place

beer volumes depend on country, area, type of beer etc

for example, in the north of germany the wusses tend to drink a 200 or
250ml pils, in bavaria, it is usually 300 or 400ml

then you get normal beers which come in 500ml, weizen is 400ml

At the top end is a mass - which is 1litre

I have several hundred bottles of belgian beer out the back which range
from 250 through 330 to 375ml

etc etc ...

--
geoff

In message .com,
johnty writes


Tony Williams wrote:


Didn't they used to do the old quietly_reducing_the_size
trick with chocolate bars as well?


They definitely did with Wagon Wheels.

Wagon Wheels were more devious, they turned them upside down to make
them look bigger too

--
geoff

In message , nightjar
writes

"T i m" wrote in message
.. .
...
hmm, pictures Colin's extensive 'Beer can's though the ages'
collection ;-)...

Sadly enough, someone seems to have one

http://www.cannyscot.com/

Funny you should say that.

I have a friend who lives in a small village in germany

The whole village is kept in free beer by one of the villagers who
exports the empty beer cans to collectors in america

and makes a nice tidy profit

--
geoff

In message , Christian
McArdle writes
500ml - half a litre I can understand, 568 ml - a pint I can understand,
but
440 ml doesn't convert to anything!

It's not far off an Aussie schooner. Did Australians invent tinned beer?

No they just reduced it to the lowest common denominator

--
geoff

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article . com,
johnty wrote:
How about the old party sevens?

Probably the worst beer in the world...


Oh, absolutely. But dead cheap and a sure entrance into any party when
you're about 17. Ee, them were t'days...