Small beer: Study calls on government to shrink pints

Will we soon be going out for a couple of nearly pints?

Will they still charge the same as we paid for a pint?





A sobering discovery has led to Cambridge University academics calling on the government to stop serving beer in pints to reduce Britain’s alcohol intake.

A study found , externalthat beer consumption dropped by 10% when pubs shelved pint glasses and served customers with glasses two thirds the size instead.

That could be enough to make an impact in the fight against several forms of cancer and other health issues linked to excessive drinking, researchers argued.

The government has no plans to remove pints as the largest serving size of draught beer, but former Tory cabinet minister Lord Vaizey told the BBC he thought it was "a good idea" that should not be "dismissed out of hand".


Speaking on BBC Two's Politics Live, the former culture secretary said offering "people what looks like a pint, feels like a pint but isn’t a pint which means you end up drinking perhaps less and get healthier".

Researchers found drinkers tend to stick to a specific number of servings when drinking at a pub, regardless of size.

And at 568ml the imperial pint - Britain’s preferred measure for ales since the 17th century - is larger than typical servings in the US (473ml), Belgium (250ml), France (330ml), and Germany (500ml).

In a similar trial in January, wine sales fell when the largest glass size, typically 250ml, was scrapped.

Researchers asked more than 1,700 pubs, bars and restaurants to participate in a trial to say if the same trick worked for beer.

Only 13 accepted, despite compensation offers for lost sales.

The study found customers did not complain about the smaller beer measures and on average venues found number of units of alcohol that were sold fell by about 8%.

Of the 12 pubs in the final study, an average of nearly five fewer pints (2.77 litres) of beer and cider were sold per day when pint glasses were replaced.

There was a 7% increase in the amount of wine purchased.

Labour MP Josh Simons - an ally of prime minister Sir Keir Starmer - said he would not back any plans to remove pints as the top measure of drinks.

Speaking to the BBC he said: "I love a pint and leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer loves a pint.

"Pubs are places where people come together - they are public goods in a sense."

Simons said he was "not comfortable" with the government dictating glass sizes.



Pints were "what it means to be drinking in a British pub," he added.

During the election campaign Labour promised a greater emphasis on encouraging healthier lifestyles including tackling obesity, smoking, and alcohol-related harm - alongside shifting the focus of the NHS from treating illness to preventing it.

Sir Keir has confirmed the government is looking at tougher rules on smoking in pub gardens and other outside spaces to reduce the number of preventable deaths linked to tobacco use.

But on Wednesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting insisted Labour did not want to be the "fun police".

Speaking at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, Streeting said he would make changes "with people" and not "to people".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gl737zr79o

X off Vaizey you big ponce...if you don't want a pint stay at home.

Instead of ten pints have 20 halves simple!

What a load of Boll$$$$!

Ah, so continues the absolutely necessary erosion of personal liberty!

I for one feel warm and fuzzy in the notion that, very soon, I won't be saddled with the heavy burden of choice.

Free gear Keir and co will tell us all what's best for us, good old establishment...

I will continue to bottle my beer in whatever sized bottles I can find.
To be honest what I produce is better (not strictly true, but I brew to my personal tastes & don't have to please everyone else) than most of the beers I've encountered at beer festivals (which I no longer frequent to avoid disappointment).

Chippy_Tea said:

A sobering discovery has led to Cambridge University academics calling on the government to stop serving beer in pints

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I wasn't aware the government served beer at all!

This story seems to come up every few years, always with the suggestion of switching to two third of a pint as the standard measure, with the inevitable ‘outrage’ followed by you’ve guessed it nothing actually happening.

Incidentally I actually find for certain high ABV beer particularly IPA’s I actually prefer the two third of a pint measure, and when a pub has a really big range of beers then thirds can actually be pretty handy.

This such a ******* stupid none story. The nation isn't drinking too much in pubs, that's why so many are shut. Secondly, no politicians who use the pulling a pint (or sipping one with a thinly veiled pained expression) photo opportunity every election to show they are 'a man of the people', is ever going to mess with the pint. If Starmer has pledge the pint is going nowhere, then..... Oh, Bollocks. RIP the Pint.

Yeah typical politicians meddling and exposing their utter ignorance and lack of understanding. How did the sugar tax work out? How has the Scottish ban on drink promotions work out? you'd think these people would learn from past mistakes but they seem unable to do that. Properly overreaching their purpose. They need to but out. Just a cynical ploy to softly introduce an additional tax on drinks served by the pint come the next budget.

There are a lot of neo-temperance nutters, and neo-Puritans generally, itching for a chance to use legal force to dictate what the "plebs" can eat and drink. They have looked at this current government and see their chance to pounce. Only time will tell if they are correct in judging them as sympathetic to their cause.

It's early days, but I fear they might be right.

I'm all for it - I'd just take my 660 ml tankard to the pub and have a double.

marshbrewer said:

There are a lot of neo-temperance nutters, and neo-Puritans generally, itching for a chance to use legal force to dictate what the "plebs" can eat and drink. They have looked at this current government and see their chance to pounce. Only time will tell if they are correct in judging them as sympathetic to their cause.

It's early days, but I fear they might be right.

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Nothing new under the sun here, as you can find plenty of such stories under "Shut Up about Barclay-Perkins", about the attempts of temperance nutters in the past 100 (or more) years.

Interesting piece of research that I can well believe is true. But unlikely to ever happen given the way 'having a pint' has symbolic importance in the UK, something Labour clearly realise.

But I do think there should be more availability of relatively low strength (decent) beers.. I'd be well up for that

Chippy_Tea said:

That could be enough to make an impact in the fight against several forms of cancer and other health issues linked to excessive drinking, researchers argued.

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Is beer the leading cause drink related cancers, though? If not, this will have no effect.

We all know the most inefficient form of excessive drinking is pints of 3-5% beers sold in pubs. And is regularly shunned by most piss heads for wine and spirits. If you are going to drink anything, beer is the healthiest option. The least amount of ethanol by volume, and contains Xanthohumol.

Sadfield said:

contains Xanthohumol.

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<quiet whisper>
shame the bioavailability of prenylated flavonoids in beer like xanthohumol is pretty rubbish...
</qw>

I think some people above have missed the point that politicians have nothing to do with this, other than one Tory they dug up who likes the idea of it - government isn't going to enact this any time soon.

Personally I kinda like what Cloudwater did in the early days of their taprooms, which was to have a flat price that covered a pint of weak beers, a schooner of mid-strength beers, or a third of the strong stuff like imperial stouts. Made rounds much fairer as a side-benefit....

well most decent pubs bars and taprooms, in my experience, has a reasonably wide range of beers covering all ABV's including low and zero acohol options, and its getting pretty common now to be able to buy 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 and pint volumes. I'd say the market is regulating itself pretty well and no interference or meddling is needed by anyone. The fact that the government is taking an interest in something in this area, despite their cries that there is nothing to see here, is proof they are actually actively moving to something at some point.

Whenever a piece of research is done and published it's usually the first step of a process to impose new restrictions or ban something. Might take years might not, but the research is commissioned supporting a direction of travel then it's a matter of time. Is a perfectly scientific process called nudging and was introduced at government level by David Cameron where a specific government department was created specifically to nudge the population in certain directions and its been used ever since by subsequent governments.

Recently noticed a campaign on social media around giving up alcohol in October for charity...we already have dry January now it's extending to dry October for charity....

I don't really see many beers available at 3-3.5% abv out there. Not sure what the answer is, but I think that's a shame as such beers used to be common and if well made could be decent (bitters, milds and the like).

My local has Batemans XB, plus a guest in summer which presently is Batemans summer Swallow - 3.7% & 3.9% respectively. Plus keg John Smiths (3.6%), Fosters (3.7) and Theakstons Mild 3.5%.
Its also has a range of stronger beers (Lagers, IPAs, Cider)

There is choice out there.

marshbrewer said:

My local has Batemans XB, plus a guest in summer which presently is Batemans summer Swallow - 3.7% & 3.9% respectively. Plus keg John Smiths (3.6%), Fosters (3.7) and Theakstons Mild 3.5%.
Its also has a range of stronger beers (Lagers, IPAs, Cider)

There is choice out there.

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I see very little choice out there with regard to proper session stength low ABV ales. Maybe it is where I live. I think I've seen a mild about once in the last seven years I've lived here. Sometimes I can find something at 3.9% but never lower.