Awful American units!

[An Ankoù]

It's an interesting take on how we view the world perhaps. Americans and Canadians see all cooking ingredients as volumes while we who like imperial units prefer to fraction everything rather than reading off a scale. Take linear measurements for example, we start with the inch, halve it, quarter it, divide it into eights etc, and end up with something which is 1ft, 3 and seven sixteenths of an inch long. Lbs of 16 oz have plenty of factors to halve and double rather than reading off a scale of tenths.
So do US pints, by the way. Then we start doubling to quarts and gallons.

 

[johnny108]

Americans use volume measures because a set of tin cups and spoons is easier to carry across the prairie during westward expansion, than a precise scale, and it’s set of weights.
That’s my theory at any rate.
Brought to you by *BEER*

 

[An Ankoù]

Americans use volume measures because a set of tin cups and spoons is easier to carry across the prairie during westward expansion, than a precise scale, and it’s set of weights.
That’s my theory at any rate.
Brought to you by *BEER*

It's a good theory. I wonder if it's true.
Even more promising: you can drink your "the fingers of redeye", or whatever homebrewed hooch these pioneers favoured, out of said tin cups.

 

[moto748]

Just to get back on topic on this for a moment...

Sorry if I'm like a dog with a bone with this, but bear with me...

I've seen plenty of posters quote recipes from Greg Hughes etc or one of those other names that are noted around, and they may well be in gallons too, for example poster @Cwrw666 I was reading just now.

So is Greg Hughes a Brit or American? If Greg Hughes says a gallon, which gallon does he mean?

 

[Graz]

It's the septic's fault that I can fit a 5 gallon / 22.5L beer kit brew into my Cornys which are 5 US gallons / 19L.

If only they'd have stuck with our version of things

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

To add to the confusion, in the building trade we routinely use both imperial and metric in the same breath
e.g I need a 4.2 (m) length of 6" x 2".
Sheet material is quoted in feet and inches ( 8' x 4' ) but generally measured/cut in metric.
I suppose this will eventually become obsolete as the old duffers like me who grew up in the transitional phase
die out !

And what's all the nominal nonsense? If I want a piece of timber 25mm thick, I don't want to be told "yeah, no problem" only to find out thar was the size when rough saw, not planed etc. Just like I don't want to buy a bottle of scotch labelled 780ml only to find out it's actually 750ml because of 'the angel's share'

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

Don't get me started on the US illogical date system.
Year Month Day (like in the military),
I can understand,
Similarly:
Day Month Year, is a logical progression.
But come on USA,
Month Day Year?
Where did that come from?
Better start a new thread, perhaps.

A far BETTER system would be:

Year/Month/day

As that narrows it down as you go. There are more days '1' than there are years '2021'. Same with addresses.

Country
Post Code
County
Town
Street
Number

 

[ARNWD]

So is Greg Hughes a Brit or American? If Greg Hughes says a gallon, which gallon does he mean?

British - He's Greg of BrewUK Greg.

From BrewUK website About Us:-

"BrewUK was founded in 2008 by husband and wife team, Greg and Tanya Hughes. Created from a passion for beer and wine making and a drive to help others create, Brewuk's mission has always been simple - to provide the best product range, competitive pricing, backed up with fast despatch and excellent aftersales support. Greg is author of "home brew beer" as well as being a judge at many brewing competitions and running our popular All Grain brewing masterclasses."

 

[BarnBrian]

I've worked on a few American pipelay barges, they use tape measure that are marked in feet and tenths of a foot rather than feet and inches. Easy to make mistakes when you first start using them.

 

[Cwrw666]

Do you use UK gallons? If you do, and recipes are written assuming US units, you are going to be some way out. And as I said upthread, if gallons are quoted in a recipe, they are normally (always?) talking about US gallons. Do you not agree?

Yes I use UK gallons etc. Why is a 5 gallon brew archaic whereas a 23L brew is normal when it's the same thing?
All the recipes I use give figures in UK imperial and metric so I don't see any problem.
I weigh my grains in imperial because I use an imperial kitchen scale. I'm not shelling out for a metric one for no reason at all.
BTW I weigh my hops in grams, which makes more sense than fractions of an ounce.
I'm also quite capable of converting one to the other as are most people.

 

[starseeker]

Yes I use UK gallons etc. Why is a 5 gallon brew archaic whereas a 23L brew is normal when it's the same thing?
All the recipes I use give figures in UK imperial and metric so I don't see any problem.
I weigh my grains in imperial because I use an imperial kitchen scale. I'm not shelling out for a metric one for no reason at all.
BTW I weigh my hops in grams, which makes more sense than fractions of an ounce.
I'm also quite capable of converting one to the other as are most people.

Very much like me ,i am quite happy flitting between the two

 

[An Ankoù]

I've got an old Avery sweet shop scale which weighs up to a Lb in 2 dr divisions.It cost me £12 in a junk shop. The scale is easily big enough to judge half way between the markers so I can weigh to about 1.5 to 2 gr accuracy if I wanted to convert. I used this for weighing hops and "secondary" malt additions for donkies' years and a normal kitchen spring scale for the bulk grains. Never had a problem. I still think of my late and dry hop additions in ounces and add a fraction or multiple of 28.35 . Strange how after 50 years, you can get set in your weighs.

Image from ebay. I see I'm quids in.

 

[DavidDetroit]

Amusing thread, in a way. Lucky I don't have to deal with any but one, known and standard measure. It could get very annoying otherwise.
Pop (soda) is sold here in 2 liters and 1/2 liters. Not much else to know in everyday life.
I have a working knowledge of metric and it's fine and logical but since I don't use it, it remains that I have to Google the equivalent.
MY BIG BEEF?
When I'm watching Star Trek, I have to multiply the distances or speed by .62 so I can have an understanding of how far they mean.

Note: Forgot there was such a thing as an Imperial gallon but now I remember.
Note: a stick of butter is always 4oz or a 1/4 pound by weight.
Note: The long, life stories before divulging a recipe has to be because the blogger is trying to gain followers. It is irritating.
Note: When I go to Canada, I have no idea whether I'm getting a good price on gas because it's in liters and Canadian currency. Speed is no problem because the cars sold here in Detroit have kph usually on the inner dial.
Note: Day/Month/Year does make more sense and I happen to do it. Saw written in German once and it was logical.
Note: 2X4s are just weird.

 

[johnny108]

Any American school kid that knows the metric system, is either an honor student, or a drug dealer…..
That was the rule when I was in school.

 

[531Man]

I've got an old Avery sweet shop scale which weighs up to a Lb in 2 dr divisions.It cost me £12 in a junk shop. The scale is easily big enough to judge half way between the markers so I can weigh to about 1.5 to 2 gr accuracy if I wanted to convert. I used this for weighing hops and "secondary" malt additions for donkies' years and a normal kitchen spring scale for the bulk grains. Never had a problem. I still think of my late and dry hop additions in ounces and add a fraction or multiple of 28.35 . Strange how after 50 years, you can get set in your weighs.

Image from ebay. I see I'm quids in.

View attachment 50870

Weighs!
Ha ha ha!
Love the scales,
by the way. (intended)

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Just to muddy the water and completely confuse a brit in NZ.

You can get imperial pints here but rare and always seems to be a handle.
But when you ask for a pint or if it's on the board as a pint then that's a variable size, anywhere from 375 ml up to about 500 ml .
But the majority around the 400-425 ml mark and in a straight glass.
This is very frustrating and they are metricated here, seems really to be a unit defined on the glass they get rather than a volume.
Had a lot of difficulty using the beer engine with some nice " pint " glasses until I used an imperial pint glass and discovered it was a
1/3 pint engine.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

And then you get to Australia and the standard size of a beer varies state-by-state.

Actually 400-425ml sounds a good amount, 2/3 of an imperial pint can be not quite enough, and sometimes a full pint is a bit much.

 

[dcbrookes]

We stayed near a superb bar in Venice a couple of years ago. There were 24 taps on the bar, some serving some really good stuff. OK, it was €7 a pint, but so what - until I discovered they were American pints. Aaargh.

 

[HopHead420]

A pox on American recipe writers and their unholy ways. It's not just the cup that's daft. Even worse is the seemingly obligatory preface to every and any recipe where the writer tells you all about how he or she used to have a real treat eating the best xxxx made by their favourite aunt in Baltimore....

If you use chrome, or a chrome addon compatible browser, then add the 'Recipe Filter' addon: Recipe Filter

 

[RoomWithABrew]

And then you get to Australia and the standard size of a beer varies state-by-state.

Actually 400-425ml sounds a good amount, 2/3 of an imperial pint can be not quite enough, and sometimes a full pint is a bit much.

Agreed some of that Aussie beer so awful that a pint is too much.