Pint is a word familiar to beer lovers. But hardly many people know what it means and where it comes from. Let's try to give detailed answers to these questions in the article.
What is it?
A pint is a measure of volume in which beer, cider and milk are measured in retail. It originated in Britain, but is used in the USA and Cuba. Before the advent of the metric system in France, it was also used there.
But before dwelling on the history of the pint and its volume, it is worth telling a little about the English system of measures. So, the English system of measures is unusual for people who use the international metric system. The thing is that the British, and after them the English-speaking countries use the system of measures invented in the XIV century, and despite the fact that they have signed a declaration on the adoption of an international system of measures, they are not going to abandon theirs. There are several reasons for this. The first - the transition to the metric system will require large investments, since everything will have to be changed - from ordinary scales to bulky measuring instruments. The second is the conservatism of the British, who believe that the old is better than the new, and the less people change, the better. The third reason is that the attempt made once to switch to the international system of measures was unsuccessful, and the second attempt will have the same result.
History
And now we’ll take a closer look at where the measurement of a serving of beer in pints comes from. In the sixteenth century, in European countries, brewers measured wheat in pounds. 8 pounds of wheat amounted to 1 gallon in which the liquid was measured. A pint is ⅛ gallon. A similar measure was widespread among the British, and then around the world. Initially, in a pint, both liquid and bulk products were measured. Today, such a practice has survived only in America. It is worth noting that the English pint and the American are significantly different.
This difference arose after America became independent and created its own system of measures. The British wine gallon was taken as the basis of the liquid pint, and the corn gallon as the dry one.
In 1824, Britain switched to the officially recognized unified system of measuring measures - imperial, in which all types of gallons were replaced by one that was called imperial. Its volume was 277.42 cubic inches. A modern pint is 1/8 of an imperial gallon, i.e. 0.56 liters. It is she who measures the volume of a serving of foamy drink.
Today, a pint is a measure that is used only when selling beer at retail, but it is not used in wholesale trade, since wholesalers of a drink calculate in liters.
Pint volume
Prior to the imperial system of measures, the volume of a pint was constantly fluctuating. Today, an English pint is 34.68 cubic inches. When converted to centimeters, this is 568.26 cubic cm.
If we talk about the volume of liquid, then the volume of the English pint is approximately 0.56 liters, which means that half a pint is equal to 0.28 liters.
And what about the situation in other countries? The American pint is slightly smaller than the English one. Its volume is 0.47 liters for liquid products and 0.55 liters for bulk products.
What else, besides a pint, do the English use in everyday life? For measuring weight, pounds (453.6 g) and ounces (28.3 g) are used, for lengths are miles (1609 m), yards (914.4 mm), feet (30.48 cm) and inches (2.5 cm), and for temperature - Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius is 17.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
Where is it used?
In Britain and Ireland, beer lovers will not be deceived, since there the volume of the foamy drink poured into the mug is regulated by law - it should not be lower than the special mark on the dishes, which will show the buyer the exact volume. There is such a sign in other countries, but there a pint is not equal to the volume of English. In Cologne - 200 ml, in Spain - 250 ml, in France - 330 ml, in Italy - 410 ml, in Munich - 1 liter.
Thus, taking into account the difference in the volume of a serving of beer in different countries, we can say that a pint is not only a measure of liquid, but also a concept that defines a serving of beer in world pubs.