# Why are UK beer cans 440ml?



## Protocol

Can anybody explain why many UK beer and cider cans are 440ml?  I can understand 250, 330, 500, 568ml, but I can't see any reason for 440ml?


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## propertyprof

Protocol said:


> Can anybody explain why many UK beer and cider cans are 440ml? I can understand 250, 330, 500, 568ml, but I can't see any reason for 440ml?


 
they usually the ones that come in multi packs - single cans are usually 500ml


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## Guest127

its a third more than 330,  which is the standard bottle size, but both are odd if you ask me. smaller than 'our' cans alright but usually cheaper too.


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## elefantfresh

i just checked on a conversion site and 440ml is .77 of a pint - is that significant?


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## z107

16 fluid ounces = 1 pint

(or 2 pints to a quart, and 220 yards to a furlong, so 220*2 = 440 quarts to a furlong)

Maybe it has something to do with that.
Or if it's part of a multipack, could be something to do with the total of the pack. Or duty.

I've just wasted the last 15 minutes on google!


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## Guest127

was that 15 minutes in old  money or new money?


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## Westbound

It's not mulipack, in my experience the single cans are 440mls, some times they have specials with 500mls ie. 60mls for free. Even the Guinness draught sold in the north and UK is 440ml, and it's made in Dublin, where they produce the 500ml cans for the Irish market!

If you use a pint glass, there's a certain disappointment in not having the beer all the way to the top of the glass initially!!


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## quinno

I lived in the UK for a while an also wondered this - I was told (probably incorrectly) that it was for excise reasons....similar to the way their short measures are smaller (25ml as opposed to 35ml(?) here)


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## ClubMan

From searching/browsing around the whole 440ml _UK _beer can conundrum has puzzled more than just the readers of _AAM_! No authoritative answer though...


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## Guest127

where is guinness/carsberg/harp etc canned?. Diageo closed their bottling plant in Dundalk a few years ago to move down the north. Coca Cola are in the process of doing the same. if its canned in the north it is even more puzzling ie canning in the north for the north 440 for the south 500. Also different strengths. still repeat my warning of last year. Check the Carlsberg cans in the north and if they are brewed in Northampton  - put them back on the shelf, you will get ones brewed in the south by guinness but not easily available I admit.


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## SineWave

It's a Victorian thing. During her stays in the Scottish Highlands, Queen Victoria was prone to nipping down to the local for a few beers with the gamekeepers at night.

The standard ale mug at that time was 568ml, which the burly gamekeepers had no problem in swallowing in one gulp. Unfortunately for Victoria and to the shared the embaressment of the locals, approximately 100ml (measured by weight of floor sawdust after she had left but with an 28ml contingencey added), used to spray out the side of her mouth, as she tried to mimic her one-slug drinking companions.

The 440ml solution was was to become known in the early years as "Her Majesty's Mug". The new measure mug was ordered from the glass manufacturers (By appointment!), and everyone lived happily ever after.

Hope this helps!


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## englishman

> The standard ale mug at that time was 568ml, which the burly gamekeepers had no problem in swallowing in one gulp. Unfortunately for Victoria and to the shared the embaressment of the locals, approximately 100ml (measured by weight of floor sawdust after she had left but with an 28ml contingencey added), used to spray out the side of her mouth, as she tried to mimic her one-slug drinking companions.
> 
> The 440ml solution was was to become known in the early years as "Her Majesty's Mug". The new measure mug was ordered from the glass manufacturers (By appointment!), and everyone lived happily ever after.



i think you just made that up all i know is it used to be 500mil standard then in the early 90s i think maybe late 80s they changed it too 440mil which is a joke and no one likes it.  you can still get the 500mil cans their just harder to come buy.  luckily for me the oflicense 5 seconds from my door sels them but they dont sell ipa . funny i did a google search for why the 440 mil cans and this is all i found


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## Houlie

UK drinks cans come in 440ml sizes because the combined weight of the container and the product is 1lb (453 ish grammes). Imperial weights are still standard weights in the UK. If you don't believe me, find a full 440 ml drinks can and weigh it.


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## smiley

What you should watch out for is the selling of UK sourced beers.

I bought a pack of Carlsberg from my local Londis a few weeks ago at a bargain price.

i noticed when i got home that it had been brewed in the Uk for the Uk market and it was only 3.8% abv versus the 4.3% abv Carlsberg brewed by Diageo in Ireland.

Id rather have paid a higher price for what i am used to.


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## Draigean

smiley said:


> ...it was only 3.8% abv versus the 4.3% abv Carlsberg brewed by Diageo in Ireland.



3.8%?  That's not bad, usually those sort of offers and UK beers are 3.4%.


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## pudds

Bit off topic but I wish they'd bring back the 568ml bottles of lager  as those 330ml's are a total rip off.

Same price as a pint of draught lager but 238ml less


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## MrEarl

pudds said:


> Bit off topic but I wish they'd bring back the 568ml bottles of lager  as those 330ml's are a total rip off.
> 
> Same price as a pint of draught lager but 238ml less



Sadly all part of the commercial world we live in, sell less volume for more money .. sure they've done the same thing with bags of crisps, bars of chocolate etc. and will continue to do this, as long as we (the consumers) tolerate it.

Bottom line - if your going out for a night, go to one of the Weatherspoons pubs or the likes fo Dicies (Dublin 2), where you can buy your drinks a lot cheaper... or else, stay in and drink at home, where it's cheaper again


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## losttheplot

If the average beer strength was about 4.5%, a 440ml can would be close to 2 units of alcohol. Maybe it was an incentive for people to drink less (this would be the positive spin from the drinks industry while the real intention was to increase the price)


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## Andrew Heenan

When cans were first decimalised, the standard sizes were 500ml for beer, 330ml for soft drinks and overpriced beer. It stayed that way until the widget; then the same can became 440ml.

Here's the Einsteinian maths:
440ml of cheap beer + widget = 500ml of better beer.


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## FelimDoyle

I've only just discovered this discussion so excuse me for reviving a very old thread!

Way back in 2006, "z107" stated ...


z107 said:


> 16 fluid ounces = 1 pint
> 
> (or 2 pints to a quart, and 220 yards to a furlong, so 220*2 = 440 quarts to a furlong)


The inference is that the poster is of United States origin as everywhere else in the world, including Canada, an Imperial Pint contains 20 Imperial Fluid Ounces and the Quart is rarely used outside North America. By implication, the US Gallon is also smaller than an Imperial Gallon. Furthermore, I have seen some posts that suggest that the US Fluid Ounce differs in volume (i.e. equivalent in millilitres) to the Imperial Fluid Ounce.

How this significant difference (20%) in the volume of the Pint came about I have yet to discover but my research is ongoing!


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## FelimDoyle

Houlie said:


> UK drinks cans come in 440ml sizes because the combined weight of the container and the product is 1lb (453 ish grammes). Imperial weights are still standard weights in the UK. If you don't believe me, find a full 440 ml drinks can and weigh it.


That is a very interesting theory although it makes little logical  sense. Why would a liquid be sold by weight, including the weight of its container? That said, UK law and regulations have involved stranger practices in the past so it is quite plausible.

My local ASDA currently has a Rollback on 4 packs of 568ml cans of 4.8% Stella Artois so I won't be buying any 440ml cans for a while in order to test this theory! However, I may weigh a 568ml can later and do some maths to see if it holds up.

AFIK, the Department of Weights and Measures is now the Trading Standards section of local authorities. I suppose I could pose the question to them on Social Media.


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