Why does Labatt Blue’s American version come in 11.5-ounce bottles, and not 12-ounce like most other American beers?
Don’t blame the metric system; in metric terms it comes up to an insignificant 340 milliliters.
I’ll ponder the question further as I consume a few more …
Because it means that 288 ounces (the amount in a case of 24 12-ounce bottles) will fill 25 bottles. And therefore, they are able to produce 25 cases for the price of 24. Free profit.
Really, I surmise that it has something to do with taxes. I would not be surprised at all to learn that there’s some rule about container sizes, stating that bottles 0-11.9 ounces are taxed at one rate, 12-23.9 ounces at another, and 24 and up at a third.
Decent guess, but the cans are 12 oz. Same is true of Molson Canadian. 11.5 oz bottles, 12 oz. cans. I think they’re the same size in Canada also.
To make matters stranger, Carlsberg (brewed by Labatt’s) and Molson Excel (NA) are both 12 oz. bottles. The cases of these that are imported are packaged in 6 packs only.
This is indeed a mystery…
here in canada, i believe that bottles are 341 ml and cans are 355 ml.
i just looked at an old labbatt’s 50 bottle, and it says 12 ounces. must be from before the metric switcheroo.