Heh. You’re preaching to the choir.
I remember being in New Orleans and they were selling 32 ouncers as “Huge Ass Beers”. I said “I’m from Wisconsin, Drunkest Place on EarthTM, this is a shot glass.”
Out of curiosity, does anyone ever measure the actual amount in the bottle, just to make sure? I’m betting some sneaky “12-oz” bottles actually deliver 11.75 or so, maybe worse. Last time I was in Europe, there was a big to-do about the holding capacity of beer steins and whether you were really getting your full pint. I didn’t pay any attention to the controversy, but this thread just reminded me of it.
TTB has been known to pull samples of wine, and I can only assume beer and spirits as well, to test various aspects of the contents with regards to how they are labeled.
A tolerance is allowed on fill levels, but it is incredibly minute. For the most part, fill levels have to be pretty close to exact in order to be released as tax-paid. A friend of a friend of mine works at an A-B plant in NJ. The employees there are simply given cases of short-fill bottles.
Here’s a snippet of regulations regarding net contents from TTB-
That translates to just the tiniest fraction of an ounce per bottle/can.
I’m with JerseyFrank – when cans were introduced, 12 oz was the “regular” size established after Coke and Pepsi duked it out on the issue, a conflict initiated by “Pepsi Cola hits the spot, twelve full ounces – that’s a lot!”
–Cliffy