# Australians, Germans, beer, and numbers.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australians-germans-beer-and-numbers/165634
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 1, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australians-germans-beer-and-numbers/165634 "2003-04-01T04:16:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australians-germans-beer-and-numbers/165634/1 "2003-04-01T04:16:31Z")
I have in front of me a beer can. It is a German beer, DAB (Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei), and from the printing on the can it’s for export to France (or French speaking places), England (or English speaking places), I don’t know, Spain or Spanish speaking places, Portugal or Portugese speaking places, I don’t know, I don’t know in Asian characters, and Sweden.
The other printing on the can is kind of interesting. In Canada you can return it for a refund where applicable, but in Quebec they owe you 20 cents. Given that Quebec was still a part of Canada the last time I looked at the news that’s interesting but understandable.
What confuses me is the other bit in English. It says “For Australia Approx 1.9 Standard Drinks”.
Maybe I’m jaded. 5% alcohol by volume is standard here for beer, and 500ml is a bit more than a pint. I can’t see how that could be 1.9 standard drinks in any civilized country, let alone a place that has produced the Australians I have met.
Please, somebody tell me that the wine industry hasn’t taken over and turned Australia into a nation of lightweights!
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### Author:  [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australians-germans-beer-and-numbers/165634/2 "2003-04-01T04:34:32Z")
It’s to enable you to do calculations for driving and health. A standard drink contains 10 grams on alcohol. For normal strength beer that’s 285ml. This is a standard pub measure. Here in Victoria, it’s called a _pot_, north of us a _middy_.
To stay under the blood alcohol limit for driving, the average bloke can drink two pots in the first hour and one each hour after that and stay below .05.
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### Author:  [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australians-germans-beer-and-numbers/165634/3 "2003-04-01T04:53:59Z")
Interestingly, consuming 7 or more standard drinks is [generally considered](http://www.ama.com.au/youth/code/alcohol.html) “risky” or “binge” drinking. A typical full-strength Australian bottle or can of beer may be 1.4 standard drinks; drinking five stubbies (or a bottle of wine) in a day is enough to put you in the “high risk” category.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Here in Victoria, it’s called a pot, north of us a middy
\*\*West of you, too. 😉