# My friend has won his weight in beer. How much beer is that?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 22, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597 "2004-10-22T14:27:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/22 "2004-10-25T20:17:28Z")
> [@JohnDM](#):
>
> One cubic foot of a tasty beer weighs 68 pounds or 4 serpents at 17, the cobra that is.
>
> And so 165 pounds is some 121 pints of beer.
>
> Mmm
Isn’t King Cobra a malt liquor and not a beer?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/24 "2004-10-25T22:22:37Z")
> [@JohnDM](#):
>
> I have had one appartion at 2:30am May 16th 1983 where I was shown geometry by way of special tents in the other set of four dimensions, the place most go at death.
Was it the same kind of tents they used to cover houses when they fumigate for bugs?
That would explain a lot.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/25 "2004-10-25T22:25:04Z")
> [@Gaudere](#):
>
> They counted the weight of the bottles and rounded up–he actually weighed 6.5 cases.
He should have insisted on beer in plastic bottles - always a sure indicator of qulaity
😉 . Anyhoo, where’s the party?
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/26 "2004-10-25T22:26:57Z")
the rhyme is:
a pint is a pound the world around.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/27 "2004-10-25T22:34:22Z")
> [@rocking chair](#):
>
> the rhyme is:
>
> a pint is a pound the world around.
And a kilo’s a liter.
Which I think is neater.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/28 "2004-10-25T22:48:02Z")
> [@jjimm](#):
>
> And a kilo’s a liter.
> Which I think is neater.
[Not exactly.](http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictK.html)
> [@my cite](#):
>
> The kilogram is defined as the mass of the standard kilogram, a platinum-iridium bar in the custody of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) near Paris, France. Copies of this bar are kept by the standards agencies of all the major industrial nations, including the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). One kilogram equals exactly 1000 grams, or about 2.204 622 6 pounds. By design, this is approximately the mass of a liter of water.
Note the last sentence: They defined the kilogram to make it roughly equal in mass to a liter of water at STP, but it is not defined to be _exactly_ thus. Presumably because measuring the mass of a liter of water at STP isn’t as accurate, with our tools, as you need a definition to be under real laboratory conditions.
I doubt a pint of water at STP is overly close to massing one pound, either. (And, yes, the pound is a unit of mass. The unit of force is the poundal.)
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/29 "2004-10-25T23:16:34Z")
Don’t ruin my trite doggerel with resort to the truth and facts, goddamnit. :mad:
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### Author:  [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/30 "2004-10-26T00:39:58Z")
Derleth, this is the kind of talk that only encourages people like JohnDM.
Oh wait, he’s banned.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/31 "2004-10-26T00:44:58Z")
:: Bows ::
**August Derleth, Professional Killjoy**
For those who think joy cometh in the mourning.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/32 "2004-10-26T02:36:30Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> I doubt a pint of water at STP is overly close to massing one pound, either. (And, yes, the pound is a unit of mass. The unit of force is the poundal.)
And a pint is quite different in the UK and Ireland versus the US.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/33 "2004-10-26T03:33:21Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#):
>
> Derleth, this is the kind of talk that only encourages people like JohnDM.
>
> Oh wait, he’s banned.
Of course, the funny thing is that this is the _one_ thread where all his crap about numbers and numerology was actually somewhat appropriate.
So, how many cases of beer would it take to build a replica of the Great Pyramid, and how much would it weigh?
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### Author:  [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/34 "2004-10-26T08:35:28Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> I doubt a pint of water at STP is overly close to massing one pound, either. (And, yes, the pound is a unit of mass. The unit of force is the poundal.)
The slug is the unit of mass.
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/35 "2004-10-26T09:03:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So, how many cases of beer would it take to build a replica of the Great Pyramid,
Well, from experience, me and a three friends build a 5 foot dirt pyramid after 4 and a half cases, but if you want the great pyramid your gonna need a hell of a lot more beer than that.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/36 "2004-10-26T19:08:48Z")
> [@1010011010](#):
>
> The slug is the unit of mass.
You’re right. [Pound and poundal are both weight, slug is mass.](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Weight.html)
(If this is the true definition, I’ve found a bug in the standard Linux units utility: It defines the pound in terms of kilograms, a unit of mass, and the poundal in terms of kg m / s^2, obviously a unit of weight. The slug is defined in terms of lbf s^2 / ft, again a unit of weight. I want to be a bit more sure before I make the changes and report this, however.)
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/37 "2004-10-26T19:10:34Z")
Bah. I messed up: The slug is obviously (in the units programs’ mind) not a unit of weight.
Damn.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/38 "2004-10-26T20:32:07Z")
Umm…guys, there’s pound-mass and pound-force (lbm and lbf), used in everyday engineering calculations to signify mass and force. (And I do use them every day…I’m using them right now in another window.)
[http://www.me.utexas.edu/~thermonet/me326/web/chp\_1/1\_5\_p1.html](http://www.me.utexas.edu/~thermonet/me326/web/chp_1/1_5_p1.html)
[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Pound.html](http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Pound.html)
This has been posted about many times before, IIRC.
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### Author:  [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/39 "2004-10-26T20:41:24Z")
> [@Una Persson](#):
>
> And a pint is quite different in the UK and Ireland versus the US.
That’s right. The rhyme over here is “a pint of clear water weighs a pound and a quarter”. An imperial pint is 20 fl oz.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-has-won-his-weight-in-beer-how-much-beer-is-that/270597/40 "2004-10-26T20:44:35Z")
> [@1010011010](#):
>
> The slug is the unit of mass.
If you bury a pint jar of beer up to its mouth in your garden, you won’t have to worry about slugs at all.
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