# Why are beer cans only 10 ounces in Puerto Rico? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072 "2013-11-29T16:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/1 "2013-11-29T16:10:19Z")
I’ve been in PR all week. Beer bottles are 12 ounces but beer cans are only 10. Why? The only answer some locals in Ponce and San Juan told me is that they like their beer colder and the smaller cans allow them to drink it before the hot weather warms them up. :dubious: Doesn’t explain why bottles are 12 ounces. There are 7 ounce bottles around, but they are nowhere near as popular as the 12oz bottles. And it doesn’t matter what brand. Medalla, Bud, or Heineken, all the beer cans are 10 ounces. I’m thinking there is a factual (maybe legal) answer to this, which is why I put it in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/2 "2018-09-28T04:40:15Z")
Totally forgot about this one. But my Daughter and son-in-law just came back from San Juan and they were wondering about the odd sized cans too. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/3 "2018-09-28T05:02:43Z")
I found [this answer](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-09-17/news/1996261017_1_beer-eastern-shore-dew) on Google; > [@](#): > > Maryland’s beer distributors said that tradition was launched in the 1950s, when Budweiser and other national brands were trying to compete against local beers such as Baltimore’s National Bohemian, American and Arrow. > > The locals were cheaper, so the nationals reduced the container size to bring down their price, said Guy. > > Officials with the Beer Institute, an industry trade group in Washington, confirm the account, but note that 10-ounce cans never really caught on. > > They were sold in only about 20 states in their heyday, according to the book “A History of Packaged Beer and Its Market in the United States,” published in 1969. > > “It’s never really been popular,” said Robert S. Weinberg, a beer-industry consultant in St. Louis. > > A spokesman for Anheuser-Busch Inc., the leading producer of beer in smaller cans, said Maryland’s affection for 10-ounce brew has grown in recent years despite a slackening national thirst for the container. > > The St. Louis company fills the smaller cans only at a Houston brewery because it’s nearest to Puerto Rico, where 75 percent of the 10-ounce cans are sold. > > “Demand for it is pretty soft nationally,” said Michael J. Brooks, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president for sales. “When we try the 10-ounce cans in other markets, we haven’t met with success.” Sounds like it’s a historical relic of a marketing tactic that turned into a regional taste. They mention it’s also popular in Maryland and a handful of other areas in the east and south. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2018, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/4 "2018-09-28T10:58:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I found [this answer](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-09-17/news/1996261017_1_beer-eastern-shore-dew) on Google; > > Sounds like it’s a historical relic of a marketing tactic that turned into a regional taste. They mention it’s also popular in Maryland and a handful of other areas in the east and south. Hmm. So it sounds like a case of _“because that’s how we’ve always done it”_. Interesting. Thanks for the link. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/5 "2018-09-29T03:29:27Z")
In my experience, it’s so you can fit a can of Medalla in each front pocket of your swim trunks. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/6 "2018-09-29T15:03:33Z")
I just bought a 12 pack of Labatt’s Blue Light in bottles. They are 11.5 ounces. This is in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/7 "2018-09-29T15:29:42Z")
12 ounces in Canada is 11.5 ounces in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/8 "2018-09-29T18:11:20Z")
one reason might be that your unit inventory packs more densely. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea but it might be a reason. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/9 "2018-09-29T23:14:41Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > 12 ounces in Canada is 11.5 ounces in the US. More or less. 12 oz is 355 ml, Canadian beer comes in 340 ml bottles for whatever reason, so 11.5. Would be easier if they’d kept some English measures, like the English did. ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/10 "2018-09-30T04:57:09Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > More or less. 12 oz is 355 ml, Canadian beer comes in 340 ml bottles for whatever reason, so 11.5. Would be easier if they’d kept some English measures, like the English did. Well, they did keep English measures. 12 imperial ounces is 11.5 us ounces. And, 12 imperial ounces is 340 ml. They are obviously keeping the same 12 imperial ounce bottle and relabeling for the US market. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/11 "2018-09-30T05:15:47Z")
But in fact in the UK beer cans might be 440ml or a tidy 500 ml, or, less commonely and so as to be a pint, 568ml. And I think there might be some that are 330ml. Much muddle. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/12 "2018-09-30T07:07:11Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > But in fact in the UK beer cans might be 440ml or a tidy 500 ml, or, less commonely and so as to be a pint, 568ml. And I think there might be some that are 330ml. Much muddle. 🙂 The 440 puzzles me. 568 ml = 1 pint. Makes perfect sense. 500 ml = half a litre exactly. Makes perfect sense. 330 ml: well, it’s a third of a litre, with a very small margin of error. And 333.33333 ml is silly to print on a bottle. Of course, I get it. But 440 ml is not an even division of a litre, or of a quart, or of anything. It’s just… 440 ml, out of the blue. Or so it seems to me. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/13 "2018-09-30T22:05:59Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > Well, they did keep English measures. 12 imperial ounces is 11.5 us ounces. And, 12 imperial ounces is 340 ml. They are obviously keeping the same 12 imperial ounce bottle and relabeling for the US market. Thanks! I had no idea. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/14 "2018-09-30T22:07:04Z")
So how many US oz/Imperial oz/ml is the pint glass you get in a pub in England? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/15 "2018-09-30T23:28:06Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Totally forgot about this one. > > But my Daughter and son-in-law just came back from San Juan and they were wondering about the odd sized cans too. Then there’s the 8-ounce pony cans, which in PR are sold only at the military stores (thus a telltale if you are trying to resell). For a while in the 80s/90s we used .333 ml cans for sodas, but that has since reverted to having both 12 and 10 ounce cans – evidently some pop brands use the same can supplier as the beer companies. Some of the cans are locally produced and the product is bottled/canned locally, some import the cans and package locally, some is imported already canned. (Coca Cola for instance produces Coke base syrup in PR, so it cans locally) What I want to know, conversely, is how come in Northern Virginia I only see beer can 6-packs in 16 ounce pints? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/16 "2018-10-01T01:03:05Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > So how many US oz/Imperial oz/ml is the pint glass you get in a pub in England? An imperial pint (20 oz) is about 568 ml. There are such beer cans, but do they outnumber the 500 ml cans? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-beer-cans-only-10-ounces-in-puerto-rico/675072/17 "2018-10-01T03:16:44Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > The 440 puzzles me. > > 568 ml = 1 pint. Makes perfect sense. > > 500 ml = half a litre exactly. Makes perfect sense. > > 330 ml: well, it’s a third of a litre, with a very small margin of error. And 333.33333 ml is silly to print on a bottle. Of course, I get it. > > But 440 ml is not an even division of a litre, or of a quart, or of anything. It’s just… 440 ml, out of the blue. Or so it seems to me. What am I missing? This is a relatively commonly asked question on the web but no one seems to know for sure. One speculation is that a full 440ml can weighs exactly a pound.