Let The Drink Talk

[Johnny]

Storm in a pintpot over beer measure
A FIGHT to ensure that a pint really is a pint is gathering pace, with MPs opposing Government proposals to bring in a five per cent froth rule.

New legislation from Brussels on weights and measures is due soon and the British government wants pints served in pubs to be not less than 95 per cent liquid.

There is currently no law stipulating how much liquid there has to be in a pint glass to make it a pint.

But MPs and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) say drinkers would get ripped off by the new rule and so far nearly 240 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion (EDM) opposing it.

St Albans MP Anne Main has added her signature to the motion, which calls for a pint to be 100 per cent liquid.

Mrs Main said: "When I was first approached about this, I did not think it was reasonable.

"But when I talked to people at the St Albans Beer Festival, I was convinced by the argument.

"People in the trade are under-selling to maximise profits, which is not fair.

"It is a serious weights and measures issue."

A spokesman for CAMRA, which has its headquarters in St Albans, said the proposed legislation would mean pubs could serve less liquid while still charging the same price.

He said: "Each and every one of the MPs who support CAMRA in this campaign knows a proposal for anything less than a full pint is an unforgiveable erosion of consumers' rights.

"It is ridiculous to expect pub customers to pay for a pint of beer and only receive 95 per cent liquid back.

"You certainly would not expect to buy a bar of chocolate and have the shopkeeper take a bite of it first.

"The vast majority of pubs do give full measures and are more than happy to top up a pint when asked.

"But CAMRA wants to close this legal loophole to make sure customers get exactly what they are paying for each and every time they are at the bar."

But St Albans CAMRA member Alex Lewis said he would prefer his pint to be dealt with by the publican and not by Parliament.

He said: "While I agree a pint should contain 100 per cent beer, I feel CAMRA's campaign for this to be legally enforcable is a misconceiver.

"In any decent pub, staff will top up your pint if asked.

"But if every pint served in the country is a true pint, it will significantly increase costs to brewers, inevitably meaning higher prices.

"Presumably the people who don't ask for a top-up either don't care about their beer, or are rich enough not to mind that they are not getting full value.

"Under the current system, they are subsidising the rest of us why not keep it that way?"

By Sally-Anne Johnson

http://www.thisishertfordshire.co.uk/news/newsindex/display.var.679716.0.storm_in_a_pintpot_over_beer_measure.php
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[James62]

http://www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=100354

New figures from CAMRA show that a whopping 26.6% of pints served in pubs contain less than 95% beer. CAMRA is taking its campaign for a full pint straight to the top by launching a national petition calling on the Prime Minister to put an end to short beer measures.

Full Pints Key Facts

# 26.6% of pints are more than 5% short measure
# Short measure costs consumers £481 million a year, or over £1.3 million a day
# Pubs serve customers 208 million more pints than they buy in


CAMRA needs your help to ensure you receive a full pint of beer every time. Please sign CAMRA's National Full Pints Petition calling for an end to short beer measures.

http://campaign.publicaffairsbriefing.co.uk/home.aspx?cid=afc2176b-f46c-4c06-8d06-a87164af5edd