The "Piaget" Beer Gauge - About Beer's Review of the "Piaget" Beer Gauge

So you pop into your local pub and order a beer. Suddenly you’ve entered a transaction in which Three Phase Designs, LLC is very interested. TPD is on a mission to make sure that the American drinker is served his or her full measure of beer each time.

To that end Chris Holloway, the man behind TPD, has designed a handy beer gauge. The heavy plastic card is the same size as a credit card and easily slips into a wallet. It is designed to hang on the side of a standard pint (US) glass and measure the exact amount of beer in it. I’ve carried the gauge that TPD sent me in my wallet since I got it. It’s interesting to know exactly how much beer I’ve been served. And the bartender is always more than interested to see what I have and what I’m doing with it.

The product is convenient and does exactly what it’s meant to do. Of course there are inevitable shortcomings such as the fact that it cannot be used on any but a standard pint glass and it only measures a US pint. It would be worthless in most other countries and with a wheat beer glass, Pilsner glass or any of the goblet-type stemware popular with Belgian-style beer drinkers.

Using and discussing this product invariably leads to same question time and time again.

What Is a Standard Serving of Beer?

My completely unscientific and random study carried out over the last month or so of beer drinkers and bartenders is that a pint is the accepted standard. But when pressed many, including a surprising number of bartenders, don’t know what a pint is. When I ask leading questions I can generally get most to agree that the 12 oz. contained in the typical beer bottles is also considered a standard serving. Most people seem aware that this is somewhat less than a pint but how much less usually remains a question.

In the US a pint is 16 oz. and that’s exactly to the top of the standard US pint glass. Therefore if you insist that your bartender serve you a full pint you’re asking for a beer that’s filled right to the top; head be damned. (A pint is 20 oz. in the UK although it should be noted that a British ounce is slightly less than a US ounce. If only someone would come up with an international standard for weights and measures!) This isn’t how I like my beer and it’s always a possibility that the policy of the bar or restaurant in which your drinking is that a standard beer is less than a pint. It would be prudent to establish how much a serving of beer is before challenging your measure as inadequate.

This gets us into the realm of the law. I did a bit of digging on the .gov websites and couldn’t find any legal standard dictating what a serving of beer is. Most of the information has to do with nutritional concerns such as the alcoholic content of beer and the serving size most commonly used in these discussions is 12 oz., a full 25% less than a US pint. In the UK where receiving a full pint of beer is more of a matter of consumer protection things are a bit different.

If the bar where you’re drinking does indeed promise a full pint of beer with each serving then I agree with the instructions included with the “Piaget” Beer Gauge that you should “decide if your reading is within your personal tolerance level.” Personally, I’m fine with 12 oz. In a standard pint glass this leaves just under two fingers’ room for head and that sounds like a lovely beer to me.