When is a pint of ale not a pint of ale? According to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) when there is a large head of froth on it.
Nick Harvey MP for North Devon and All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group Vice Chairman voiced his concerns on this contentious issue on the BBC’s South West Politics Show on 3 February.
‘I think the industry believes this isn't a seriously large problem and that where people do have a particular issue they just raise it with the publican, but nevertheless there is an issue here - a pint is a pint.
‘One of the suggestions made over the years, is that the pint glass should be slightly more than a pint and have a white line drawn round it where the pint actually reaches - you then have the head on top of that.
‘That might seem a logical conclusion, but not many beer drinkers like those glasses and I don't think that is actually the way to resolve the issue.’
Notes for Editors
Current guidelines state that a pint only has to be 95% liquid costing consumers millions of pounds a year.
This issue first came up in Parliament in 2005 when Nick supported Early Day Motion 331 Measures of Pints of Beer, which stated:
‘This House expresses concern at current proposals to define a pint of beer as not less than 95% liquid; notes that the Campaign for Real Ale, the Trading Standards Institute and the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services believe that this proposal will result in the proposed 5% tolerance being added to the existing deficiency threshold normally applied by enforcement agencies before considering prosecution action, which will result in licensees being able to serve pints of substantially less than 95% liquid; further notes that short measure costs consumers over £400 million annually, HM Treasury over £54 million annually in lost excise revenues and brewers £133 million in lost beer sales; and therefore calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to protect consumers from short beer measures by defining a pint of beer as 100% liquid.’
Camra is still waiting for a change in the law.
