500ml to 440ml?

Edit: the 440 on the right, is the last of a can that I bought in a four pack. The 500 on the left, is one of three I bought as singles.

Packaged Guinness comes in 440 milliliters. Single cans of Guinness come in 500 mL.

Apparently, that’s how Guinness does it here in Canada.

And apparently, I lazily avoided any attempt to research or apply any level of critical thinking before posting.

  • PhineaZ@feddit.de
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    9 months ago

    That is not new though? I am fairly certain I bought both sizes at various places all over Europe. I guess the 440 is meant for the british market while the 500 is intended for civilised countries.

    • rehydrate5503@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Yeah, this is not new and not shrinkflation… here in Canada the 440ml has been around for over 20 years in multi-packs, and the 500ml is available as individual cans.

      • toffi@feddit.de
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        9 months ago

        My local Aldi had the 500ml cans here in Germany this week so I guess you could get both.

    • Acamon@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      In Britain lots of beers come on both sizes, and it makes comparing prices #mildlyinfuriating. Is 6x500ml at £7.99 better than 4x440ml at £4.50? What if there’s an 12 pack of 330ml stubbies for £15, but it’s Buy One Get One Free?

      • bean@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Purely curious myself, I asked GPT4 for you. This is the response:

        Here’s how the prices compare per liter:

        •	6x500ml at £7.99: £2.66 per liter
        •	4x440ml at £4.50: £2.56 per liter
        •	12x330ml at £15 (Buy One Get One Free): £1.89 per liter
        

        The 12 pack of 330ml stubbies (with the Buy One Get One Free offer) offers the best value at £1.89 per liter.

        • Seeker of Carcosa@feddit.uk
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          9 months ago

          GPT4 is wrong and it doesn’t require a price per litre comparison to prove it.

          4 cans at 440ml cost £4.50. Therefore 12 cans at 440ml cost £13.50, £1.50 less than 12 cans at 330ml.

    • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      440ml is a UK variant. No one has a confirmed explanation for its existence alongside 500ml.

      However 440ml of water would be 0.44kg which is just under one pound imperial weight (0.45kg). Presumably the fluid plus the aluminium can would weight about 1lb which may explain the odd volume measure (given transport costs and possibly even how customs costs may have used to work?).

      • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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        9 months ago

        I always thought it was because 440ml is a round number when you convert it from metric to medieval units (not a pint though, which is 568ml), but a quick google shows me there’s another reason:

        One reason for the popularity of the 440ml size is its convenience for calculating alcohol units. A 440ml can at 4.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) equates to exactly 2 units of alcohol, making it easier for consumers to track their alcohol consumption

        • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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          9 months ago

          Nice sleuthing, I was just checking it against non metric volumes and closest is a US pint (437.1…ml).

          We all (maybe) learned something new today.

          • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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            9 months ago

            The UK measures alcohol in units to track total amount consumption, as it’s not easy to track with percentage in volume. A unit is 10 ml of pure alcohol, and cans/bottles/etc have the total units printed. That way it’s supposed to be easier to track how much alcohol you drink e.g. if you drink a beer, then a wine - now that’s 4 units.

            I’m not British so I’m not used to units, but at least that’s the theory.

          • Z4rK@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            A non-standardized amount of grams of alcohol in a standard drink.

            Each country have their own definitions, usually between 8-14g somewhere, and then each country use that to create their own health rules of how many standard units of alcohol can be part of a healthy nutrition guidelines / low-risk consumption guidelines.

            https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/health-promotion-knowledge-gateway/national-low-risk-drinking-recommendations-drinking-guidelines_en

          • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            9 months ago

            It’s a simplified version of ABV that the UK invented to easier track alcohol consumption

        • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
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          9 months ago

          I guess it translates to one of those units used in the US and UK, that you divide by twentyeleven, then multiply by two large fries, and you get the result in football (which is actually hand-egg ball) fields.

      • Seeker of Carcosa@feddit.uk
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        9 months ago

        A pint is 568ml.

        Edit: the extra 30ml might be accounted for with the patented Guinness widget, a little ball of nitrogen gas that ruptures and forms a foamy head when the can is cracked.

  • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This is not shrinkflation.

    440ml is a UK variant. No one has a confirmed explanation for its existence alongside 500ml, but it’s been around for decades.

    However 440ml of water would be 0.44kg which is just under one pound imperial weight (0.45kg). Presumably the fluid plus the aluminium can would weigh about 1lb which may explain the odd volume measure (given transport costs are often by weight and possibly even how customs costs may have used to work?).

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    I always wonder how far companies will go with this. Do they stop at 300ml? 200ml? Are we going to see 100ml cans of Guinness?

    • MCHEVA@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Guinness is owned by diageo a company know for having no bottom, toptier shit heads. They’d charge you full price to spit in your mouth if they could.

      Also unpopular oppionion don’t drink this mediocre beer. Support local brewery’s there is probably one with a porter on nitro (guiness is barely a stout).

      Sorry Irish people your cultural touchstone is a bit shit.

        • MCHEVA@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Definitely an interesting man and brewery for sure don’t get me wrong. The problem I have with guiness is the same I have with many famous breweries. Is that as soon as they are bought out by soulless mega corps be it AB inbev, Heineken, asahi or lion Nathan all that culture and history may as well be thrown out the window. The past of these great breweries is nothing more than a tool for the marketing team to increase sales numbers. Which is definitely a shame. Support local small business that are actively involved in your community over international mega corporations. Be a conscious consumer and vote with your dollar in everything not just beer.

          • Faceman🇦🇺@discuss.tchncs.de
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            9 months ago

            Didn’t Asahi acquire all of lion Nathan breweries over a decade ago?

            Edit, actually kirin owns lion Nathan, but asahi definitely aquaired some of their brands a while ago.

            • MCHEVA@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Yeah there’s a lot Japanese owned Aussie beers also molson Coors have a stake hear, though I feel like they sell things like millers chill and Coors rather than bought out existing. I may be wrong on that. Coca cola amatil bought feral a few years ago another weird one i don’t think they own any other breweries. Also AB Inbev own a few brands here.

          • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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            9 months ago

            The past of these great breweries is nothing more than a tool for the marketing team to increase sales numbers. Which is definitely a shame.

            I like that actually - big things wither, small things conquer. And small things are personal, so things with soul are stronger than things without it.

      • 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Any famous beer that is associated with a country is usually shit… Like molson canadian, fosters, or bud light

        It took me a while to realize guinness falls firmly into this category as well

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          When you have built a brand reputation, you don’t have to care about actual quality.

          I think it was good beer 100 years ago.

        • pHr34kY@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I don’t think Fosters is associated with a country. Maybe Japan or England.

          • 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            it was marketed here (north america) as an australian beer… i think their slogan was “australian for beer” at some point. also parodied heavily in the simpsons episode in australia…

            never heard of any associations with japan or england

            • jaybone@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Yeah in the US the slogan was “its Australian for beer, mate.”

              And the joke was “it’s Australian for piss, mate.”

              For just an average macro brew lager, I don’t think it’s that bad.

              I also associate Sapporo with Japan, which again is not bad for that type of beer.

              • Peppycito@sh.itjust.works
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                9 months ago

                Sapporo is my go too plain beer. It’s not that it’s a great beer, but it’s one of the few mainstream brands that doesn’t taste like mostly sugar. If you can find the imported stuff in the funky can that’s shaped like a glass it’s way better than the North American made stuff.

            • Faceman🇦🇺@discuss.tchncs.de
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              9 months ago

              Funilly enough Fosters is japanese now, and hasn’t been Australian for decades.

              Asahi have been buying up all of Australia’s breweries, even a bunch of popular micros are owned by them now.

              Before asahi, they were owned by ABINBEV and SABMiller.

              It was actually made in many countries by the likes of Heineken, Coors, Molson, and others. I don’t think any true fosters has been made in Australia and exported for a very long time.

          • AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            The tagline in the U.S. was “Foster’s, Australian for beer” for like 2 decades at least.

            It had an Australian flag on the can.

        • MCHEVA@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Oof that’s rough. Im not sure how excise tax works where you are but here it’s every six months it increases. Beer seems to get worse /smaller /more expensive over time.

          There was a beer I drank a lot 5 years ago from a local brewery that was a 6.5% abv ipa. They dropped the abv then dropped down to 4 packs then the price went up $5 aud. I get they are a business but it just wasn’t at a price point I could justify paying for it. There was a time where I gave up homebrewing because I could get local good beer for a good price. I’m contemplating taking it back up but it’s a lot of work.

    • rehydrate5503@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      While I agree with the general sentiment, these are both standard sizes for Guinness and the 440ml 4 packs and 8 packs have been around for well over 20 years. Here in Canada, the 440ml are available in the multi packs while the 500ml are sold as individual cans. I’ve seen the same in the states. I think OP just saw the smaller volume can next to the slightly bigger one and jumped on the shrinkflation hate train without checking.

    • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      Do they stop at 300ml? 200ml? Are we going to see 100ml cans of Guinness?

      Speaking purely for frozen vegetables, there doesn’t seem to be a bottom. I was buying packs that were 1.2 or 1.3kg, then it went down to 1kg, then 750, now 500g… seeing a 500g package at MORE than what 1KG was selling for is hilariously infuriating. Not to mention, it uses twice the plastic to get the same amount of food.

      I curse any company that does this.

      • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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        9 months ago

        Shrinkflation is the worse. Not only is it a sneaking price hike, it’s like the company is trying to gaslight you into thinking it was always that size.

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        9 months ago

        On that note, I’m kind of annoyed that the Threadiverse doesn’t have a standard way to link to a post or comment in a cross-instance way, just to a community.

        • setVeryLoud(true);@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          Navigating instances should have been made more seamless. I think Mastodon handles it better by asking for your home instance before doing an action, so it doesn’t matter what instance you actually come from, but it’s still imperfect.

  • Sinthesis@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    6 pack bottles used to be 12 fl. oz. and they changed to 11.2. This was 5 or more years ago though.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      9 months ago

      An imperial pint is 568 mL.

      A pint in the American customary unit system is 473 mL.

      I don’t think anything is 440 mL.

        • tal@lemmy.today
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          9 months ago

          That’s a thought, but I don’t think that it’s actually 1 lb, unless you’ve got a source somewhere saying that that’s what they’re aiming for.

          A standard aluminum soda can – 12 fluid ounces – apparently weighs about 15 grams, and a Guiness can holds 14.87 fluid ounces, so it’ll be heavier.

          Beer is – looking at some online numbers, though it varies by beer – maybe about 5% denser than water.

          I’d guess – and I don’t have a can of Guiness to weigh handy – that it’d probably weigh about 480 grams.

          A pound would be 453 g.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Not only in Canada. My wife just commented that she has never even seen a 500ml Guinness can, both single and multipack come in 440ml here.

  • Howdy@lemmy.zip
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    9 months ago

    Happened here in the states about a year ago. So now the usual pint glasses look weird. But they have the new smaller 14oz ones. Dumb.

  • SpikesOtherDog@ani.social
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    9 months ago

    I just bought dog food today. What was 50 lbs is now 40. The next size down used to be 35 lbs. When it gets down to 35, will they reintroduce a 50 pound bag or will I need to buy two 35 now?