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.
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
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.
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.
