A pint-size problem
By Nancy Keates

The Wall Street Journal

June 16, 2008

Four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline may be a cause for outrage. But it pales next to the righteous fury provoked by five-dollar-a-pint beer.

Beer prices at bars and restaurants have risen over the past few months, as prices of hops and barley have skyrocketed and retail business has slowed alongside the economy.

Some restaurants have replaced 16-ounce pint glasses with 14 ouncers -- a type of glassware one bartender called a "falsie."

And customers are complaining that bartenders are increasingly putting less than 16 ounces of beer in a pint glass, filling up the extra space with foam

Two of the world's biggest glassware makers, Libbey and Cardinal International, say orders of smaller beer glasses have risen over the past year. Restaurateurs "want more of a perceived value," says Mike Schuster, Libbey's marketing manager for glassware in the U.S. Glasses with a thicker bottom or a thicker shaft help create the perception. "You can increase the thickness of the bottom part but still retain the overall profile," he says.

Originally Posted by matclone

I asked the bartender for a pint, and all I got was bitter.

Originally Posted by matclone

I asked the bartender for a pint, and all I got was bitter.

Originally Posted by ideamark

Less product for the same amount of money is a real trend... and a sad one. The half-gallon of ice cream that's no longer a half-gallon, the 16-ounce beverage that's now 14.5 oz. Especially when it's presented in packaging that LOOKS like you're getting more than what you are actually getting. The new beer glass seems to be a clear example of this kind of fraud...

To my way of thinking, the best "perceived value" is to get full value for your money. When businesses are thinking of ways to give you less product for the same price (or an even higher price), they're too focused on the bottom line, and have lost sight of what's really important -- customer satisfaction. When customers catch on that they're being screwed, they'll go elsewhere.

Mark