In a bar in Scotland, two sizes are listed for the beer - pint and half. I assume that half is half pint, however for all beers the price for "half" doubled is less then the price for a pint (say pint is 5.50, while half is 2.30). So it does not make sense to me. What does half mean in this context? Is it half pint? If so, what is the reason why two halfs cost less than a whole pint? Is this something standard here?
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Ivaylo Strandjev
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17I say this as an expert - having drunk beers in Scotland for almost half a century: It is not standard - that bar is doing something very weird with their pricing. – Rory Alsop Aug 30 '22 at 21:00
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7Marketing technique, ordering halves makes you sit longer perhaps, which makes you hungry so you order food, and feeling the price is less you might end up ordering 3 halves instead of one pint. – Nean Der Thal Aug 30 '22 at 21:30
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3Or they had drunk to many halves before editing the prices :-) – jcaron Aug 30 '22 at 22:04
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13So order "two halves in a pint glass". – Robin Aug 31 '22 at 04:29
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3Most likely this is an error on the menu. – Jack Aidley Aug 31 '22 at 07:16
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1A marketing ploy to encourage people to try new ales? https://harpers.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/17955/_Halves_more_popular_than_pints_for_beer__-_nbsp;Camra_survey.html Or a printing error reversing £3.20 to £2.30? – Traveller Aug 31 '22 at 08:20
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Or a marketing ploy to reach more people by people discussing their pricing policy? I most probably would never heard about the place. – fraxinus Aug 31 '22 at 09:26
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5Questions like these confuse me. The correct answer is easy enough to come by.... ASK them. It's still a useful and interesting question, and once you determine the answer by asking the proprietors, answer it yourself. – CGCampbell Aug 31 '22 at 11:06
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My sister came to visit me in Bristol in 1973. We went to a pub and I asked for two pints of cider. The barman said 'The boss says we can't serve pints of cider to ladies'. Even then that was a bit ridiculous. I said 'Really? We'll just go somewhere else'. The barman looked around and muttered 'just buy two halves'. – Michael Harvey Sep 02 '22 at 10:17
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@CGCampbell well if the answer is "actually you are right, you should pay more" the outcome is somewhat undesirable – Ivaylo Strandjev Sep 02 '22 at 11:57
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As this other answer correctly says, the "Half" means indeed half pint.
As for the weird pricing, they changed the menu, and got some mistakes while doing it.
This is the previous menu, with "correct" prices:
So they raised the price of all draft beers, and forgot to raise it for the half pints as well.
Shadow Wizard Love Zelda
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3Lol. The internet is amazing. Follow up on law SE: Is that menu a binding offer in the jurisdiction of Scotland? – Peter - Reinstate Monica Aug 31 '22 at 13:09
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@JackAidley yeah, here in Israel anyone can add one word to legal document (טל"ח) and that would dismiss any legal charges in case of honest mistake. Probably same in other places. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Aug 31 '22 at 15:48
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@Peter-ReinstateMonica - Menus and advertisements are "invitations to treat" in UK law (all jurisdictions). There is no legal obligation on the merchant to honour a price. – Michael Harvey Aug 31 '22 at 19:38
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@MichaelHarvey, but they need to actually tell the price up front anyway, right? I mean, if I went there, ordered a half, they poured it in a glass and told me a different price than the one in the menu, I might be a bit cross. Or is it just their problem at that point to deal with the wasted half-pint if I now refused the price? – ilkkachu Aug 31 '22 at 19:52
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@ilkkachu 1. Main legal requirements - The prices of food and drink, which are sold for consumption on business premises or at takeaways, should be displayed so that consumers can see them before they decide to buy. The price is material information key to any purchasing decision so it must not be misleading, Typically businesses achieve compliance by having a price list displayed on a list or on bar menus etc. which can be seen or referred to before orders are placed. If there is a printing error then a mistaken price does not bind the pub. – Michael Harvey Aug 31 '22 at 20:26
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@ilkkachu - Pub staff are legally allowed to order you to leave and ban you from returning, and would be very likely to do this if you behaved in a vexatious manner, like making them waste a drink over 45p. – Michael Harvey Aug 31 '22 at 20:29
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A flexible and decent publican might honour the printed half-pint prices once per customer, advising them that there had been a printing error, and promptly re-print the menus. Disciplining the staff member who had done the printing, and/or the one who should have checked it, are also possible. – Michael Harvey Aug 31 '22 at 21:51
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I agree with @Michael and would like to add, it's really case-by-case, and depends who runs the company. While not obliged to honor the wrong price, so do it even when it costs them millions, e.g. remember a case where flight company had price of $1 on their website for a flight that should cost, well, much more, and they did honor it, and thus gained lots of respect. (Thinking about it now, it might have been staged, i.e. the $1 was not a mistake as they said, but rather smart marketing.) – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Sep 01 '22 at 06:00
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@MichaelHarvey, yeah, that's kinda the point there, the price must be visible but if there's a printing error the visible price doesn't bind the pub. But it might bind the customer on threat of a ban. That doesn't sound too fair to me. – ilkkachu Sep 01 '22 at 10:29
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@ilkkachu these days, customer can publish such thing on their Facebook or Twitter, if it gets enough attention, restaurant might go bankrupt as result. – Shadow Wizard Love Zelda Sep 01 '22 at 12:07
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@ilkkachu A friendly pub that wants to attract tourists and does not want negative reviews on social media. Trip Advisor, etc, is not going to ban a customer, but at the same time truculent customers are not liked either. – Michael Harvey Sep 01 '22 at 12:43
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@MichaelHarvey, after reading these discussions, I'm getting the impression that UK laws and customs are actually rather hostile towards customers. Social media doesn't help there. That 45 p isn't much of an issue (and probably shouldn't be for the pub either, they could just suck it up and fix their mistake just the same as the customer could), but the principle of being allowed to tell a customer "sorry, we made a mistake and you have to pay for it" is a problem. – ilkkachu Sep 01 '22 at 12:53
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A "half" is indeed a half pint. The amount is regulated by law and can't be less.
I'm as baffled as you are by the pricing policy. It may be a mistake, or it may be intended to encourage people to drink less, or maybe try more of their varieties of beers. Or it may be relying on the traditional Scottish attitude that "half pints are for wusses" to never have to serve one. ( That last was a joke, don't call me out on it.)
DJClayworth
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1In the example, they are NOT charging more for the half, they even charge less, hence the question. – Relaxed Aug 30 '22 at 20:23
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1Yes indeed charging me more for two halves than the whole pint would make sense and is what I've seen everywhere else. That is what gets me confused – Ivaylo Strandjev Aug 30 '22 at 20:32
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2A pint is basically the "Planck volume" in many counties. It's impossible to measure beer in anything smaller. – Eric Duminil Aug 31 '22 at 12:13
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@EricDuminil, In France the standard size (the most ordered, or even the one you'd get if you just ask for "a beer please") is the "Demi", which contains 25cl. But you can also easily order a "Gallopin" which will get you a 12.5cl glass of beer. – Hoki Aug 31 '22 at 12:22
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@Hoki: Indeed, but France seems to be an exception. That's also why I wrote "many countries" and not all. In Germany/Ireland/Scotlan/..., for example, you'd get a pint when you order a beer. Demis are already expensive enough in Paris, you might want to think twice before ordering a pint there. – Eric Duminil Aug 31 '22 at 12:32
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1@EricDuminil 0.5 L is less than an imperial pint so getting less is the default in Germany and getting exactly that is nearly impossible. Joke aside, in practice, most establishments do have smaller options there too, at least for draught beer. – Relaxed Aug 31 '22 at 20:05
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@Relaxed: Thanks for the info. I thought a UK pint was 473 ml (which apparently is a "liquid pint" and not an "imperial pint"). – Eric Duminil Aug 31 '22 at 20:37
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3@EricDuminil That's a US unit, not the volume of a standard glass in the UK or Ireland. – Relaxed Aug 31 '22 at 21:11
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Usually anyone asking for a pint and a half is asking for a pint and a spirit - the measure of spirit is the 'half'. It's a colloquialism. Older gents (usually always gents) asked for 'a hauf and a hauf pint' back in the day - lack of spare cash would be the reason.
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2While this is an explanation about the use of 'half' in the UK, it does not explain the 'half' in the question. (I did not down vote but that might be the reason someone did.) – Willeke Aug 31 '22 at 18:54
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1That's a very unusual use of "half". In the twenty years I spend drinking in Britain I never encountered it. – DJClayworth Sep 03 '22 at 17:25